Private Equity
You.i TV, an Ottawa-based software provider focused on cross-platform app development, has raised $30.4 million (US$23 million) in growth financing. U.S. venture capital firm Causeway Media Partners led the deal. Existing backers WarnerMedia, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Vistara Capital Partners also invested. Causeway Partner Bob Higgins has joined the board. You.i TV, founded in 2008 by CEO Jason Flick and CTO Stuart Russell, provides TV and media companies with a multi-screen video app platform that helps engage users and create customers. The funds raised will support expansion of You.i TV’s global footprint and developer community.
4 min read · 15 November 2018
Mobeewave, a Montréal-based mobile payment solutions company, has raised $21.8 million (US$16.5 million) in a Series B financing. The round was led by European venture capital firm NewAlpha Asset Management and Mastercard and joined by Forestay Capital. Oakland Partners and existing investors also participated. Founded in 2012 by CEO Benjamin du Haÿs and COO Maxime de Nanclas, Mobeewave enables secure contactless payment acceptance on smart devices. Its platform is currently deployed in Australia, Canada and Poland via strategic partnerships. The company will use the funds raised for further deployments and to develop new product offerings.
5 min read · 15 November 2018
1 min read · 13 November 2018
Knowtions Research, a Toronto-based applied artificial intelligence (AI) platform for health insurers, has raised $5 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Information Venture Partners and joined by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Anthony Lee, Knowtions is the creator of Lydia, an AI platform that helps health insurers tap into predictive insights in health data. Insurers use these insights to automate claims processing and personalize customer experience. The funds raised will be used to scale Lydia's deployment and grow the company's team of machine learning scientists and engineers over the next 12 months.
4 min read · 13 November 2018
Panache Ventures has signed up Telus Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Canadian telecommunications company Telus Corp, as a limited partner. Panache, a Canadian seed-stage venture capital firm, also announced it will extend fundraising for Panache Ventures I and increase its target to $50 million from $40 million. Fund I raised an initial $25 million earlier this year. To date, Montréal-based Panache has closed 28 investments in IT security, content marketing, business and productivity software, marketplace, financial technology, digital media, life sciences, logistics and supply chain management, health and fitness, and other sectors.
3 min read · 13 November 2018
Lightspeed POS, a Montréal-based point-of-sale software solution for retailers and restaurateurs, has appointed Patrick Pichette to its board. Pichette, a former CFO at Google, has been a general partner at Canadian venture capital firm iNovia Capital since April 2018. INovia is a longtime backer of Lightspeed, joining last year's Series D financing, which raised about $207 million (US$166 million). The company's other new board members are Tandem International's Marie-Josée Lamothe, Rob Williams, formerly of Amazon, and Paul McFeeters, formerly of OpenText.
3 min read · 12 November 2018
Lightspeed POS, a Montréal-based point-of-sale software solution for retailers and restaurateurs, is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO), according to a report by the Globe and Mail. The company selected Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada to co-lead an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the report said. Sources told the Globe and Mail that Lightspeed intends to raise at least $200 million and is hoping to achieve a valuation of more than $1 billion. Founded in 2005 by CEO Dax Dasilva, Lightspeed last year raised about $207 million (US$166 million) in a Series D financing led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
1 min read · 12 November 2018
BlackBerry Ltd is in talks to buy cybersecurity company Cylance Inc for as much as US$1.5 billion, Reuters reported, citing a Business Insider story. Irvine, California-based Cylance develops artificial intelligence-based products to prevent cyber attacks on companies and recently considered filing for an initial public offering, according to the report. Earlier this year, Cylance raised US$120 million in a financing led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities. The company's other investors include DFJ, Insight Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures.
1 min read · 12 November 2018
Clearbanc, a Toronto-based provider of marketing capital for e-commerce brands, has raised about $92 million (US$70 million) in financing. The round was backed by Emergence Capital, Social Capital, CoVenture, Founders Fund, 8VC, iNovia Capital, Real Ventures, Portag3 Ventures, Precursor, WTI, Berggruen and FJ Labs. Clearbanc provides pre-revenue e-commerce businesses with $5,000 to $10 million-plus in marketing capital without personal guarantees, warrants, equity or credit checks. It has already funded more than 500 companies with over $100 million. Clearbanc was founded in 2015 by CEO Andrew D'Souza and President Michele Romanow, both serial entrepreneurs and angel investors.
4 min read · 12 November 2018
Rna Diagnostics Inc, a Toronto-based cancer therapy guidance platform, has raised $5 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian early-stage venture capital firm iGan Partners. It was joined by undisclosed new and existing investors. Founded in 2010, Rna Diagnostics’ first product is the RNA Disruption Assay, a diagnostic test that helps physicians to rapidly assess how patients are responding to cancer treatments. President and CEO Jeremy Bridge-Cook said the funds raised will support the technology's clinical trial in primary breast cancer as well as commercialization initiatives. Bridge-Cook formerly served as an investment manager with MDS Capital Corp.
2 min read · 09 November 2018
