Private Equity
Storyflow, a Toronto-based interactive voice entertainment hub, has raised $500,000 in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Ripple Ventures, which closed its $10 million debut fund last month. Founded in 2017 by CEO Braden Ream, Creative Lead Michael Hood and Product Lead Andrew Lawrence, Storyflow's technology helps individuals and organizations create, distribute and monetize interactive voice entertainment, allowing content creators to publish directly to voice apps on smart speakers. The company will use the funds raised to acquire new talent and scale its platform.
2 min read · 10 October 2018
WellnessLiving, a Richmond Hill, Ontario-based software provider for health and wellness businesses, has secured $2.4 million from BDC Capital. Founded in 2012 by CEO Len Fridman and COO Sasha Davids, WellnessLiving's platform features tools and mobile apps to help spas, salons, fitness and yoga studios attract, engage and retain clients. Its users currently total more than 5.2 million. The funds raised will be used to accelerate product development, which includes implementing artificial intelligence and machine learning, and hire new staff. BDC invested through its Growth and Transition Capital group, which was recapitalized last year with $1.8 billion in fresh funding.
3 min read · 10 October 2018
Chrysalix Venture Capital, a Canadian industrial innovation venture capital firm, announced the first close of its latest fund vehicle, Chrysalix RoboValley Fund. The fund, which has a target of about $155 million (US$120 million) has so far signed on a range of investors, including Teck Resources Ltd, Mistletoe Venture Partners International, Petronas, Severstal, Delft University of Technology, Mitsubishi Corp and Golden Properties. It will invest in early-stage companies that are developing technologies in intelligent systems and resource productivity solutions for industries such as energy, mining, mobility, chemicals and materials. Vancouver-based Chrysalix is led by Managing Partners Fred van Beuningen, Richard MacKellar and Wal van Lierop.
3 min read · 10 October 2018
Real Ventures has recruited Marcel LeBrun as a venture partner, according to a news release. LeBrun joins the Montréal venture firm after more than two decades as a tech entrepreneur and executive, including senior vice president at San Francisco cloud-software maker Salesforce. He took on that job with Salesforce’s 2011 acquisition of Radian6, a Fredericton, New Brunswick, social-media-monitoring platform, for US$326 million. LeBrun, who co-founded Radian6 in 2006, was the company’s CEO. In the new role at Real Ventures, Fredericton-based LeBrun will source Canadian tech opportunities and support the firm's portfolio.
1 min read · 10 October 2018
ArcTern Ventures, a Canadian early-stage venture capital firm focused on the clean technology sector, has initially closed its second fund at $60 million. ArcTern Ventures Fund II, targeted to raise up to $150 million, was anchored in its first close with commitments from Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and Equinor ASA, a Norwegian energy company. Founded in 2012 by Managing Partners Murray McCaig and Tom Rand, ArcTern invests across six core clean technology sub-sectors: renewable energy, energy use and storage, circular economy, advanced manufacturing and materials, mobility, and agri-technology. The Toronto-based firm works in partnership with Canadian innovation hub and startup accelerator MaRS Discovery District.
4 min read · 09 October 2018
Clio has acquired Lexicata, a Los Angeles-based customer relationship management and client intake tool for lawyers. No financial terms were disclosed. Clio, a Vancouver-based legal practice management technology provider, said the deal will enable delivery of a suite of services that streamlines the end-to-end client journey. Lexicata will evolve into a new platform called Clio Grow, launching in 2019. Founded in 2008 by CEO Jack Newton and CPO Rian Gauvreau, Clio is backed by Acton Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Point Nine Capital, Version One Ventures and other investors.
4 min read · 05 October 2018
MobSquad, a Calgary-based provider of Canadian engineering talent to Silicon Valley startups, has launched with $11 million in funding. The financing was raised from Canadian mobile venture capital firm Relay Ventures, which incubated the company, as well as Panache Ventures, Mindset Venture Group and others. MobSquad, founded by CEO Irfhan Rawji, a Relay venture partner since 2017, will form teams of software engineers and data scientists in Canada and pair them with U.S. clients on a long-term basis. The strategy will address U.S. skill shortages and at the same time create opportunities for Canada-based talent. MobSquad plans to open additional offices across Canada.
4 min read · 05 October 2018
Hootsuite Inc, a Canadian company that describes itself as the world’s most widely used platform for managing social media, is exploring a sale that could value it at more than US$750 million ($968 million), sources told Reuters. A sale would allow Hootsuite’s venture capital backers to cash out at a time when cyber security and privacy concerns make social media analytics companies more popular with corporate clients. Hootsuite’s investors include Accel Partners, CIBC Innovation Banking, Insight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures. Vancouver-based Hootsuite, founded in 2008 by CEO Ryan Holmes, is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc on an auction process, the sources said.
2 min read · 04 October 2018
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has provided $58.6 million in funding to 14 Canadian clean technology companies. The companies, many of them venture-backed, are based in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec. The companies are: Clir Renewables, Consolidated Biofuels, Semios and Terramera (B.C.); Ambyint (Alberta); Giatec Scientific, Li-Cycle, Ranovus, VueReal and Yava Alumina (Ontario), and; Boréas Technologies, Carbicrete, Lithion Recycling and Sanexen Environmental Services (Québec).
3 min read · 04 October 2018
New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF), a Fredericton-based venture capital firm, has appointed Jeff White as its new CEO. White joins NBIF from East Valley Ventures, a startup accelerator and early-stage investor he co-founded in 2011. He served there as COO. Before then, White had a long entrepreneurial career that included serving as CFO for New Brunswick venture-backed technology companies Radian6 and Q1 Labs. NBIF has invested more than $100 million in local startups and research projects and helped leverage $457 million from other sources.
3 min read · 04 October 2018
