Private Equity
Canada’s venture capital market continued its five-year upward trajectory in the first half of 2018, according to a report by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). Nearly $1 billion was invested by VC funds in 166 financings in the second quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $1.7 billion, up 7 percent from the first half of 2017. Q2 2018 is the third time since early last year when dollars invested topped $1 billion. The average deal size in this period was $6 million, 13 percent higher than the average between 2013 and 2017. Information technology companies accounted for 64 percent of VC invested at the end of June, while life sciences and clean technology companies each took 12 percent.
5 min read · 23 August 2018
Montréal-born hospitality brand Sonder has raised US$85 million in a Series C financing, according to a report by Forbes. The round, which brings the San Francisco-based company's total funding to more than US$135 million, was led by Greenoaks Capital, the report said. Other investors included Greylock Partners, HarbourVest Partners, Spark Capital and Structure Capital, according to a report by Skift. In 2016, Sonder closed a US$10 million Series A round led by Spark and joined by Thayer Ventures, Real Ventures and BDC Capital. Founded in 2012, Sonder provides “hometel” rental services to travellers. It leases or manages 2,200 units in 11 cities.
1 min read · 23 August 2018
Enterra Feed Corp, a maker of insect-based feed ingredients, has closed a new round of financing. Terms weren't disclosed. Cibus Fund, the food technology fund of Hong Kong's ADM Capital, led the deal. It was joined by Germany's PHW Group and a Canadian family-owned investment firm. All three are new investors. Existing investors Avrio Capital and Wheatsheaf Group also participated. Enterra said the funds raised will be used to build three new facilities for $30 million each. The plants, which will increase the company's production of nutrition-rich insects for animal feed, will be located in Alberta, British Columbia and the Midwestern United States. Langley, British Columbia's Enterra was founded in 2007 and is led by CEO Geoff Gyles.
5 min read · 23 August 2018
Vancouver-based dropshipping marketplace Spocket has raised $1.5 million in funding, according to a report by BetaKit. The round's investors included 7 Gate Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, Panache Ventures and Plug and Play Ventures, the report said. Launched last year by CEO Saba Mohebpour, Spocket helps small online retailers manage product shipping and inventory through the dropshipping model. More than 20,000 retailers use its technology, the company reports. Spocket will use the funds raised for new hires, marketing and platform growth, BetaKit said.
1 min read · 22 August 2018
Latch, a New York-based maker of a smart access system, has raised US$70 million in a Series B financing. The round was led by Brookfield Ventures, the technology investment arm of Canadian alternative assets manager Brookfield Asset Management. It was joined by Lux Capital, RRE Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Third Prime, Camber Creek, Corigin Ventures, Tishman Speyer and Balyasny Asset Management. Brookfield Properties is installing Latch's system throughout its multi-family properties in development, the company said.
5 min read · 22 August 2018
CIBC Innovation Banking has provided undisclosed growth financing to Chatkit, a Toronto-based artificial intelligence-enabled conversational marketing platform. Founded in 2016 and led by CEO Mazdak Rezvani, the former CTO of Chango, Chatkit’s chatbot technology helps brands manage and automate conversations with their customers on chat channels. Last year, Chatkit closed a seed-stage financing backed by Mantella Venture Partners, iNovia Capital and 500 Startups Canada. CIBC Innovation Banking launched in January with CIBC’s acquisition of the assets of Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial.
2 min read · 22 August 2018
Slack, an enterprise messaging software provider, said it raised US$427 million in a Series H financing at a post-money valuation of more than US$7.1 billion. The round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group and General Atlantic. They were joined by T. Rowe Price Associates, Wellington Management, Baillie Gifford, Sands Capital and the company's existing investors. The Series H round brings total financing raised by Slack to about US$1.3 billion. San Francisco-based Slack, which has an office in Vancouver, was launched in 2014 by CEO Stewart Butterfield, a Canadian entrepreneur.
2 min read · 21 August 2018
OMERS Ventures has invested in DuckDuckGo, a Paoli, Pennsylvania-based internet search engine that protects web searchers’ privacy. The investment's value was not disclosed; however, the Globe and Mail reported OMERS led the company's US$10 million financing. Founded in 2008 by CEO Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo's technology facilitates private searching online without storing or sharing any personal information. It said the partnership with OMERS will support its global growth. DuckDuckGo's other backers include Union Square Ventures and several angel investors.
2 min read · 21 August 2018
Canvass Analytics, a Toronto-based provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled predictive analytics for the industrial internet of things, has raised about $6.5 million in financing. The round was led by Gradient Ventures, the AI venture capital arm of Google. It was joined by new investors Bedrock Industries and Viaduct Ventures, as well as existing investors Real Ventures and Barney Pell. Launched in 2016 and led by CEO Humera Malik, Canvass' technology helps industrial customers to rapidly implement and scale automated industrial operations. Its users include automotive, aerospace, energy, and food and agriculture companies. Canvass said it will use the funds raised for growth.
4 min read · 21 August 2018
Georgian Partners, which only weeks ago closed its fourth fund, is backing a software provider that aims to rid the global marketplace of counterfeit drugs. TraceLink, a Boston pharmaceuticals-tracking platform, said today that it raised a US$93 million financing led by the Canadian growth equity firm. Georgian Partner Tyson Baber joined the board. Founded in 2009, TraceLink provides a network for drugmakers and other stakeholders in the global life-sciences supply chain to connect and share information in real time. Along with leading its round, Georgian will support the company's artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy.
2 min read · 21 August 2018
