Private Equity
MetaOptima Technology, a Vancouver digital health technology company, last month raised about $8.5 million in funding. The round's investors were Skip Capital and AirTree Ventures. Founded in 2012 by CEO Maryam Sadeghi and CTO Majid Razmara, MetaOptima develops intelligent dermoscopy tools for smart skin imaging, analytics and management, and skin cancer early detection. It will use the funds raised to advance its technology, including DermEngine, a cloud dermoscopy and skin care platform that serves patients, physicians and service providers.
3 min read · 04 July 2018
Relentless Venture Fund (RVF), a health technology venture capital fund managed by Relentless Pursuit Partners, has secured an undisclosed founding investment from Vancity. RVF will invest in early-stage financings of preventative and proactive technology solutions that help optimize health, activity and longevity. Its debut investment backed the $33.2 million round of Vancouver-based medical data company Canary Medical Inc, announced in May. RVF is led by General Partner Brenda Irwin. She is also managing partner of Vancouver investment and consulting firm Relentless.
3 min read · 04 July 2018
Montréal-based financial technology startup Flinks has raised $1.75 million in a seed-stage financing. National Bank of Canada and Luge Capital invested in the round as did Innostart Capital, Panache Ventures, iNovia Capital and Conconi Growth Partners. Founded in 2017 by CEO Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf, CTO Julien Dubé-Cousineau and COO Frédérick Lavoie, Flinks helps consumers safely share their financial data with banking and non-banking digital services. It will use the funds raised for growth and to market its risk assessment solution. Flinks is the first deal of Luge, which last month raised an initial $75 million for its inaugural fund.
3 min read · 04 July 2018
Montréal-based artificial-intelligence solutions company Element AI is looking to raise $250 million in a Series B financing, according to a report by BNN Bloomberg. Sources told BNN Bloomberg the round would value Element AI at $1 billion. Founded in 2016, Element AI last year secured more than $137 million in a Series A led by DCVC and joined by Real Ventures, BDC Capital, Fidelity Investments Canada, Hanwha Investment, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, National Bank of Canada, NVIDIA, Tencent and other investors.
1 min read · 03 July 2018
Activity in Canada’s initial public offering (IPO) market was "slow and steady" in the first half of 2018, according to a survey by PwC Canada. Twenty new issues across all exchanges accounted for $1.1 billion in this period, compared to 16 issues generating $2.9 billion at the same time in 2017. Eleven IPOs raised $956 million in Q2 2018, the largest of which was the US$462 million Canada-U.S. listing of Ceridian HCM, a human-resources-software provider backed by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Cannae Investors. Since January, six Canadian private equity- and venture-backed companies have announced or closed an IPO.
4 min read · 03 July 2018
Focus FS, a software-as-a-service platform for safer, smarter worksites, has raised $1.4 million in financing. The round was backed by an $800,000 quasi-equity investment made by BDC Capital's Growth and Transition Capital, with additional funding coming from private and strategic sources. Founded in 2012, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador-based Focus FS has developed a cloud-based safety management suite to help industrial worksites gain efficiencies and lessen risk to allow projects to run smoothly. Led by CEO Jeff Brown, the company will use the funds raised to further invest in sales and marketing in key North American and global markets.
3 min read · 29 June 2018
Ziliomics Inc, a Toronto bioinformatics software startup, has raised undisclosed seed-stage financing. The Prospects Oncology Fund of Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT) was the investor. Created by FACIT, Ziliomics is developing web-based, modular software solutions to help physicians make treatment decisions for patients living with cancer. The proceeds of the seed round will advance the development of Heliotrope, the company's lead product, and position Ziliomics for partnerships and additional funding. FACIT, established by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, launched the Prospects Oncology Fund last year.
3 min read · 28 June 2018
Waterloo-based education technology startup ApplyBoard has secured over $17 million (US$13 million) in a Series A financing. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Artiman Ventures and joined by existing investors, including 500 Startups, Candou Ventures and Think+. ApplyBoard, founded in 2015 by CEO Martin Basiri and CMO Meti Basiri, has created an artificial intelligence-enabled marketplace to help international students apply for study at post-secondary institutions worldwide. It has so far partnered with more than 750 North American educational institutions. ApplyBoard will use the funds raised for growth and to further develop its platform.
3 min read · 28 June 2018
German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH is teaming with Canadian startup Mojio to get more vehicles connected wirelessly to a range of digital services, from insurance companies to emergency responders, Reuters reported. Bosch and Mojio aim to connect more vehicles to the internet and gather data to support services for consumers and manufacturers. The initial focus is on vehicle communication, diagnostics and crash detection and notification. Bosch is investing in Vancouver's Mojio as part of the startup’s Series B financing, which has so far raised more than $30 million.
2 min read · 27 June 2018
The federal government's Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) has completed its first round of investments, backing five funds-of-funds managers. They include managers backed by VCCI’s predecessor, the Venture Capital Action Plan. They are: HarbourVest Partners, Kensington Capital Partners, Northleaf Capital Partners and Teralys Capital. U.S.-based manager Hamilton Lane also secured a commitment. Funds-of-funds commitments, totalling $350 million of VCCI's $400 million pool, mark the program's Stream 1, which focuses on capitalizing Canadian venture capital funds, including those investing in late-stage opportunities. Stream 2 will commit $50 million to key market gaps.
5 min read · 26 June 2018
