Private Equity
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will invest US$600 million in a unit of Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Services Group, operator of China’s biggest online payment platform, Reuters reported. CPPIB’s investment is part of Ant’s US$14 billion fundraising announced on Friday. Ant Financial, spun off from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd before the e-commerce company’s 2014 listing, has played a major role in shaping China’s financial technology landscape.
1 min read · 08 June 2018
Laval, Québec-based robotics automation startup Omnirobotic has secured $1 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian artificial intelligence solutions company Element AI and joined by Real Ventures, Alexandre Taillefer and Genik. Founded in 2016 by CEO Francois Simard and CTO Laurier Roy, Omnirobotic helps mass customization manufacturers robotize their operations and address personnel shortages. It said the proceeds of the seed round will allow the company to demonstrate its first product, OmniPainter, an autonomous painting robot targeted to the painting industry, and develop additional industrial applications.
5 min read · 08 June 2018
Flexiti Financial, a Toronto-based point-of-sale financing and payment technology company, has acquired the Canadian private label credit card portfolio of TD Financing Services, an affiliate of TD Bank Financial Group. The portfolio is valued at about $250 million. The deal adds a million new credit card customers and 900 new merchant locations to Flexiti's client base. Globalive Capital, the investment firm of Anthony Lacavera, invested $50 million as part of the acquisition's financing and acquired control of the company as a result. Flexiti, founded in 2013 by CEO Peter Kalen, also raised $350 million in credit facilities led by Credit Suisse AG to support the buy and future growth.
3 min read · 07 June 2018
Robert Antoniades, a general partner at Canadian venture capital firm Information Venture Partners, is the 2018 recipient of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association‘s (CVCA) Ted Anderson Community Leadership award. Antoniades won the award for his role in co-founding and building the Upside Foundation of Canada, an organization that encourages high-growth companies in Canada to donate stock options or warrants to a charity of their choice. Since its launch in 2013, Upside has signed on more than 200 companies pledging to give back through the platform. PE Hub Canada interviewed Antoniades about Upside's mission in 2015.
5 min read · 07 June 2018
Novacap and Real Ventures are the 2018 recipients of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association‘s (CVCA) Deal of the Year awards. Real Ventures won in the venture capital category for its 2017 sale of location-based marketing analytics and automation company SweetIQ to Gannett Co Inc. The exit generated a 66 percent IRR and a 5.6 x cash-on-cash multiple. Novacap won in the private equity category for its 2017 sale of drug discovery software provider Chemical Computing Group to Altaris Capital Partners. The exit generated a 48 percent IRR and a 7.6 x multiple on invested capital. Novacap and Real Ventures are both based in Montréal.
5 min read · 07 June 2018
Toronto-based online financial planning company Planswell has raised an additional $7 million in financing, bringing its total funding so far to $13.8 million. The investors were not identified. Planswell launched nationally in January, closing a seed round backed by former senior financial executives and others. The proceeds of the latest deal will be used for technology development and expanding marketing efforts. Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Eric Arnold, Planswell helps build financial plans for users located across Canada. The company reports building more than 50,000 financial plans since its launch.
3 min read · 07 June 2018
Squiggle Park, a Halifax-based adaptive web-based learning app, has closed a seed-stage financing that brings its total funding so far to more than $1 million. The company's investors include Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books and Music, and John Montalbano, head of Royal Bank of Canada’s global asset management group. Founded in 2015 by CEO Leah Skerry and CMO Julia Rivard Dexter, Squiggle Park's app provides bite-sized games designed by teachers, researchers and gamers to help children develop foundational reading skills. The funds raised will be used for product development and continued global growth.
3 min read · 06 June 2018
IRYStec Software Inc, a Montréal-based perceptual display processing technology company, has closed a Series A2 financing. The undisclosed round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Whitecap Venture Partners. It was joined by BDC Capital, Skunkworks and angels investors, including Jean-François Grenon and Purple Angels, several of which invested in the company's Series A in 2016. IRYStec, which launched in 2015, helps consumer device makers and automotive original equipment manufacturers solve challenging display issues. Led by CEO Simon Morris, the company will use the funds raised to scale its sales and engineering teams.
3 min read · 06 June 2018
Toronto-based food ordering app Ritual has secured more than $90 million (US$70 million) in a Series C financing. The round was led by Canadian growth equity firm Georgian Partners and joined by Greylock Partners, Insight Ventures and Mistral Venture Partners, all of which backed the company's Series B last year. Founded in 2014, Ritual connects restaurants with customers through a tool to place, pay for and pick-up lunch orders for themselves and workplace teams. The company said in the past year it has increased workplace teams to over 44,500, seen 2 x growth in restaurant partners, and expanded into four new cities. Ritual is led by Co-founder and CEO Raymond Reddy.
5 min read · 06 June 2018
U.K. cyber safety company SafeToNet Ltd has acquired VISR Inc, a Toronto-based specialist in using artificial intelligence to detect the emotional well-being of children online. No financial terms were released. SafeToNet, which also announced raising a US$13 million financing led by West Hill Capital, said the buy will broaden the company's technologies and intellectual property and give it a foothold in North America. VISR, founded in 2014 by CEO Robert Reichmann, secured funding from Horizons Ventures, Ontario Centres of Excellence and Ryerson Futures.
6 min read · 05 June 2018
