Canada

SME banking platform NorthOne secures $2 mln in seed round

Toronto-based financial technology company NorthOne has raised $2 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was backed by Peter Graham, Tom Williams and Canadian venture capital firm Ferst Capital Partners, an existing investor. Founded in 2016 by CEO Eytan Bensoussan and COO Justin Adler, NorthOne is developing a mobile, API-enabled banking platform to provide small and medium-sized enterprises, startups and freelancers in Canada with financial management tools. More than 3,000 businesses have signed up for the platform ahead of its launch. NorthOne will use the funds raised to grow its team and prepare for the launch, slated for late 2018.

Avrij Analytics raises $1.2 mln from NBIF, TVC, others investors

Avrij Analytics, a Fredericton-based sports analytics technology startup, has secured $1.2 million in financing. The round was led by New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF), which invested $500,000, and joined by Technology Ventures Corp (TVC) and several other private and public investors. Founded in 2016, Avrij provides sports organizations with a software platform to track, monitor and predict an athlete’s behaviour, helping them optimize team recruitment and management. Led by CEO Garfield Fisher, the company will use the funds raised to enhance its product, integrating video and photo analysis in addition to text.

Kayne, Yaletown invest $16 mln in Circle Cardiovascular Imaging

Circle Cardiovascular Imaging Inc, a Calgary-based developer of advanced post-processing software for the cardiac imaging (CVI) industry, has secured $16 million in follow-on funding. The round was led by U.S. investor Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Canadian private equity firm Yaletown Partners. The proceeds will mostly be used to accelerate commercialization of Circle's CVI software suite for cardiologists and radiologists. Founded in 2007, Circle's product is used in more than 800 hospitals in over 40 countries. Led by CEO Greg Ogrodnick, the company is also backed by BDC Capital, Epic Capital Management, Foundation Equity and other investors.

Fiix raises $15.5 mln Series B financing led by BuildGroup

Toronto-based maintenance software provider Fiix has secured about $15.5 million (US$12 million) in a Series B financing. The round was led by BuildGroup, which also led the company's Series A in 2016. Founded in 2008 and formerly known as Maintenance Assistant, Fiix creates software that helps businesses organize their maintenance departments and turn data into actionable insights. Led by CEO Marc Castel, the company has served clients in manufacturing, wholesale trade, construction, and transportation and warehousing, and currently works with more than 20,000 users in 90 countries. Fiix's other backers include MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund.

Dooly seeded with $2 mln in ScaleUP Ventures-led round

Dooly, a Vancouver-based enterprise sales solution, has raised $2 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by ScaleUP Ventures and joined by Panache Ventures, Pallasite Ventures and New Avenue Capital. Launched in 2016 by CEO Kris Hartvigsen and CTO Justin Vaillancourt, Dooly is a developer of Salesforce-synced software that leverages artificial intelligence to automate the sales process by moving information to and from customer-facing teams in real time. It aims to eliminate 65 percent of the time spent on back-end customer relationship management (CRM) tasks. Dooly said the funds raised will help it reach more clients and add new features to the platform.

Engineering talent solution Terminal closes $13 mln Series A

Terminal, a Kitchener, Ontario-based builder of remote engineering teams, has raised $13 million in a Series A financing. The round included investments from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Thiel Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Atomic, Craft Ventures and Jerry Yang, founder of Yahoo. Launched in 2017 by Atomic's Jack Abraham and Luke Finney, 8VC's Joe Lonsdale and Eventbrite's Dylan Serota, Terminal recruits technical talent and establishes and manages remote work spaces for technology companies. Hiring Atomic's Clay Kellogg as CEO, Terminal will use funds raised to scale operations in its five Canadian and U.S. offices and expand into Latin America.

Medical data company Canary Medical wins $33.2 mln in VC

Vancouver medical data company Canary Medical Inc has raised an investment of about $12.8 million (US$10 million) from the global health sciences fund of Canadian venture capital firm Quark Venture and China’s GF Securities Co Ltd. The deal is part of a broader financing round of about $33.2 million (US$26 million) that is also backed by BioScience Managers and Relentless Pursuit Partners. Canary develops implant and data management ecosystem technology used for remote patient monitoring. Led by CEO Bill Hunter, the company will use the funds raised for the development of a smart artificial knee implant through to commercial release.

Canopy Growth to take ownership of VC-backed BC Tweed

Canopy Growth Corp (TSX: WEED) has conditionally agreed to acquire the 33 percent stake of cannabis production brand BC Tweed Joint Venture Inc not currently owned by the company. With the deal's close, Canopy will issue up to $374 million worth of shares to the minority shareholders of BC Tweed. BC Tweed was launched in 2017 in partnership with Canopy and others to develop up to 3 million square feet of greenhouse growing capacity in British Columbia. The business is a spin out of SunSelect Produce Inc, a Delta, British Columbia-based vegetable producer backed by Avrio Capital and InvestEco Capital, both Canadian food and agriculture technology investors.

Highline BETA unveils accelerator program for women angels

Highline BETA has relaunched Female Funders Angel Academy, an accelerator program for women executives pursuing angel investing. Highline BETA's Female Funders will partner with the National Angel Capital Organization to sponsor an eight-week training program covering the fundamentals of angel investing. In the year following the training, Angel Academy members will be able to write their first investment cheque for startups sourced independently or through the Female Funders syndicate, and to co-invest with Highline BETA. Toronto-based Highline BETA is a startup co-creation and new venture development firm.

CPPIB partners in $120 mln funding of fashion brand Lulus

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered in a US$120 million investment in Lulus, a Chico, California-based digitally native apparel brand for women. CPPIB invested alongside IVP, a U.S. late-stage venture capital and growth equity firm. They join existing investor HIG Growth Partners, which has backed Lulus since 2014. Lulus started out in 1996 as a vintage boutique and in 2008 transitioned to purely online sales of products from the Lulus label and a selection of designers and brands. The company uses data to anticipate demand trends and a merchandising strategy to engage its millennial customer base.