Private Equity
Ottawa has unveiled the details of its $400 million program to shore up venture capital supply in Canada, giving particular focus to backing late-stage tech and righting gender imbalances. The Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, first announced in March's federal Budget 2017, was launched today by the Liberal government to channel $1.5 billion of new money into Canada’s innovation ecosystem. VCCI will do this by leveraging private commitments to VC funds, primarily through market intermediaries. Every $1 VCCI allocates through Business Development Bank of Canada must be matched by $2.25 from private sources, such as corporations, institutional investors and wealthy individuals. The matching formula, a unique feature of current Canadian public policy in the VC space, is based on one already tested in the market by VCCI’s predecessor.
3 min read · 18 December 2017
Aeponyx Inc, a Montréal-based provider of micro optical switches, has raised $4.3 million in seed-stage financing. The round was led by Fonds Innovexport and Ecofuel Fund, an affiliate of Cycle Capital Management, and joined by other private investors. Founded in 2011, Aeponyx designs and makes fabless micro optical switch semiconductor chips targeted at fibre optic access to the cloud and optical switching in the cloud. Led by President and CEO Philippe Babin, the company will use the funds raised to complete the development and industrialization of its chip technology. Aeponyx has received in-kind support from U.S. incubator Silicon Catalyst.
4 min read · 18 December 2017
Tier1CRM Inc has secured about $44 million (US$34 million) in a growth equity financing. The round was led by U.S. growth equity firm Wavecrest Growth Partners and joined by the venture capital investment arms of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co and Salesforce. Founded in 2008 by CEO Mark Notten and COO Phil Dias, Toronto's Tier1CRM provides customer relationship management and engagement software to the financial services industry. The funds raised will be used by the company to accelerate product innovation, expand sales and marketing, and develop the partner ecosystem supporting ACE, Tier1CRM’s flagship product suite.
4 min read · 15 December 2017
FODY Food Co has secured $2.25 million in a Series A financing. Aviro Capital, a Canadian food and agriculture venture capital firm, led the round, giving Managing Director Aki Georgacacos a seat on the board. Jonathan Ross Goodman, President and CEO of Knight Therapeutics Inc, also invested. Launched last year by CEO Steven Singer, Montréal-based FODY develops and makes low FODMAP food products for people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It will use the funds raised to accelerate its U.S. and Canadian online and retail distribution and develop new products. Singer previously led Claridge-backed Glutino Inc.
3 min read · 14 December 2017
Canadian specialty finance firm TIMIA Capital Corp has provided a $2 million funding facility to Wagepoint Inc, a Kitchener, Ontario-based provider of online payroll automation solutions. A first disbursement of $750,000 will be followed by a further $1.25 million linked to the meeting of certain milestones over the next 24 months. Founded in 2012, Wagepoint serves more than 4,000 small businesses across Canada and the United States. TIMIA's revenue financing, the third in the past two months, follows Wagepoint's $2 million seed investment in 2014. That round was led by Extreme Venture Partners and joined by Business Development Bank of Canada and other investors.
2 min read · 14 December 2017
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has launched Solunov, a program to help identify, support and fund innovation by Québec businesses. Partnering with organizations like Inno Centre and Réseau TransTech, the Fonds will through Solunov assume up to 75 percent of the cost of innovation feasibility studies, up to a maximum of $250,000. It will also offer $1 million and up in unsecured, custom financing for emerging innovation projects. Based in Montréal, the $13.1-billion Fonds provides development capital to Québec companies.
3 min read · 14 December 2017
Toronto-based point-of-sale financing provider Financeit Canada Inc has closed a recapitalization round with the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs. The undisclosed deal gives Goldman Sachs, a Financeit shareholder since 2015, a majority stake in the business. It also helped Financeit acquire Centah Inc, a Canadian provider of home improvement software. President and CEO Michael Garrity said the acquisition expands his company's offering with a complete solution for the home services industry. Founded in 2011, Financeit has worked with more than 7,000 merchants and processed over US$1.9 billion in loan applications.
3 min read · 14 December 2017
Bluerush Media Group Corp (TSX-V: BTV) announced the appointment of John Eckert, co-founder of Canadian venture capital firm Round13 Capital, to the company's board of directors. The appointment follows Round13's investment in Bluerush's $1.3 million private offering in October. Eckert, a co-founder and former managing partner of McLean Watson Capital, helped launch Round13 in 2012. Earlier this year, the firm raised $95 million for its growth-stage technology fund. Bluerush, a Toronto-based digital solutions provider, also said it appointed Steve Taylor as CEO.
4 min read · 13 December 2017
U.S. e-commerce business eBay Inc has agreed to acquire Terapeak Inc, a Canadian e-commerce supply, demand and pricing data and analytics platform. No financial terms were disclosed. With the deal's close, expected before the end of this year, eBay said it will begin integrating functionality from Terapeak into its Seller Hub to help merchants manage and scale their operations. Launched in 2004 by Andrew Sukow and Anthony Sukow, Terapeak has its offices in Victoria, British Columbia and Toronto. It has been backed by Canadian growth equity firm Georgian Partners and other investors. Georgian invested $4 million in the company in 2010.
3 min read · 13 December 2017
ESS Inc, a U.S. maker of safe, low-cost and long-duration flow energy storage systems, has secured US$13 million in a Series B financing. The round was backed by new investors, including European chemical company BASF SE and Canadian venture capital firm Cycle Capital Management. They were joined by existing investors, including Canadian venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures, which led the company's Series A in 2015. The funds raised will allow ESS to expand and automate the manufacturing process of its iron flow battery and support business development. Portland, Oregon-based ESS was founded in 2011.
3 min read · 13 December 2017
