Private Equity
Canadian debt issuance climbed 12 percent to a record in the first nine months of 2017, helped by deals from Canada Housing Trust and a major maple bond from Apple, bucking a weak trend in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and equity deals as Canadian companies slowed the pace of their outbound deal-making, Reuters reported. Debt deal volumes rose to $140.5 billion in the period, while M&A and equity deals dropped more than a fifth, according to Thomson Reuters data released this week. High valuations and uncertainty surrounding U.S. regulations and trade policies held back Canadian buyers from acquiring overseas assets, bankers said. But the maple bond market, in which foreign companies sell Canadian dollar-denominated debt, attracted a slew of blue-chip companies.
3 min read · 03 October 2017
Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD), a Québec retail private equity and venture capital fund, has accounted for $161.7 million in its 2017 fundraising year. The subscription level exceeded the $135 million ceiling set by the Québec government for tax-subsidized share sales. Montréal-based CRCD, which has more than 101,000 shareholders and manages net assets of more than $1.8 billion, reports committing $110 million to deals in the first half of 2017. Last year, Luc Ménard was appointed COO of the fund's manager, Desjardins Business Capital régional et coopératif.
3 min read · 03 October 2017
CrowdCare, a Toronto provider of enterprise cognitive care solutions, has rebranded as Wysdom.AI and raised $8.5 million in a follow-on financing. The round was led by ScaleUP Ventures, which announced a prior investment in Wysdom.AI earlier in 2017. Brightspark Ventures and Mantella Venture Partners also invested. Launched five years ago by CEO Ian Collins and President Jeff Brunet, Wysdom.AI's technology allows enterprises to deliver artificial intelligence-based customer care across all digital channels. The funds raised will be used to "scale our business and take this solution to hundreds of new clients," Collins said.
4 min read · 03 October 2017
Canadian cannabis investment firm Green Acre Capital has closed its debut fund, Green Acre Capital Fund I, raising $25 million. Most committed capital was secured from wealthy investors, with York Plains Investment Corp, W. Brett Wilson and Aphria Inc providing lead commitments. The fund will target investments in Canadian growth-stage ancillary companies in the legal medical and recreational cannabis industry. Its initial deals include Tokyo Smoke, a cannabis lifestyle and retail brand, and a merger of smoke shop product distributors. Based in Toronto, Green Acre is led by Managing Directors Matt Shalhoub and Tyler Stuart.
2 min read · 02 October 2017
Nanoport Technology Inc, a U.S. research lab for mobile technologies, has emerged from stealth and raised US$7 million in financing. Horizons Ventures led and was joined by other investors, including Canadian venture capital firm BrightSpark Ventures and Canadian alternative asset management firm Kensington Capital Partners. Founded in 2014, Sunnyvale, California-based Nanoport develops solutions for connectivity, haptics, multi-device applications and human-device interfaces. It also provides components for close-range communication, power transfer and modular device interactivity.
2 min read · 29 September 2017
Canadian mobile venture capital firm Relay Ventures has expanded its team. The firm brought on Spiros Michalakis, a California Institute of Technology quantum physics professor, as professor-in-residence. It also recruited Jessica Tsoong, co-founder of WiFiSLAM, an indoor mapping startup once funded by Relay, as an entrepreneur-in-residence, and Kady Srinivasan, global head of digital marketing at Dropbox, as a venture partner. Finally, Relay promoted Jake Cassaday to associate partner. Cassaday, who joined the firm in 2015, will as a member of the investment team source and lead deals directly.
4 min read · 29 September 2017
Summit, New Jersey-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Engage Therapeutics Inc has closed a US$23 million Series A financing. The round was led by TPG Biotech with participation from Adage Capital Management and Lumira Capital, a Canadian life sciences venture capital firm. As a result, Lumira Managing Director Gerry Brunk will join the company's board. Engage is developing a new rescue therapy for people who experience uncontrolled epileptic seizures. It will use the funds raised to back the Phase 2b clinical trial of its lead candidate, Staccato alprazolam, an acute epileptic treatment.
6 min read · 28 September 2017
Montréal-based Stradigi has launched Stradigi Labs, an applied research centre focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for medical and healthcare, sports, social platforms and other markets. The launch was backed by a "multi-million dollar" investment by the Dunn family, Panache Ventures, Mike Cegelski and Stradigi Ventures. Led by CSO Carolina Bessega, Stradigi Labs will incubate AI ideas for spin out as standalone companies or software licensed to other businesses. Its first spin-out was Propulse Analytics, a retail purchase prediction startup. Founded in 2005, Stradigi is a software development company.
5 min read · 28 September 2017
Kinova, a Canadian designer and manufacturer of robotic solutions, has secured $25 million in funding. The investment was led by Fonds Manufacturier Québécois, a fund sponsored by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. It was joined by South Korea's KTB Network, Taiwan's Foxconn and BDC Capital's Growth and Transition Capital. Based in Boisbriand, Québec, Kinova develops robotics platforms to empower people with disabilities and support industrial safety and efficiency. It will use the funds raised to pursue R&D, including in the medical robotics field, sales and marketing, and production. Founded in 2006, Kinova is led by CEO Charles Deguire.
5 min read · 28 September 2017
Canadian innovation hub MaRS Discovery District has appointed Yung Wu as its new CEO. Wu, who will assume the position on November 1st, is chairman of NFQ Ventures, a Toronto early-stage investment firm and venture accelerator. He also has an extensive entrepreneurial background, having served in senior executive roles at several technology startups, including venture-backed Fuse Powered Inc, acquired by Upsight Inc last year. Wu replaces Ilse Treurnicht, who led Toronto's MaRS for 12 years. Treurnicht, a former venture capital professional, announced her departure in June 2016.
3 min read · 28 September 2017
