Private Equity
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has made a US$100 million growth equity investment in AvidXchange, a Charlotte, North Carolina provider of accounts payable and payment automation solutions. The investment formed part of a US$300 million round with contributions from Mastercard, Temasek and Peter Thiel. CDPQ's Aviva Shneider said AvidXchange is "exactly the kind of financial technology company" the Canadian pension fund has been seeking to back. AvidXchange said the partnership with CDPQ will help it expand its product offering in new markets and serve new clients outside of the United States.
3 min read · 08 June 2017
U.S. angel investment firm WorldQuant Ventures has invested in Canalyst, a Canadian equity research technology provider for institutional finance professionals. The investment's value was not disclosed. The deal will allow Canalyst to enhance its cloud-based, on-demand equity model database by enabling analytics capabilities and expanding coverage for small- and mid-cap companies. Launched in 2015, Vancouver-based Canalyst last year raised $2.7 million in seed financing led by Canadian venture capital firm Vanedge Capital. The startup is led by Founder and CEO Damir Hot.
2 min read · 08 June 2017
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF) has provided a $15 million lead commitment to Lumira Capital IV, a late-stage life sciences fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm Lumira Capital. With the commitment, NVCF, a fund of funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, reached full investment. Capitalized at $300 million in mid-2015, NVCF has committed to 13 funds and made 11 direct investments. It has backed Lumira funds since 2012. Last year, it invested alongside Lumira in Vancouver-based biotherapeutics company Zymeworks, which went public last month. NVCF is overseen by Northleaf Director Ian Carew.
3 min read · 08 June 2017
Clairvest Group and Yaletown Partners are the 2017 recipients of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association's (CVCA) Deal of the Year awards. Toronto-based Clairvest won in the private equity category for its recent sale of outdoor advertising business Cieslok Media Inc to Bell Media Inc. The sale provided Clairvest with cash proceeds equal to 8.4x invested capital and an IRR of 92 percent. Vancouver-based Yaletown won in the venture capital category for last year's sale of industrial internet platform Bit Stew Systems Inc to GE Digital. The sale gave Yaletown 7x on its initial outlay, and a total of 4.3x on combined rounds, resulting in an IRR of 98.3 percent.
6 min read · 08 June 2017
Canadian life sciences venture capital firm Lumira Capital said that a portion of the profit share from its latest fund, Lumira Capital IV, will be donated to up to fifteen healthcare foundations in Canada. The donation will support foundations' research, translational medicine and healthcare access missions. Additionally, affiliated foundation institutions will gain access to Lumira's team and networks to accelerate their strategies. Lumira said the initiative was welcomed by fund investors, including BDC, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fondaction CSN, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Iljin, Kensington Capital Partners, Northleaf Capital Partners and Teralys Capital.
4 min read · 06 June 2017
Canadian chatbot startup Zoom.ai Inc has raised $2.1 million in a seed-stage financing. Ten venture capital firms and angel investors backed the round, including leader Extreme Venture Partners (EVP) as well as Betaworks NYC, MaRS IAF, Golden Triangle Angel Network, BDC Capital, Good News Venture Partners, TribalScale and others. Founded last year by CEO Roy Pereira, Toronto-based Zoom.ai has developed an automated virtual assistant that helps offload unimportant workplace tasks and increase productivity. The company will use the funds raised to expand its team to include sales, customer success, support and marketing.
6 min read · 06 June 2017
GroupBy Inc has acquired Edgecase, a U.S. retail data enrichment software company. No financial terms were released. GroupBy, a Toronto-based e-commerce search and merchandising provider, said the deal will create a comprehensive cross-channel digital commerce solution. It will also provide GroupBy with a U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2012, Edgecase has been backed by Allegro Venture Partners, Austin Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Floodgate and other investors. GroupBy, founded in 2014, is a portfolio investment of Canadian venture capital firm BEST Funds.
4 min read · 05 June 2017
Beanworks Solutions Inc, a Vancouver accounting automation company, has raised $4.5 million in a Series A financing. Vancouver Founder Fund and TIMIA Capital Corp led the round. Founded in 2012, Beanworks has developed a software-as-a-service platform that helps enterprises manage their accounts payable workflows and pay their vendors. Led by CEO Catherine Dahl, the company plans to use the funds raised to scale its operations. PE Hub Canada earlier this week reported on TIMIA's $2 million revenue financing agreement with Beanworks.
3 min read · 02 June 2017
Greenlight Financial Technology Inc, an Atlanta, Georgia-based developer of a smart debit card for kids, has raised US$7.5 million in seed-stage financing. Canadian venture capital firm Relay Ventures led the round, which also saw participation from Social Capital, New Enterprise Associates and TTV Capital. With the investment, Relay Partner Alex Baker joined the board. Founded in 2014, Greenlight reported that it is on track to process more than 1,000,000 transactions this year. It will use the funds raised to accelerate growth, in part by expanding its engineering, marketing and customer service teams.
4 min read · 02 June 2017
The total valuation of late-stage, venture-backed private companies in the United States and Europe has exploded from a few dozen startups worth a collective US$40 billion in 2010 to hundreds of firms that together are now worth almost US$500 billion, Reuters reported, citing a new study. The numbers show the magnitude of recent trend in which the biggest Silicon Valley startups raise hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars from private investors while delaying their entrance into public markets. There are now 471 late-stage private companies with an approximate valuation of US$490 billion, according to the report from Scenic Advisement, a San Francisco-based investment bank.
2 min read · 02 June 2017
