Canada

Richard Glickman, Jacki Jenuth tapped as Lumira Capital partners

Canadian life sciences venture capital firm Lumira Capital announced several investment team promotions and hires. They included the promotion of Dr. Jacki Jenuth, a 16-year veteran of the firm, to partner. Dr. Richard Glickman, chairman and CEO of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq: AUPH, TSX: AUP), a Lumira portfolio company, was also brought on as a partner. Additionally, Lumira promoted Dr. Lu Han to director, business development Asia Pacific, and hired Baye Galligan as an analyst. Lumira this week won a commitment for Lumira Capital IV from BC Tech Fund.

Lumira Capital IV wins commitment from BC Tech Fund

BC Tech Fund has made an undisclosed commitment to Lumira Capital IV, the fourth healthcare and life sciences fund of Canadian venture capital firm Lumira Capital. Dr. Richard Glickman, chairman and CEO of Victoria, British Columbia-based Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq: AUPH, TSX: AUP), a Lumira portfolio company, was concurrently named a partner at the firm. Earlier this week, Vancouver's Zymeworks Inc, another Lumira portfolio company, filed to go public. Capitalized at $100 million, BC Tech Fund was launched last year under the management of Kensington Capital Partners.

Corporate catering platform Platterz raises $6.7 mln seed round

Toronto catering platform Platterz has raised $6.7 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was backed by a mix of venture capital and angel investors, including AltaIR Capital, Globalive Capital, Kevin Kimsa, Dennis Bennie, Ran Makavy and Oren Zeev. Launched early in 2016 by CEO Eran Henig and President Yishay Waxman, Platterz utilizes machine learning technology to automate the ordering of food for office locations. Used today by more than 1,000 corporate customers, the startup plans to use the funds raised to expand globally, accelerate product development, and increase sales and marketing activity.

Canadian VC begins 2017 strongly as top Q1 deals take $400 mln

Canada’s top 10 first-quarter venture-capital financings drew close to $400 million from investors. While that’s down 19 percent from the $490 million raised by the top 10 deals a year earlier, it far exceeds the first-quarter results of other recent years. The estimate is based on PE Hub Canada’s list of the largest financings announced from January through March, supplemented by Thomson Reuters data. The list is headed by PointClickCare, which accounted for 2017’s first deal sized above $100 million, Visier, Inocucor Technologies and Fusion Pharma.

Venture-backed Zymeworks files for Canadian and U.S. IPO

Vancouver-based biotherapeutics company Zymeworks Inc has filed with Canadian and U.S. regulatory authorities for an initial public offering of its common shares. The IPO, which will give the company a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ZYME”, has not been officially priced; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission notes a proposed offering size of as much as $100 million (US$75 million). Last year, Zymeworks closed one of Canada's largest venture capital rounds, raising about $87 million (US$61.5 million). It was led by BDC Capital and Lumira Capital and joined by multiple other investors.

Robotics startup Novarc seeded with $1 mln by Seaspan, BDC

Novarc Technologies Inc, a Vancouver robotics systems platform, has raised $1 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian marine transportation business Seaspan ULC with participation from Canadian venture capital firm BDC Capital. Founded in 2013, Novarc builds advanced custom robots for pipe welding and materials handling, a solution used in the shipbuilding industry. It will use the funds raised to scale commercialization of its Spool Welding Robot technology, expand sales and marketing activity in North America, and continue investing in R&D.

Startups, VCs among investors of $80 mln in AI institute Vector

Vector Institute, a new artificial intelligence facility, has been launched at Toronto's MaRS Discovery District. Chaired by former TD Bank Group CEO Ed Clark, Vector will develop a Canadian economic cluster through partnerships that advance AI research and drive the adoption and commercialization of AI technologies. The Canadian and Ontario governments have committed funding to Vector. Additionally, more than 30 companies agreed to commit $80 million over 10 years. They included venture-backed startups, such as Clearpath, FreshBooks, Integrate.AI and Thalmic Labs, as well as investors, such as Georgian Partners.

Fathom to be spun out to VC investors with RX Networks' sale

Discovery Capital Management Corp has confirmed an earlier report of the sale of Rx Networks Inc to China's Beijing BDStar Navigation Co Ltd. Discovery clarified that the pending sale, valued at $31 million, involves the Vancouver company's Location.io division, a provider of location assistance solutions. Prior to the close, another business, Fathom Systems Inc, a specialist in beacon and Bluetooth indoor positioning technologies, will be spun out of Rx Networks to its existing investors. The latter include British Columbia Discovery Fund, Discovery's venture capital fund, and Telus Ventures. Fathom's technology was recently commercially launched.

Ford hires 400 engineers, mostly in Canada, as cars go high tech: Reuters

Ford Motor Co said it was hiring 400 engineers, mostly in Canada, to work on connectivity software and hardware, part of a wider push to meet demand for more connected cars, Reuters reported. The 300 engineers in Canada and 100 in the United States will double the current size of the Detroit automaker's mobile connectivity engineering team. The new hires, many of whom are coming from BlackBerry Ltd's shuttered handset business, will work on infotainment, in-vehicle modems, gateway modules, handset integration, security, driver assist features and autonomous vehicles.

Vanedge Capital invests in MapD's $25 mln Series B round

San Francisco's MapD Technologies Inc has raised a US$25 million Series B financing. The round was led by NEA and joined by existing investors, including Canadian venture capital firm Vanedge Capital, which led MapD's US$10 million Series A last year. Founded in 2013, MapD has developed a software platform that combines a GPU-based SQL query engine and visual analytics to enable the exploration of large data sets. It plans to use the funds raised to increase customer adoption and product development. Earlier in 2017, Vanedge announced the close of Vanedge Capital II, raising $161 million.