Private Equity
Therapia, an online platform for on-demand at-home physiotherapy, has raised $750,000 in seed-stage financing. The round was led by angel investors in the healthcare space, including Dr. Anthony Romeo, a surgeon for the Chicago White Sox. Founded in 2015 by six healthcare entrepreneurs to create more affordable and accessible physiotherapy, Toronto-based Therapia plans to use the funds raised to grow its network of physiotherapists in the region. It also plans to expand across Canada within the next two years, starting with the Vancouver market.
3 min read · 29 March 2017
Inocucor Technologies Inc, a Montréal agricultural biotechnology company, has raised $38.8 million in the initial close of its Series B financing. The round was led by TPG ART, a late-stage venture capital fund of U.S. alternative assets firm TPG. It was joined by existing investors Cycle Capital Management and Desjardins Innovatech, as well as Closed Loop Capital. With the round, TPG's Geoff Duyk joined the board. Founded in 2007, Inocucor develops sustainable biological inputs to improve crop yields, shorten growing periods and create healthier, more resilient soils. The funds raised will support opening a U.S. office, increasing productive capacity and new hires.
4 min read · 28 March 2017
Artificial intelligence (AI) will become the primary way banks interact with their customers within the next three years, according to three quarters of bankers surveyed by consultancy Accenture in a new report. Four in five bankers believe AI will "revolutionise" the way in which banks gather information as well as how they interact with their clients, said the Accenture report, which surveyed more than 600 top bankers and also consulted tech industry experts and academics.
2 min read · 28 March 2017
Canadian mobile venture capital firm Relay Ventures has hired Irfhan Rawji as a venture partner. Rawji, who is based in Calgary, will help Relay develop its market presence in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Before joining the firm, he had a 15-year career as a strategic consultant, investor, and public company senior executive responsible for M&A, strategy and investor relations. On the investment side, Rawji's experience included senior roles at Birch Hill Equity Partners and Onex Corp. Relay raised $200 million for its third mobile fund last November.
3 min read · 28 March 2017
Beijing BDStar Navigation Co Ltd has agreed to acquire Rx Networks Inc, a Vancouver-based mobile positioning technology company, according to a Reuters report. Reuters said the Chinese company, a maker of satellite navigation positioning products, struck a deal to buy Rx Networks for $31 million. Founded in 2006, Rx Networks is a portfolio company of Canadian venture capital firms Discovery Capital and Telus Ventures, the investment arm of Telus Communications Co, among other investors.
1 min read · 27 March 2017
Lufa Farms Inc, a Montréal developer of urban agriculture facilities, has launched its third greenhouse atop an existing building in Anjou, Québec. The greenhouse, the largest to date at 63,000 square feet, was backed with a $3 million investment by Fonds de solidarité FTQ. Founded in 2009 by Mohamed Hage, Lufa promotes commercial-scale vegetable farming that relies on environmentally responsible methods. Additional facilities are planned for selected cities in Canada and the United States.
3 min read · 27 March 2017
Montréal software startup Kaloom Inc has raised about $14.3 million (US$10.7 million) in a Series A financing. The round, closed in December, was led by Canadian private equity and venture capital firm Fonds de solidarité FTQ and joined by Somel Investments, MBUZZ Investments, Griffin Capital and other investors. Launched in 2014, Kaloom is building a software networking solution aimed at helping data centres deliver services and applications with higher performance and lower cost. The company, led by Co-Founder and CEO Simon Williams, is currently growing its team in Montréal, where most R&D is undertaken, and in Silicon Valley.
5 min read · 24 March 2017
Avrio Capital is seeing a lucrative payout on money invested in Farmers Edge following the precision agriculture company’s refinancing earlier this year. Farmers Edge, provider of a digital platform to help farmers boost crop production, in December announced an investment by Fairfax Financial, the holding company of Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa. As part of the deal, Fairfax bought out stakes held by Silicon Valley heavyweight Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Aviro, a Calgary agricultural tech venture firm and one of Farmers Edge’s earliest backers.
3 min read · 24 March 2017
Laval, Québec biopharmaceutical company Prometic Life Sciences Inc (TSX: PLI) has agreed to receive a $25 million loan from the structured financing affiliate of Thomvest Asset Management, the investment firm of Peter Thomson. The deal will increase Thomvest's total investment in the company to $85 million. Prometic, which is currently focused on developing therapeutics from its plasma-derived and small-molecule platforms, said the funds raised will support the launch of its first commercially-approved drug in Q4 2017. In February, the company secured additional equity from California Capital Equity.
4 min read · 24 March 2017
The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) has welcomed the federal government's decision to implement a new scheme to stimulate risk financing of Canadian technology entrepreneurs and startups. Ottawa's Budget 2017 unveiled the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI), a $400 million program to be administered by BDC Capital. Like the Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP), a comparable program launched in 2014, VCCI will leverage private-sector capital to bring up to $1.5 billion into the market. It will give a particular focus to late-stage opportunities. CVCA CEO Mike Woollatt said VCCI will help "catalyse Canadian venture capital."
3 min read · 23 March 2017
