Private Equity
One of Canada's largest insurers, Power Financial Corp, is investing in a Toronto-based startup with global ambitions to automate key segments of the insurance industry, Reuters reported. Collage, Canada's first cloud-based human resource and benefits platform, said it received $5 million in seed financing from venture capital firm Diagram. Diagram, launched earlier this year, is financed primarily by Portag3 Ventures, whose exclusive backers are Power Financial and some of its subsidiaries, including insurer Great-West Life.
2 min read · 22 February 2017
Toronto HR and benefits platform Collage has raised $5 million in seed-stage financing. The announcement confirms news previously shared by the startup's Canadian investor, Diagram, which launched a $25 million debut fund in January. Founded last year by Elijah Moore, Peter Demangos and Steven Hanna, Collage has developed a cloud-based software application that helps businesses automate the administrative work involved with HR, group benefits, and payroll administration. Diagram CEO François Lafortune said his firm's focus on backing "the best insurance technology in Canada," made Collage "a natural choice for one of our first investments."
4 min read · 22 February 2017
Roadmunk, a roadmap visualization software platform, has secured $1.5 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Golden Venture Partners and joined by Felicis Ventures and Garage Capital. Founded in 2012 by CEO Latif Nanji and CTO Tomas Benda, Toronto-based Roadmunk has built a web application that allows enterprises to create and share visual strategy roadmaps. With additional offices in Waterloo and London, United Kingdom, the startup has grown to serve more that 25,000 product managers in organizations worldwide. Roadmunk has previously received funding from BDC Capital.
3 min read · 22 February 2017
Montréal software company Sofdesk has raised $3 million in a Series A financing led by EnerTech Capital, an investor in Canadian and U.S. energy and power sectors. EnerTech was joined in the round by BDC Capital's ICE Venture Fund. As a result, EnerTech Managing Director Wally Hunter will join the company's board. Founded in 2013, Sofdesk provides technology that helps reduce soft costs for solar installation and roofing businesses and is developing solutions for the insurance and utility sectors. Led by CEO Lennie Moreno, the company plans to use the funds raised to expand and scale its platform in target markets and add to its team.
3 min read · 22 February 2017
A report by the Advancing Innovation Roundtable, an investor-led working group funded by TMX Group, argues that a capital gap for growth-stage companies is inhibiting Canada's innovation economy and must be closed. Salil Munjal, the roundtable's chair, said the gap, estimated at $4 billion, can be addressed with "immediate actions" involving both private and public-market players. The report proposes several recommendations, targeted to institutional capital, public markets and ecosystem foundations. They include renewal of Ottawa's Venture Capital Action Plan and creation of an Innovation Growth Fund to facilitate institutional investment.
3 min read · 21 February 2017
Canadian venture investing hit a 15-year high in 2016 thanks to numerous large-sized rounds, many of them the outcome of years of heavy lifting by local investors. VC funds invested $3.7 billion in 2016, up 36 percent from 2015, according to data from Thomson Reuters. The key variable was big financings. Fourteen rounds sized north of $50 million took $1.4 billion, or 37 percent, of the total invested. That’s a record concentration of cash in Canada’s top deals.
4 min read · 17 February 2017
U.S. early education software startup Brightwheel has raised US$10 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by GGV Capital and joined by new and existing investors, including Golden Venture Partners, a Canadian venture capital firm. Founded in 2014, San Francisco's Brightwheel provides a cloud-based management and communication platform for preschools, childcare providers, camps and afterschool programs. The company plans to use the funds raised to accelerate product development and expand its team.
3 min read · 16 February 2017
Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD), a retail private equity and venture capital fund, generated net income of $86 million in 2016 for an annual return of 5.3 percent. Partly as a result, net assets rose to nearly $1.8 billion at the end of December. The fund reported it and partner funds committed $160 million to 109 companies last year, bringing total investments to date to $2 billion. CRCD is managed by Desjardins Business Capital régional et coopératif, the investment arm of Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, a Canadian cooperative financial group.
4 min read · 16 February 2017
Michael Sabia has been reappointed president and CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The renewed mandate, effective until March 2021, was approved by the pension fund's board and the Québec government. Sabia joined the Caisse in 2009 from BCE Inc, where he served as president and CEO. Based in Montréal, the Caisse oversees about $254.9 billion in net assets. It was recently ranked as one of the world's largest private equity investors.
2 min read · 16 February 2017
Montréal-based luxury vacation rental company Luxury Retreats has been acquired by Airbnb, a U.S. online hospitality business. No financial terms were released, however, the Globe and Mail reported Airbnb paid between US$200 million and US$300 million in cash and stock. Luxury Retreats will continue to operate as a standalone entity in the short term, with Founder and CEO Joe Poulin joining Airbnb as a luxury specialist. Airbnb said it will invest in Luxury Retreats, which offers over 4,000 homes in 100 destinations worldwide. Luxury Retreats raised about US$20 million from Canadian venture capital firm iNovia Capital and other investors, including 2015's US$11 million Series B round.
4 min read · 16 February 2017
