Private Equity
Medgate Inc has acquired regAction Inc, an environmental compliance management software company based in Houston, Texas. No financial terms were disclosed. Toronto-based Medgate said the deal accelerates its market growth and roadmap for enterprise environmental, health and safety software solutions. Founded in 1985, Medgate secured an investment led by U.S. growth equity firm Norwest Venture Partners last March. Also participating in the round was Canadian growth equity firm Georgian Partners and BMO Financial Group. One of the objectives of the investment was to support the company's strategic acquisitions.
3 min read · 15 February 2017
The private funds industry will be a key focus in 2017, as fund investors and sponsors negotiate issues of critical importance to both sides. Watching from the sidelines will be regulators, who have recently increased their scrutiny of the industry. For this reason, Torys LLP’s private equity team decided to take a deep-dive look at the topic. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Torys' Matthew Murray, Amy Johnson-Spina, Shannon Gotfrit and Batya Nadler discuss what they feel are the top five issues for investors and sponsors when negotiating the terms of private funds.
8 min read · 15 February 2017
MineSense Technologies Ltd, a Vancouver provider of data analytics systems for the mining industry, has secured $19 million in a follow-on financing. Chile's Aurus Ventures led the round. It was joined by Caterpillar Ventures, the venture arm of Caterpillar Inc, and existing investors Chrysalix Venture Capital, Cycle Capital Management, Prelude Ventures and Export Development Canada. Founded in 2008, MineSense provides real-time, sensor-based ore sorting solutions that help improve the productivity and environmental footprint of mines. It plans to use the funds raised to commercialize its technology. MineSense is led by President and CEO Jeff More.
3 min read · 15 February 2017
Toronto education technology company Top Hat has secured about $30 million (US$22.5 million) in a Series C financing. The round was backed by Union Square Ventures, a new investor, which joined Georgian Partners, Emergence Capital, iNovia Capital, Golden Venture Partners, Version One Ventures and SoftTech VC, all of them investors in Top Hat's $10 million Series B in 2014. Founded in 2009, Top Hat is the developer of a cloud-based student engagement and interactive teaching platform. CEO Mike Silagadze said the funds raised will help expand its solutions, currently used at 750 post-secondary institutions, to transform the US$10-billion U.S. textbook industry.
5 min read · 15 February 2017
Vancouver mobile customer engagement platform Mobify has closed a follow-on financing. The undisclosed round was led by BDC Capital IT Venture Fund, a new investor, and joined by Acton Capital Partners, which led Mobify's $10 million Series A financing last year. As a result, BDC Capital Partner Andrew Lugsdin has taken a seat on the board. Led since its founding in 2007 by CEO Igor Faletski, Mobify has developed technology that helps retailers and brands to boost revenue by building strong customer relationships. It said the latest round follows the company's best sales year to date. Last April, Mobify bought machine learning platform Pathful.
4 min read · 14 February 2017
QD Solar Inc, a Toronto solar technology startup created by the University of Toronto and MaRS Innovation, has secured $2.5 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Dutch venture capital firm DSM Venturing with participation from MaRS Innovation and Saudi Arabia's KAUST Innovation Fund. The company said the round's proceeds bring available funding from all sources to $10 million. That includes $2.5 million raised from Sustainable Development Technology Canada last year. Founded in 2014, QD Solar has developed quantum dot-based solar cells that can absorb wasted infrared light and boost the output of solar panels.
4 min read · 13 February 2017
Canada is creating "financially unattractive" technology companies, according to a new study by the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto. The study, which compared 49 of Canada's largest-financed technology ventures to 49 U.S.-based unicorns, found that the former wait longer before raising funds; they raise funds less often; and they raise less money over time. As a result of a better fundraising experience, U.S. companies tend to scale more rapidly, the study found. This is evidenced in a U.S. growth rate of 63 percent per year compared with a Canadian rate of 47 percent.
2 min read · 13 February 2017
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial has invested US$6 million in Electric Cloud, a San Jose, California-based DevOps release automation platform. Electric Cloud, whose technology solutions help organizations to deliver software faster by automating and accelerating build, deployment and release processes, also secured US$5 million from Bridge Bank. The company said the funds raised will support operational expansion and further product development. Electric Cloud is backed by Rembrandt Venture Partners, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital.
5 min read · 13 February 2017
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial has provided $14 million in growth funding to Dejero Labs Inc, a Waterloo cloud-based platform that simplifies the transport of live video and real-time data across remote or mobile IP networks. The funds raised will support delivery of the company's solutions to a broad range of customers. Wellington Partner Mark Usher said Dejero’s technology is "indispensable" to news teams and will gain momentum as it expands into live broadcast media and entertainment. Founded in 2008, Dejero has over the past three years appeared on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 list. It is also a portfolio investment of BEST Funds.
3 min read · 10 February 2017
Major Canadian insurance firms are investing $290 million in a Toronto-based research complex, repaying the bulk of its loans from the Ontario government nearly three years ahead of schedule, Reuters reported. Manulife Financial Corp, Sun Life Financial Inc and iA Financial Group led the financing deal by investing in 19-year bonds issued by Phase II Investment Trust, the innovation hub said. MaRS Discovery District, which focuses on areas including health sciences and technology, has become a successful startup incubator and a part of Ontario's efforts to drive innovation and attract entrepreneurs.
2 min read · 09 February 2017
