Private Equity
Vancouver, British Columbia and San Francisco-based Iris Automation Inc, an industrial drone startup, has secured US$1.5 million in funding. The investors included Social Capital, GGV, Bee Partners and Liquid 2. Founded in 2015, Iris Automation is a recent graduate of the YCombinator startup accelerator program.
4 min read · 20 January 2017
Canada's Vistara Capital Partners has provided US$5 million in a growth capital facility to InvestEdge Inc, a U.S. provider of digital wealth solutions to financial advisors. The deal, which represents the first external financing of Philadelphia's InvestEdge, is intended to accelerate the growth of a new area in digital investment product delivery, and expand markets for the company’s portfolio analytics, risk management and client reporting solutions. Vistara, a growth debt and equity investor in technology companies, raised its debut fund in 2015. Last November, it led a $13.4 million investment in financial software company Zafin.
2 min read · 19 January 2017
League Inc, a Toronto startup that has excited investors because of its potential to streamline health benefits and the insurance market, will soon offer insurance products in the United States and complete its Canadian roll-out, CEO Michael Serbinis told Reuters. The two-year-old company is also eyeing overseas expansion and broadening its services this year, which could prompt another round of funding this fall or next spring, he said. "Coming out of the summer-September, if we're on plan to do this, we'll probably raise at least $100 million," said Serbinis, who founded Kobo, a Canadian digital reading platform.
2 min read · 19 January 2017
Datavail Corp, a U.S. managed services provider of data and database administration, has acquired Navantis Inc, a Toronto-based company focused on application development, support and systems integration across Microsoft product suites. No financial terms were disclosed. Founded in 1998, Navantis has been backed by Canadian private equity firm Hawthorn Equity Partners. Broomfield, Colorado's Datavail said the deal will expand its offerings to respond to customer requirements and challenges. It added that the acquisition was enabled by a US$47 million financing closed in 2015. The round was led by Catalyst Investors and joined by new and existing investors.
4 min read · 18 January 2017
Royal Bank of Canada is hiring a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI) as an advisor to a new research lab the bank is establishing as part of its investment in AI and machine learning, Reuters reported. The bank declined to say how much is being invested, but estimated that its ongoing investments in AI will total in the tens of millions of dollars over the coming years. RBC Research said it is looking into how AI can be applied in banking and it will be working with Richard Sutton, a professor of computing science at the University of Alberta.
2 min read · 18 January 2017
Tokyo Smoke, a Canadian cannabis lifestyle brand, has secured $3 million in a Series A financing. The round was backed by angel investors, including W. Brett Wilson and Chuck Rifici, as well as Globalive Capital. Founded in 2015 by CEO Alan Gertner and Chairman Lorne Gertner, Toronto's Tokyo Smoke is a developer of retail spaces with coffee, clothing and designer products. It is also partnering with Aphria Inc to release four branded cannabis strains in the first quarter of 2017. The proceeds of the Series A will be used for product development, growing the management team and global expansion.
3 min read · 17 January 2017
Canadian software growth equity firm Klass Capital has hired Dave Vu as talent acquisition manager. Vu will join the firm's talent team, headed by Jared Tessis. He will work closely with portfolio companies, providing them with recruitment and talent acquisition services. Prior to joining Klass, Vu served as the head of talent acquisition at EventMobi. Toronto-based Klass is led by Founder and Managing Director Daniel Klass. Its portfolio companies include Resolver, a risk and incident management software provider acquired by Klass in 2015.
3 min read · 17 January 2017
Portag3 Ventures, a financial technology fund backed by Canada's Power Financial Corp, has invested an undisclosed amount in finance startup Street Contxt, Portag3's president told Reuters. "Our target for this coming year is to make 10 to 15 investments," Adam Felesky, Portag3 president and co-founder said. "The most recent one we did was Street Contxt." Started in 2012, Toronto-based Street Contxt lets financial analysts distribute their research reports to capital markets clients and track how they are used, and offers a system for money managers to organize and make the most of the research they amass.
2 min read · 16 January 2017
Ontario Capital Growth Corp (OCGC), the Ontario government's venture capital agency, has launched a search process for one or more managers to help it form and administer a proposed Cleantech Equity Fund. The fund, which will be anchored with $55 million authorized by the 2016 Ontario Budget, will focus on investing in high-growth clean technology companies located in the province. The government's anchor commitment is expected to leverage a minimum of 1.5x its weight in commitments from other investors. OCGC said it will participate in the fund on the same terms as other limited partners.
3 min read · 16 January 2017
Canadian entrepreneurs are showing more confidence in the economy and plan to boost investment to $96.6 billion in 2017, up 1.6 percent from a year ago, according to a new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). Of some 3,988 small business executives surveyed late last year, 70 percent said they believe their revenue will increase in 2017, up from 45 percent who had the same expectation in 2016. Technology companies, manufacturers and goods exporters reported the strongest growth in investing intentions. Top spending priorities are growth and productivity projects, led by IT, training, machinery, equipment and vehicles.
3 min read · 16 January 2017
