Private Equity
Business has doubled for Canadian financial technology company Financeit since it purchased the home improvement financing assets of Toronto-Dominion Bank and the company is seeking more acquisitions, its founder told Reuters. TD sold its indirect home improvement financing assets, which had a book value of $339 million, in September, to Financeit and Concentra, a provider of services to credit unions, in a deal that added more than 800 merchant dealers to Financeit's portfolio. CEO Michael Garrity, Financeit's founder, said the deal had transformed his business, doubling its loan value and revenue, and Financeit would now consider more acquisitions.
2 min read · 14 December 2016
Meal-kit delivery startup Chefs Plate has closed a second tranche of its Series B financing with an investment from InvestEco Capital's second sustainable food fund. Terms were disclosed. InvestEco joined existing backers Acton Capital Partners, Emil Capital and BrandProject, which jointly invested $6 million in the company in September. Founded in 2014, Toronto's Chefs Plate delivers pre-portioned, locally-sourced fresh ingredients and recipes to homes. It will use the proceeds of the over-subscribed Series B round to further enhance its Canadian supplier network.
3 min read · 14 December 2016
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial has provided US$8.5 million in growth funding to Conversica, a Foster City, California provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered business conversations. Wellington's investment was part of the company's US$34 million Series B financing, led by Providence Equity Partners. Founded in 2007, Conversica supports sales and marketing activity with AI-enabled software that engages leads in two-way human conversations via e-mail. It plans to use the funds raised to expand sales and marketing, support ongoing product development, and continue growth of its operations.
4 min read · 14 December 2016
Mojio Inc has secured about $19.7 million (US$15 million) in a Series A financing. The round was backed by Amazon Alexa Fund, Deutsche Telekom, BDC Capital and Relay Ventures, as well as BC Tech Fund, which announced its investment in October. Founded in 2012, Vancouver's Mojio has developed a cloud-based connected car platform that supplies apps and services to enterprise customers, including wireless operators, auto manufacturers, car dealers, insurers and fleets. Led by CEO Kenny Hawk, the company plans to use the funds raised to hire additional engineering talent in Palo Alto, Prague and Vancouver to support product launches in 2017.
4 min read · 12 December 2016
Element AI, an Montréal artificial intelligence (AI) incubator, has received an undisclosed investment from Microsoft Ventures, the venture capital arm of U.S. technology giant Microsoft Corp. The investment, the first made by Microsoft Ventures in an AI-focused company, will support the incubator's goal of helping large corporations, entrepreneurs and researchers solve "hard problems with AI," Element AI said. Element AI was launched in October by Jean-François Gagné, Nicolas Chapados and Yoshua Bengio with the backing of Canadian early-stage venture capital firm Real Ventures.
2 min read · 12 December 2016
Toronto digital marketing startup Maropost has secured an undisclosed investment from U.S. venture capital firm Elephant Partners and European venture capital firm Highland Europe. Founded in 2011 by CEO Ross Andrew, Maropost provides e-mail and digital marketing automation solutions to help enterprises connect with customers. It placed fourth on Deloitte's 2016 Canadian Technology Fast 50, showing a five-year revenue growth rate of 3,809 percent. The company said the funds raised will allow it to continue expanding its geographic footprint and accelerate the development of new products and functionality, including machine learning.
4 min read · 12 December 2016
German healthcare group Bayer said on Monday it has set up a joint venture with U.S. life sciences venture capital firm Versant Ventures to invest US$225 million ($296 million) in a stem cell therapy company based in Toronto, Reuters reported. The investors said the financing, one of the largest ever for an initial round of venture capital funding for a biotech company, and the biggest of its kind in Canada, will allow scientists to focus on research and development of treatments for cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders over the next four years. The venture, BlueRock Therapeutics, is expected to initially employ 30 to 40 people in Toronto, and 70 to 80 people worldwide. It will be based primarily out of Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, one of the world's largest innovation hubs.
2 min read · 12 December 2016
Desjardins Business Capital régional et coopératif, the private equity and venture capital arm of Desjardins Group, announced the appointment of Sylvain Dupuis as managing vice president of its investments division. Dupuis, who joined the organization in 2010, will be responsible for all investment activity in Québec. This will include overseeing a portfolio valued at nearly $1 billion and leading an investment team of about 40 professionals. Desjardins Business Capital régional et coopératif, which manages three funds, named Luc Ménard as its chief operating officer in August.
2 min read · 09 December 2016
Goddess Garden Organics, a U.S. provider of natural, certified-organic sunscreen products, has secured an undisclosed amount in a Series A financing. The round was led by Renewal Funds, a Canadian impact venture capital firm. Founded in 2004 by Nova Covington, Boulder, Colorado's Goddess Garden has a suncare line that is carried in close to 10,000 stores in the United States and Canada. The company's partnership with Renewal Funds is intended to accelerate its environmental mission.
3 min read · 08 December 2016
Canada's Scotiabank and QED Investors have teamed up to launch a venture capital platform that will invest in Latin American fintech startups. QED Investors will manage the fund, while Scotiabank will help its partner to assess potential investments, and also provide financing and resources to specific Latin American markets. QED Investors is a U.S. boutique venture capital firm.
4 min read · 08 December 2016
