Private Equity
Toronto-based Hubba, a network designed to help connect brands and retailers, has raised a Series B financing. The amount was not disclosed; however, the Wall Street Journal reported it is close to US$45 million. Goldman Sachs Investment Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors Real Ventures, Kensington Venture Fund and Brightspark Ventures. Founded in 2011 by CEO Ben Zifkin, Hubba reports it has more than 40,000 companies in its network and facilitates thousands of commercial connections on a daily basis. It will use the funds raised to develop new products and features and expand its geographic footprint.
4 min read · 06 December 2016
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has promoted Jonathan Hausman to the role of managing director and head of its new global strategic relationships department. The appointment, effective on January 1, 2017, will give Hausman responsibility for developing and cultivating mutually beneficial investment relationships around the world. Hausman, who joined Ontario Teachers' in 2004, was previously responsible for its global hedge fund portfolio. Prior to then, he was an executive director at Goldman Sachs.
3 min read · 05 December 2016
Portag3Ventures, a fintech fund launched in October by Canadian holding company Power Corp, is led by an executive who knows a thing or two about disrupting the financial world. Adam Felesky, Portag3’s president and managing partner, spent much of his career in the exchange-traded-funds business. He likens the public-market experience of ETFs to today’s fintech startups, whose innovations reflect a new source of challenge and opportunity to traditional financial services providers.
3 min read · 02 December 2016
Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed, a Montréal cloud point-of-sale platform, has received Startup Canada's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award." Dasilva was honoured at this week's third annual National Startup Canada Awards in Toronto. Lightspeed, which has raised $145 million in total funding, accounted for Canada's largest venture capital deal in 2015. Other Startup Canada award winners included Nadia Hamilton, founder and CEO of Magnusmode, who took the "Woman Entrepreneur Award," and Randy Yatscoff, executive vice president of TEC Edmonton, who took the "Adam Chowaniec Lifetime Achievement Award."
4 min read · 01 December 2016
The majority of institutional investors worldwide are seeking to increase their investments in riskier alternatives that are not publicly traded, such as hedge funds, real estate and private equity, over the next one to two years to combat potential low returns and choppiness in public markets, Reuters reported. The Fidelity Global Institutional Investor Survey showed that 72 percent of institutional investors, from public pension funds to insurance companies and endowments, said they would increase their exposure to these so-called illiquid alternatives in 2017 and 2018.
2 min read · 01 December 2016
Toronto financial technology startup Dream Payments has raised about $2 million (US$1.5 million), adding to the $6 million raised in March 2015. Dream Payments received the money from Connecticut Innovations (CI) after becoming the 2016 top investment award winner of Connecticut's VentureClash. The funding will accelerate the company's entry into the United States, CI said. Founded in 2014, Dream Payments provides businesses with a cloud-based mobile point-of-sale solution. It is backed by Canadian venture capital firms Blue Sky Capital, Real Ventures and Rouge River Capital, among other investors.
3 min read · 01 December 2016
A new report by the Conference Board of Canada found the financial services industry has been a strong source of growth for the Canadian economy over the past decade. The report, An Engine for Growth: 2016 Report Card on Canada's and Toronto's Financial Services Sector, also found the industry's economic importance is increasing, with its share of jobs, growth, international trade, and outward foreign direction investment (FDI) outpacing the average for all industries. It said Canada ranks among the top four countries in terms of business access to public equity, private equity and venture capital.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Operative Media Inc, a New York provider of digital advertising business management solutions, has been acquired by SintecMedia, an Israeli broadcast management software company backed by Francisco Partners. No financial terms were disclosed; however, the Wall Street Journal reported the deal's value to be almost US$200 million. Founded in 2000, venture-backed Operative was a portfolio company of Wellington Financial, a Canadian specialty finance firm. Wellington provided Operative with US$11 million in venture debt funding in March 2014.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Janet Bannister, a general partner at Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures, has become a member of the board of Volta Labs, a Halifax hub for early-stage technology companies. Bannister, a former eBay and Kijiji executive, joined Real Ventures' Toronto office in 2014. She said she was looking forward to "to getting more involved" in the innovation ecosystems of Halifax and Atlantic Canada. Canadian serial entrepreneurs Leah Skerry and Ross Simmonds were also welcomed to Volta Labs' board.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
The Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ, an affiliate of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Anges Québec have joined forces to provide funding and coaching to Québec real estate developers. Over the next 18 months, the partners will back residential, commercial, office or industrial projects ranging from $5 million to $25 million. Fonds immobilier and Anges Québec said the initiative will support new and existing developers interested in launching construction projects, but which lack the necessary resources.
3 min read · 29 November 2016
