Private Equity
Meritas SRI Funds, managed by OceanRock Investments Inc, has made a commitment to the second sustainable food vehicle of Canadian venture capital firm InvestEco Capital Corp. No financial terms were released. InvestEco Sustainable Food Fund II, which will focus on expanding North American companies that promote health and sustainability in the food and agricultural industry, secured a commitment from The Co-operators Group Ltd in July. InvestEco's investments in the sustainable food sector include Toronto-based Mama Earth Organics, an organic food delivery service financed earlier this year.
4 min read · 31 October 2016
Litmus Automation, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform provider, has raised about $2 million (US$1.5 million) in seed funding from U.S. and Canadian angel investors. San Jose, California and Toronto-based Litmus has developed a core product, Loop, a middleware cloud platform for the Internet of Things, that helps connect devices to applications that can generate business value from data. It plans to use the funds raised to hire additional team members. Founded in 2013, Litmus is a graduate of U.S. accelerator Alchemist and Canadian accelerators Ryerson Futures-DMZ and MaRS Discovery District.
4 min read · 31 October 2016
Canadian venture capital firm Innovacorp announced the Nova Scotia government plans to recapitalize the Nova Scotia First Fund. The fund, which is managed by Innovacorp, will as a result have $40 million to invest in early-stage companies in a range of local technology sectors. Earlier this year, the provincial government committed $25 million to a new venture capital fund. Innovacorp said the new fund will support local companies that are in later stages of development. This week, Innovacorp-backed Analyze Re was acquired by Verisk Analytics Inc.
3 min read · 27 October 2016
Mogo Finance Technology Inc (TSX: GO) has added Tom Liston, managing partner at Difference Capital Financial, to its board of directors. Difference Capital is a Canadian provider of debt and equity funding to mostly late-stage private companies in technology, media and healthcare sectors. It is an investor in Mogo, a Vancouver-based online lending platform. Mogo went public in mid-2015, raising $50 million. It has recently secured funding from affiliates of U.S. private equity firm Fortress Investment Group.
4 min read · 27 October 2016
NEXT Canada, a Toronto non-profit organization focused on supporting Canadian entrepreneurs, has unveiled NextAI. The program is intended to provide financing, advice and sector-specific tools to developers of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions, and help position Canada as a leader in the global AI market. Beginning early next year, entrepreneurial teams will have access to up to $200,000 in seed financing to develop their technology. NextAI applications are open until January 5, 2017. The program's partners include EY, MasterCard, TD and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.
3 min read · 27 October 2016
Boston-based TVision Insights has secured US$6.8 million in funding. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Accomplice and joined by several other investors They include Golden Venture Partners, a Canadian venture capital firm that also participated in the company's seed financing last December. TVision's platform combines performance-based metrics with advanced measurement technology to provide actionable insights into television audience behavior. It plans to use the funds raised to expand its operations and grow its team.
3 min read · 26 October 2016
Element AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup factory, was launched today in Montréal. Founded by Jean-François Gagné, Yoshua Bengio, Nicolas Chapados and Jean-Sébastien Cournoyer, a partner at Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures, Element AI will create and incubate advanced AI solutions in partnership with large corporations and research institutions. Cournoyer said Real Ventures believes strongly "in the promise of Element AI," which has the potential "to level the playing field in AI" and support partners "with the ability to succeed in their respective markets."
3 min read · 26 October 2016
Toronto-based financial technology startup nanoPay Corp has raised $10 million in a Series A financing. The round's investors included the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs, APAGM Services LLC, Jarnac Capital Management and Rohatton. Founded in 2012 by CEO Laurence Cooke, nanoPay is a secure, real-time payments provider. Earlier this year, the company acquired MintChip, a digital currency platform, from the Royal Canadian Mint. It said the funds raised will support nanoPay's development of new business partnerships and additional service offerings, and help expand the utility and acceptance of MintChip.
2 min read · 26 October 2016
Fintech Innovators, a collaboration between H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech, has released its third annual global Fintech 100 list. It includes 50 established fintech companies, of which Canada's League and SecureKey Technologies placed 36th and 42nd, respectively. League and SecureKey both raised substantial funding rounds earlier this year. The 2016 list also features "emerging stars" in the fintech sector. Among them are other venture-backed Canadian startups, including Wealthsimple and Overbond. Companies on the list have secured a combined US$14.6 billion since a year ago.
3 min read · 25 October 2016
Toronto-based financial technology startup Wave has secured a $14.6 million investment, adding to the $22.1 million Series C financing closed in March, and bringing its total funding to $62.3 million. BDC Capital’s IT Venture Fund led the latest round and was joined by HarbourVest and existing investors Charles River Ventures and Social Capital. Founded in 2010, Wave provides financial software for small businesses, offering services in accounting, payments, invoicing and other areas. It said it expects to reach annualized revenue of over $20 million by the end of 2016. Wave plans to use the funds raised to accelerate R&D and team expansion.
3 min read · 25 October 2016
