Private Equity
Portag3 Ventures, a new Canadian venture capital fund focused on deal-making in the financial technology (fintech) industry, has closed at an undisclosed amount. The fund is an exclusive corporate partnership of financial affiliates of Montréal-based Power Corp (TSX: POW), including Power Financial Corp, IGM Financial Inc and Great-West Lifeco Inc. Adam Felesky, co-founder and former CEO of Horizons Exchange Traded Funds, has been appointed president of Portag3, and Paul Desmarais III, a vice-president of Power Corp, will serve as executive chairman. Portag3 will target investments in early-stage fintech opportunities in Canada.
3 min read · 17 October 2016
Toronto-based Industrial SkyWorks, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and data analytics company, recently secured an investment from Ontario's Georgian Angel Network. The deal's financial terms were not released. Founded three years ago, Industrial SkyWorks has developed a first product, SkyBEAM, which uses aerial vehicles to photograph and map building "envelopes" for assessment and inspection purposes. Michael Cohen, the company's president and CEO, said the funds raised will accelerate sales and marketing activities.
2 min read · 14 October 2016
Future Design School (FDS) has raised an undisclosed seed-stage financing led by MaRS Catalyst Fund, a $5 million social venture fund managed by MaRS Discovery District. Founded last year by CEO Sarah Prevette, Toronto-based FDS provides educational programs to students, teachers and business professionals that aim to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It currently offers programs in Toronto, Waterloo and London. FDS is the first business to receive an investment from the MaRS fund, which is backed by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite Foundation.
2 min read · 14 October 2016
TouchBistro Inc, a Toronto-based iPad point-of-sale app for restaurants, has secured $17 million in a Series B financing, bringing its total funding so far to $30 million. BDC IT Venture Fund led the round, with participation from new investors Round13 Capital and Huff Capital, and existing investors Relay Ventures and Kensington Capital Partners. As a result, BDC Capital Partner Peter Misek has joined the company's board. Founded in 2011, TouchBistro currently deploys about 15,000 terminals across 6,000 food and drink venues around the world. It plans to use the funds raised to expand sales and marketing, build new partnerships, and enhance its technology.
3 min read · 13 October 2016
Toronto's Flashstock Inc has raised $1.5 million in funding from angel investors, adding to the $1.5 million raised in June 2015. Backers of the latest round included Bill Campbell, former CEO of Citigroup and operating partner of Vedanta Capital, and Chris Burggraeve, former CMO of AB InBev. FlashStock is a provider of custom photos and videos at scale for use by brands on digital channels. Launched in 2013, the company reports achieving more than 380 percent year-over-year revenue growth. It said it plans to use the funds raised to increase the size of its team.
3 min read · 12 October 2016
Ranzure Networks Inc has secured US$13 million in a Series A financing. The round was co-led by LiveOak Venture Partners and Canadian strategic investor Mitel Networks Corp. Seeded by LiveOak and Mitel earlier this year, Richardson, Texas-based Ranzure is a developer of 5G cloud radio access network (RAN) technology. It is licensing Mitel mobile technology in the area of evolved packet core to support service providers as they build 5G networks for the Internet of Things. Ranzure said it will use the proceeds of the Series A round to continue product development and build sales and operations teams.
3 min read · 12 October 2016
Canadian health benefit startup League Inc said on Wednesday it has teamed up with the insurance arm of backer Royal Bank of Canada as it expands into insurance, targeting the many small businesses offering no such benefits to employees, Reuters reported. RBC was among the strategic investors in Toronto-based League's US$25 million ($32 million) Series A financing announced in June. The round was led by OMERS Ventures.
2 min read · 12 October 2016
Canadian private markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners has appointed Jeanette White to lead the firm's human resource activities in its Toronto, London, Chicago and Menlo Park offices. White, who joined Northleaf this year after a career at TD Bank Group, will serve as vice president, human resources and administration. Replacing Sandra Channell, who has retired, she will be responsible for strategic planning for human capital needs and implementing best practices.
2 min read · 11 October 2016
Invoice funding platform FundThrough has raised $24.3 million in a second round of financing. It was led by Canadian venture capital firm ScaleUP Ventures, and joined by Hedgewood, Klister Credit Corp and OnWave Ventures. With the round, the company will receive $4.3 million of equity and $20 million in debt, the proceeds of which will be used to support its expansion plans. Based in Toronto, FundThrough has developed technology to help small businesses eliminate cash flow hurdles by giving them tools to get invoices paid quickly. Its prior $2.2 million financing, announced in February 2015, was led by Real Ventures.
3 min read · 11 October 2016
Veri, a soon-to-be-released platform that connects social celebrities with their fans, has raised seed-stage financing. The "multi-million dollar" round, the terms of which were not disclosed, was led by Bob Wetenhall, owner of Canadian football team the Montreal Alouettes and founder of McConnell Wetenhall & Co Inc. Based in Montréal, Veri has developed an app that gives social celebrities the chance to offer fans a one-on-one connection. The funds raised will allow the company to further develop the technology, which is due for its public launch later this year.
3 min read · 11 October 2016
