Private Equity
Barrie, Ont.-based web presence analytics provider gShift has bought InNetwork, a Halifax-based online platform that allows marketers to connect with influencers for social media outreach campaigns. The terms of the all-stock deal were not disclosed. The combination of the two companies creates a unique technology suite for planning, optimizing, amplifying and reporting on content marketing strategies and investments, gShift said. Founded in 2009, gShift is a portfolio company of Brightspark Ventures, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund and other investors. InNetwork was backed by Innovacorp and East Valley Ventures.
4 min read · 22 March 2016
Winnipeg-based education technology startup Permission Click Inc has secured $1.75 million in seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian school and trade publications producer Friesens Corp and was joined by Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures and other investors. Founded in 2013, Permission Click has developed a cloud-based platform that helps schools and parents coordinate permission slips, forms, and payments required for student participation in school activities. Permission Click was named "Most Promising Startup of the Year" by the National Angel Capital Organization in 2014.
3 min read · 22 March 2016
Influitive, which earlier this month topped up its Series B financing round to $38 million, has acquired Triggerfox, a Toronto-based mobile relationship management application. No financial terms were disclosed. The deal, which closely follows Influitive's buy of Ironark Software, gives the company product management and development expertise in building mobile products, CEO Mark Organ said. An advocate marketing software provider, Influitive is backed by Atlas Venture, BDC Capital, Georgian Partners, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Leaders Fund, Relay Ventures and other investors. Triggerfox raised angel funding in 2014 and 2015, according to Crunchbase.
3 min read · 22 March 2016
Finance Minister Bill Morneau has announced the federal government's new Advisory Council on Economic Growth. The council's 14 members include: Katherine Barr, general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures and a former C100 co-chair; Angela Strange, partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a current C100 co-chair; and Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS Discovery District and a former venture professional. Michael Sabia, head of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, was also appointed, as was Mark Wiseman, president and CEO of Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
3 min read · 21 March 2016
In its 2016-2017 budget, the Québec government announced commitments to two venture capital funds. It said it would commit $20 million to the second early-stage life sciences fund managed by Montréal-based venture capital firm GeneChem. The fund, AmorChem II, invests in R&D-stage initiatives to enable pre-clinical proof-of-concept in a semi-virtual mode. Additionally, the government said it would commit $30 million to a new clean technology seed-stage fund. These commitments are intended to help leverage additional capital from private sector investors.
4 min read · 21 March 2016
Toronto-based Nudge Rewards, formerly known as Greengage Mobile, has secured $825,000 in financing. MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, RBC Impact Fund and angel investors accounted for $550,000 of the round, while the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) accounted for the balance. Founded in 2012, Nudge is mobile software developer that helps companies increase sales and profitability by improving team performance. It will use the funds raised to expand its platform to include occupational health and safety programs.
3 min read · 21 March 2016
MaRS Catalyst Fund, which is managed by Toronto-based innovation hub MaRS Discovery District, has begun the process of investing in up to a dozen Canadian early-stage, for-profit companies founded to solve a social or environmental issue. It is currently looking to close two seed-stage investments for $250,000 each in the health and education markets. The fund, launched in late 2014 with the backing of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite Foundation and Mindset Foundation, has so far raised $3 million of a targeted $5 million.
3 min read · 21 March 2016
Montréal-based Teralys Capital has closed its second venture fund of funds, Teralys Capital Innovation Fund (TCIF), at its hard-cap target of $375 million. It is the third and largest fund closed in partnership with Ottawa's Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP). VCAP-backed funds have so far collected about $1.3 billion in committed capital, two-thirds of which was provided by a mix of corporate, institutional and other private sector investors.
3 min read · 21 March 2016
A new study by the University of Toronto's Impact Centre has found that founder CEOs outperform professional CEOs in both unicorns (private companies valued over $1 billion) and venture-backed Canadian companies. However, in Canada, founders are 2.5 times more likely to be replaced with a professional CEO. The study concludes that Canadian founders have the right experience to build high-growth technology companies and that a failure to adequately scale may be due partly to the tendency to replace them.
2 min read · 17 March 2016
A new report from Rosenzweig & Co has found that corporate Canada lagged in the past year in recognizing and promoting women leaders. In 2015, the share of highly paid executive positions held by women in Canada's 100 largest publicly-traded companies was 8 percent, down from a prior 8.5 percent. Rosenzweig's first report, issued over a decade ago, found 4.6 percent of women help top jobs.
4 min read · 17 March 2016
