Private Equity
Toronto-based wireless retail service Statflo Inc has raised $2.4 million in seed-stage financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Round13 Capital, with participation from Extreme Venture Partners, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, Globalive Capital, Rising Tide Fund, Garage Capital, Hedgewood and TIO Networks. Founded in 2012 by CEO Kevin Gervais, John Chapman and VP Product Ian Gervais, Statflo offers wireless dealers and operators a data-driven platform to increase sales, engage sales representatives and improve customer experiences. Statflo, which also announced a strategic partnership with iQmetrix, said it will use the funds to drive growth.
3 min read · 10 February 2016
Agreement Express Inc, a Canadian provider of on-boarding automation software for the financial services industry, has closed a US$1 million revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Vancouver-based Agreement Express said it would use the funds to develop its core platform, which automates customer transactions from beginning to end. It will also use the money to support the company's continued growth and geographic reach into new markets.
2 min read · 09 February 2016
Enbala Power Networks, a Vancouver-based provider of solutions for distributed energy resource management, has added Dr. Cheryl Martin to its board of directors. Martin is a principal at Harwich Partners. She is also the the former acting director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and prior to that was an executive-in-residence with U.S. venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Enbala raised $11 million in follow-on financing last March.
3 min read · 09 February 2016
Alberta Enterprise Corp (AEC) has made its first investment since receiving an additional $50 million from the provincial government late last year. AEC committed $5 million to Avrio Ventures LP III, the third institutional late-stage fund of Avrio Capital, a Calgary-based venture capital firm. AEC, a fund of funds that backs venture capital funding of Alberta-based companies, said the Avrio commitment supports its goal of diversification and creation of local value-added agriculture products and technologies.
3 min read · 08 February 2016
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial announced that it has provided a $10 million credit facility to the concurrently announced merger of TUC Managed IT Solutions and CareWorx Inc. Wellington said the funding will help Ottawa-based TUC, a managed information technology and cloud services provider, acquire Orangeville, Ont.-based CareWorx. a provider of technology solutions to senior care facilities. The combined company will adopt the CareWorx brand, Wellington said. EPIC Capital, a Canadian boutique investment firm, also participated in the deal.
4 min read · 08 February 2016
TUC Managed IT Solutions, a managed information technology and cloud services provider, has merged its operations with CareWorx Inc, a provider of technology solutions to senior care facilities. No financial terms were released. Ottawa-based TUC and Orangeville, Ont.-based CareWorx have been partners since November 2014. They said the merger "represents the next level of managed services providing the complete technology stack for senior care". Wellington Financial, a Canadian specialty finance firm, led funding for the deal, with participation from a healthcare venture capital fund managed by EPIC Capital, a Canadian boutique investment firm.
4 min read · 08 February 2016
Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital has raised $110 million in the final close of its third institutional late-stage fund, Avrio Ventures LP III. The fund closing, which included the launch of a parallel investment vehicle, is the largest in Calgary-based Avrio's history. Fund III's limited partners included cornerstone investors Farm Credit Canada and Export Development Canada, as well as Alberta Enterprise Corp, BDC Capital, Fondaction CSN, HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund and several family offices. Founded in 2002, Avrio invests in innovative food and agriculture companies. Its team has deployed more than $200 million to 50 portfolio companies, including Farmers Edge Inc and Hortau Inc.
5 min read · 08 February 2016
EnerTech Capital has hired Chris Buckman as vice president. Buckman joins the firm after spending the past 14 years as a senior executive in the Canadian oil and gas industry, most recently as vice president, business development at Moore Pipe 2015 Inc. Previously, he was an executive vice president of corporate development at Ignite Energy Services Inc, and President of Ignite Frac Services Inc. Buckman will join EnerTech, an investor in energy and power sectors, in March 2016. He will lead its activities and relationship building in Western Canada. EnerTech has offices in Calgary, Toronto, Montréal and in the United States.
3 min read · 05 February 2016
San Francisco-based mobile technology company Zendrive has obtained US$13.5 million in a Series A financing, bringing its total investment to US$15 million. The latest round was led by Shervin Pishevar of Sherpa Capital. Other investors included Thomvest Ventures, the US$250 million venture capital fund of Canada's Peter Thomson, as well as Nyca Partners and First Round Capital. Zendrive's technology leverages mobile sensor data to provide insights that improve safety for car passengers and drivers. It will use the new funds to grow its team and continue product development.
3 min read · 05 February 2016
Hortau Inc, a Canadian provider of precision irrigation management systems and services, has raised $10 million in follow-on financing. The investment was led by Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners, a partnership of U.S.-based Advantage Capital Partners and nine farm credit organizations. It was joined by Canadian investors BDC Capital, Avrio Capital and Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins. Lévis, Québec-based Hortau said the new funds will allow it to continue growing. The company plans to expand its technical, grower support and research teams in 2016, and to expand into additional regions. Founded in 2002, Hortau's U.S. operations are located in San Luis Obispo, California.
5 min read · 04 February 2016
