Private Equity
Upsight Inc has acquired Fuse Powered Inc, a mobile supply-side monetization and ad mediation platform based in Toronto. No financial terms were disclosed. San Francisco-based Upsight, an analytics and marketing platform for mobile app businesses, said the combined companies will "enable end-to-end user lifecycle management to maximize lifetime value." With the deal, Fuse Powered CEO Jon Walsh has been appointed president of Upsight. Founded in 2009, Fuse Powered has been backed by Canadian venture capital firm Relay Ventures, NFQ Ventures and other investors. Upsight is also venture-funded, counting Altos Ventures, Battery Ventures and others among its investors.
3 min read · 01 February 2016
CoPower, an online platform for clean energy investments, has issued its first green bond to Canadian investors. CoPower Green Bond I, which is intended to help investors participate in clean energy infrastructure projects in their communities, is accessible at a minimum commitment of $5,000. It is backed by loans to rooftop solar projects in Windsor, Ontario and Chesley, Ontario, and an energy efficiency project at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, CoPower said. Last October, CoPower raised $850,000 in seed capital from Innovation Support and RBC.
3 min read · 01 February 2016
The Institutional Limited Partners Association is attempting to boost transparency with a reporting template that will capture fees, expenses and carried interest collected by the general partner. The new template has been endorsed by a number of limited partners, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
3 min read · 29 January 2016
A slump in the Canadian dollar, which hit a 12-year low this month, has made it harder for the country's technology companies to recruit top talent, posing a longer-term risk to the sector's development, industry veterans told Reuters. Startup executives and their backers fear local hiring could be further hurt by the recently elected Liberal government's pledge to increase taxes on stock options.
2 min read · 29 January 2016
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has appointed Barbara Zvan to senior vice president, strategy and risk and chief investment risk officer. In her new role, Zvan will lead Ontario Teachers' strategy and risk team in plan design decision-making and in determining benchmarks and risk appetite. She will also drive responsible investing and climate change risk management. Zvan joined Toronto-based Ontario Teachers, a $154.5 billion pension plan, in 1995.
2 min read · 28 January 2016
Despite current economic uncertainty, over three-quarters of Canadian small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) plan to invest in developing their business this year, a new report by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has found. According to a BDC survey of 4,000 entrepreneurs, SMEs plan to deploy $111 billion to development in 2016, which is comparable to what was invested last year. Investment strategies will focus primarily on growth and raising levels of productivity or efficiency. A minority of SMEs (10 percent) account for the lion's share of planned investments, the survey found.
3 min read · 28 January 2016
Canadian digital content marketing provider ScribbleLive Inc has bought Visually Inc, a San Francisco-based content creation platform that helps businesses to connect with audiences. No financial terms were released. Toronto-based ScribbleLive said the solutions of the two companies will be integrated to create "an all-in-one content marketing platform that marries data science with content creation." The deal also expands ScribbleLive's U.S. presence to Silicon Valley. ScribbleLive has raised more than $60 million in funding, including its Series D round led by OpenText Enterprise Apps Fund last September. Visually was backed by Crosslink Capital and other U.S. venture capital firms.
4 min read · 28 January 2016
A report by eSentire Inc and Private Equity International (PEI) has found that most private equity firms are "gravely unprepared" to fend off cyber threats. Based on a PEI survey of close to 100 firms, the report found that over 70 percent of investors believe cybersecurity is a high risk, but only 23 percent have a fully operational and compliant cybersecurity program. Many private equity firms also lack relevant in-house expertise. Cambridge, Ontario-based eSentire is a threat detection platform. It is backed by Georgian Partners, Edison Ventures, Cisco Investments and other investors.
4 min read · 28 January 2016
Toronto-based native advertising company StackAdapt has secured $1 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Plaza Ventures, and builds on StackAdapt's seed round of September 2014. As a result, Rob Richards, managing partner at Plaza, has joined the company's board of directors. Founded in 2013, StackAdapt provides brands and agencies a single access point for the supply of native advertising, both via in-feed ads and content recommendation widgets. To date, clients have launched over 1,500 campaigns on its platform. The company plans to use the new funds to scale the platform and add to its team.
4 min read · 28 January 2016
Farmers Edge Precision Consulting Inc has received $58 million in follow-on financing. The round was led by existing investors Mitsui & Co Ltd, U.S. venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Osmington Inc. As a result, Mitsui's Kenji Otake will join the company's board of directors. Winnipeg-based Farmers Edge is a provider of precision agriculture and data management solutions. It plans to use the proceeds of the latest investment to expand the company's data science team, new product development, and growth into South America, Australia and Eastern Europe. Founded in 2005, Farmers Edge is also backed by Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital.
5 min read · 27 January 2016
