Private Equity
Canadian angel investment firm Two Small Fish Ventures has made an undisclosed investment in Hubba, a business-to-business product information network based in Toronto. The investment follows Hubba's $3.1 million seed-stage financing backed by Brightspark, The Social + Capital Partnership and several angel investors in December 2014. Two Small Fish, which was co-founded by Allen Lau, co-founder and CEO of Canadian reading and writing community Wattpad, said the deal will support Hubba's efforts to help brands, distributors and retailers more efficiently connect and share information.
3 min read · 02 June 2015
U.S. technology and web solutions provider New Signature has purchased CMS Consulting Inc and Infrastructure Guardian, which are affiliated businesses based in Toronto. The value of the acquisition was not released. New Signature, which has its headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the deal will help continue its strategic expansion of cloud technologies and managed services capabilities and North American market coverage. In April, the company secured US$35 million from U.S. venture capital firm Columbia Capital to support its organic and acquisition-led growth.
4 min read · 01 June 2015
The federal government's immigrant entrepreneur program, Start-Up Visa, has helped launch eight new Canadian companies since the program was introduced two years ago. To date, 16 principal applicants have been approved for permanent residency. Ottawa says there are now about 60 applications at various stages of the process. New residents include U.K.-born Nick Back, who formed Physicool Canada with Canadian business partner Dr. Joe Chiodo, as well as Shankar Raventhiran, Anand Suriyanarayana Raja and Jaishankar Rajagopal, all originally from India, who are launching Green Anthem Foods.
3 min read · 01 June 2015
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has created Espace CDPQ, a hub focused on the innovation and globalization of Québec businesses. Based in Montréal, Espace CDPQ will provide opportunities for strategic collaboration for companies from all sectors and at all stages of development. It will also provide coaching and support services to entrepreneurs, as well as a range of financing options. With regard to the latter, the Caisse said it will undertake a new investment initiative of $50 million to develop the most promising ideas and startups that emerge from Espace CDPQ. Additionally, angel network Anges Québec will have an operational presence in the hub.
5 min read · 28 May 2015
Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital announced that three of its Canadian portfolio companies have raised more than US$50 million in follow-on financings during the first half of 2015. The companies were Enbala Power Networks, a provider of distributed energy resource management solutions; GaN Systems, a developer of gallium nitride power switching semiconductors, and; General Fusion, a commercial fusion energy technology platform. Based in Vancouver, Chrysalix is a sustainable innovation and alternative energy venture capital firm. As reported by peHUB Canada in March, the first close of Chrysalix Energy LP IV is expected to occur in mid-2015.
4 min read · 28 May 2015
Canadian specialty tea retailer DavidsTea, whose backers include U.S. growth investor Highland Consumer Partners, has set the terms of its much anticipated initial public offering. This week, the Montréal-based company announced plans to sell up to 5.86 million shares on Nasdaq, which could generate as much as US$94 million in proceeds.
2 min read · 28 May 2015
Koho, a Canadian technology-driven banking platform, has raised its first venture capital financing. The startup secured $1 million from a mix of Canadian angel investors and funds, including Joe Canavan, Ferst Capital, Hedgewood, Highline and Stanley Park Ventures. Based in Vancouver, Koho is a developer of technology that aims to give consumers, and especially millennials, a low-cost and modern alternative to traditional bank accounts. The company was co-founded in late 2014 by CEO Daniel Eberhard and Directors Jonathan Bixby, Mike Benna and Joshua Bixby. It is part of the financial technology cluster launched by MaRS Discovery District in February.
3 min read · 28 May 2015
Canadian payments software startup Payfirma Corp has raised $13 million in its first institutional funding round and is considering an initial public offering in 2016, its chief executive officer told Reuters. Led by Dundee Capital Markets, Payfirma's financing included several of Canada's top institutional fund managers, Gokturk said. The deal takes its total funding to over $26 million to date.
2 min read · 27 May 2015
A new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has found that high-impact companies contribute disproportionately to the economy and can play a vital role in improving Canada's competitiveness. Defined as mid-sized organizations with 100 to 500 employees, high-impact companies reflect roughly 5 percent of all small businesses and are located in all sectors. The study found that they currently encounter challenges in the areas of management skills, market access, financing and labour shortages. BDC will work to help address these challenges through its newly created division, BDC Advantage, which offers a range of non-financial services to entrepreneurs.
4 min read · 27 May 2015
Canadian e-commerce and retail software company Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP) (TSX: SH) has wrapped up its initial public offering, raising a final total of about US$150.5 million in gross proceeds. It was earlier reported that the company raised about US$131 million. Based in Ottawa, Shopify is led by founder and CEO Tobi Lütke. Launched in 2004, the company’s Canadian and U.S. venture capital investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Georgian Partners, Insight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures.
4 min read · 27 May 2015
