Private Equity
Canadian venture capital firm Version One Ventures has made an undisclosed investment in Perceptiv Labs Inc, a computer vision platform that facilitates the use of drones in film making. Version One founding partner Boris Wertz said the company's technology is focused on making drones "more intelligent and fully autonomous." Based in Kitchener, Ontario, Perceptiv Labs was founded in 2014 and is led by Neil Mathew, P.J. Mukherjee and Yan Ma. Wertz said it currently has a number of pilot projects underway with top studios in the film industry. Last October, Version One closed its second seed fund at $35 million in capital commitments.
2 min read · 24 February 2015
Q4 Web Systems Inc has received $5 million in venture capital funding. The deal was led by Canadian venture capital firm Plaza Ventures and was joined by U.S. firm Atlas Venture. Silicon Valley Bank also contributed to the financing. Based in Toronto, Q4 is a SaaS-based financial content and data analytics platform for delivering investor websites, mobile applications and intelligence to CFOs and the investor relations departments of public businesses. The company said it will use funding proceeds to expand product engineering and sales teams. Established in 2006, Q4 is led by CEO Darrell Heaps.
4 min read · 24 February 2015
Online lending company FundThrough has been officially launched with a $2.2 million financing round led by Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures. Other investors in the deal included Origin Merchant Partners, Five Elements Ventures, Barlow Lane Holdings, Jim Case and Peter Carrescia. Based in Toronto, FundThrough has developed a technology platform that offers lines of credit to small and medium-sized businesses in Canada. It said investment proceeds will be used to scale the platform in order to serve more customers. FundThrough was co-founded by Steven Uster, Graham McBride and Deepak Ramachandran.
3 min read · 24 February 2015
Canadian venture capital firm McRock Capital has led a $3 million Series A financing of RtTech Software Inc, a Moncton, New Brunswick-based developer of software apps that provide operational intelligence for industrial facilities. New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, which invested in the company in 2012, also participated in the round. The McRock investment was made by McRock iNFund, an industrial Internet of Things fund. Last month, the fund secured commitments from Cisco Investments, Teralys Capital and BDC Capital. As a result of the close of RtTech's Series A round, McRock's Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley have joined the company's board of directors.
2 min read · 24 February 2015
Leankor, an operational management tool developed to help teams collaborate and visualize work and workflow, has secured its first round of venture capital financing. The startup raised $600,000 from Canadian venture capital firm AVAC, angel co-investment vehicle Accelerate Fund, and a syndicate of angel investors. Leankor said proceeds of the investment will allow it to expedite new feature launches and engage new clients. Based in Calgary, the company was founded in 2013 by CEO Emilio Bernabei and COO Tony Meibock.
2 min read · 23 February 2015
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has published a prospectus exemption that is intended to provide a cost-effective way for early-stage issuers to raise capital from their networks of family, close personal friends and close business associates. The exemption, which is not available to investment funds, has been harmonized with an exemption that is currently available in other Canadian jurisdictions. Subject to ministerial approval, it will come into effect on May 5, 2015.
3 min read · 20 February 2015
Dr. John R. Evans, the founder of Canadian innovation hub MaRS Discovery District, passed away last week at the age of 85. This week, Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS, paid tribute to the life of Dr. Evans, and to his many accomplishments, including in the fields of entrepreneurship, R&D and innovation. Courtesy of MaRS, that tribute has been republished in full on peHUB Canada.
4 min read · 18 February 2015
MaRS Discovery District has launched a financial technology (fin-tech) cluster to support startups that are developing new innovations in payments, financial services, peer-to-peer transactions, alternative lending, and crypto-currencies. The fin-tech cluster will be led by Adam Nanjee, previously a vice president at MasterCard Canada. Digital payments providers PayPal and UGO will be strategic partners in the initiative. The Toronto-based MaRS said qualified fin-tech startups will have immediate access to corporate partners, investors and advisory resources, as well as additional facilities later in 2015. A MaRS infographic highlighting facts about Canadian fin-tech can be viewed here.
5 min read · 18 February 2015
Tealium Inc has secured US$30.7 million in a Series D financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Georgian Partners and included a "major investment" from U.S. firm Bain Capital Ventures. Existing investors Battery Ventures, Tenaya Capital and Presidio Ventures also backed the round. Tealium, a provider of enterprise tag management and real-time unified marketing solutions, said the new funds will support is continued expansion, both domestically and internationally, and help accelerate product innovation. With the round's close, Justin LaFayette, co-founder and managing partner of Georgian Partners, will join Tealium’s board of directors.
4 min read · 17 February 2015
Montréal-based Mobeewave, a provider of secure NFC mobile payment terminal solutions, has raised $6.5 million in a Series A financing. SBT Venture Capital, a Russian fin-tech venture capital firm, led the round. Update: Investment proceeds are intended to help facilitate the company's growth, support new market openings worldwide, and fast track the roll out of its products roadmaps, Mobeewave said. Founded by CEO Benjamin du Haÿs and COO Maxime de Nanclas in 2012, the company also has an office in Paris, France.
4 min read · 17 February 2015
