Private Equity
Agrisoma Biosciences Inc has secured $8 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian clean technology venture capital firm Cycle Capital Management and was joined by BDC Capital, which has invested in the company since 2002. An agricultural technology company, the Gatineau, Québec-based Agrisoma has commercialized carinata, a non-food oilseed crop designed for the sustainable production of biofuels. It plans to use proceeds of the latest round to promote further commercialization and expand into new areas of production. As a result of the deal, Cycle founder and managing partner Andrée-Lise Méthothas joined Agrisoma's board of directors.
4 min read · 26 September 2014
Sendwithus has raised $2.3 million in seed-stage funding. Steve Anderson, founder of U.S. venture capital firm Baseline Ventures, led the round with participation from other investors that included Initialized Capital, SV Angel, Maiden Lane, Acequia Capital and several angels. Based in Victoria, British Columbia and San Francisco, Sendwithus is an e-mail marketing startup. Update: The company said it plans to use investment proceeds to secure more people and resources to help it build and grow features on its existing template engine.
2 min read · 26 September 2014
Avigilon Corp (TSX: AVO) has appointed Mahesh Saptharishi as its new chief technology officer (CTO). Saptharishi has more than 17 years of experience developing intelligent video analytics technology as well as software and camera hardware for the security industry. He has been Avigilon's senior vice president, analytics and data science since the company acquired VideoIQ Inc in early 2014. The Vancouver-based Avigilon is a portfolio investment of British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC), a retail venture capital fund managed by Discovery Capital Management Corp. It went public in 2011.
5 min read · 25 September 2014
Apptentive has completed its $5.3 million Series A fundraising round. U.S. online survey company SurveyMonkey and Origin Ventures led the deal. They were joined by the company's existing investors, including Golden Venture Partners, a Canadian mobile-focused venture capital firm, and Founders Co-op. Based in Seattle, Washington, Apptentive is an enterprise SaaS software platform. It plans to use the funds to expand its suite of in-app customer communication tools and accelerate its sales, marketing and product development activities.
4 min read · 25 September 2014
StackAdapt, developer of a native advertising technology that helps publishers add another channel of monetization through non-banner advertising, has closed a $900,000 seed-stage financing round. Investors included MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, Slaight Communications and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), which provided debt to the round. StackAdapt said the funds would be used to fuel further growth and expansion of the development team in its Toronto headquarters, and to support the growth of satellite offices in New York and London. The company was founded in 2013.
3 min read · 25 September 2014
Canadian mobile-focused venture capital firm Relay Ventures has invested $1 million in the Imagination Catalyst Fund, which forms part of the OCAD University's Imagination Catalyst, a hub for campus-focused entrepreneurship and commercialization. The investment occurred concurrently with a $950,000 grant by Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation. Relay managing partner John Albright said that the firm is a strong supporter of entrepreneurs emerging from Canadian universities, and "our investment in the Imagination Catalyst Fund is a logical extension of our focus in that area.”
4 min read · 25 September 2014
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a Canadian genetic therapy discovery platform, recently filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reports Renaissance Capital LLC. The company, which is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, seeks to raise US$52 million through a listing on NASDAQ. It has received funding from a mix of Canadian and U.S. venture capital firms since 2000.
1 min read · 25 September 2014
When Ryan Holmes founded Hootsuite Media in 2008, he had two key objectives in mind. He wanted his startup to be a leading driver of social media innovation on a global scale. He also wanted to build it into a billion-dollar company that would stay true to its Canadian roots. Holmes and Hootsuite have made significant progress on both counts. This week, the company announced it has closed a US$60 million follow-on financing, which brings its total raise of venture capital since 2009 to a whopping US$250 million.
4 min read · 25 September 2014
Golden Opportunities Fund has acquired more common shares in West Mountain Environmental Corp (TSXV: WMT), increasing its ownership to around 24.1 percent of the company's total issued and outstanding shares. The interest was bought from Grant Kook, a director of West Mountain and president and CEO of Canadian private equity and venture capital firm Westcap Management, which manages Golden Opportunities. Based in St. John's, Newfoundland, West Mountain is an environmental products company specializing in the thermal treatment of a variety of hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams.
3 min read · 24 September 2014
Canadian technology startup Bionym Inc said on Wednesday it has raised US$14 million in a new Series A round of funding led by U.S. venture capital firm Ignition Partners and Canadian firm Relay Ventures, Reuters reported. Toronto-based Bionym makes a wearable security device dubbed Nymi, which is set to go on sale later this year. Other investors in the company's latest round of funding include Export Development Canada, MasterCard and Salesforce Ventures, the corporate investment group of U.S. cloud computing business Salesforce.com.
2 min read · 24 September 2014
