Private Equity
OMsignal Inc has secured $10 million in a Series A financing round led by U.S. venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Bessemer was joined in the deal by existing investors, including Real Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, Golden Venture Partners, Techstars' managing partner David Cohen, Flextronics and Primera Capital. Founded in 2011, the Montréal-based OMsignal is a provider of smart clothing technology and the maker of Biometric Smartwear, clothing that includes sensors to track fitness, health and performance. The company will use the new funds to achieve greater scale and take wearable technology to a wider consumer base.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF), which in January raised $218 million in its initial close, has made a $10 million commitment to U.S. venture capital firm Versant Ventures. NVCF, which is managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, said it wants to back Versant's contribution to Canada's life sciences ecosystem through its specialized model for launching and investing in early-stage companies. Versant has recently established incubators in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal aimed at building companies launched by local academics and entrepreneurs. Other funds backed so far by NVCF include the latest offerings of Canadian firms Georgian Partners and XPV Capital Corp.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
U.S. life sciences-focused venture capital firm Versant Ventures has increased its presence in the Canadian market with the launch of a new biopharmaceutical incubator, Inception Sciences Montreal. The launch follows last year's establishment by Versant of Blueline Bioscience in Toronto and Inception Sciences Vancouver. The firm said that Inception Sciences Montreal adds a third Canada-based research site to its discovery engine to address the growing appetite of major pharmaceutical companies to enter into innovative venture-backed partnerships.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
U.S. life sciences-focused venture capital firm Versant Ventures has increased its presence in the Canadian market with the launch of a new biopharmaceutical incubator, Inception Sciences Montreal. The launch follows last year's establishment by Versant of Blueline Bioscience in Toronto and Inception Sciences Vancouver. The firm said that Inception Sciences Montreal adds a third Canada-based research site to its discovery engine to address the growing appetite of major pharmaceutical companies to enter into innovative venture-backed partnerships.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
Tasktop Technologies, developer of an integration technology designed to improve software productivity, has raised $11 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm Austin Ventures and joined by Canadian firm Yaletown Venture Partners, which helped seed the company in 2013. Tasktop has found a warm reception in the market because the making and management of software is these days “core to modern innovation,” said Mike Satterfield, partner at Yaletown.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
Canadian investment and merchant banking firm Pinetree Capital has agreed to buy a 25 percent interest in Sviral Inc, a developer of technology that enables utilization of the full capacity of processing cores. Pinetree will purchase units in the company valued at US$5 million, payable by Pinetree through US$500,000 in cash and a share issue to Sviral. The share issue will represent approximately 6.2 percent of Pinetree’s total outstanding common shares. The investment is in addition to two other proposed investments by Pinetree that are payable in shares. Sviral is based in Sunnyvale, California.
3 min read · 23 June 2014
Canadian investment and merchant banking firm Pinetree Capital has agreed to buy a 25 percent interest in Sviral Inc, a developer of technology that enables utilization of the full capacity of processing cores. Pinetree will purchase units in the company valued at US$5 million, payable by Pinetree through US$500,000 in cash and a share issue to Sviral. The share issue will represent approximately 6.2 percent of Pinetree’s total outstanding common shares. The investment is in addition to two other proposed investments by Pinetree that are payable in shares. Sviral is based in Sunnyvale, California.
3 min read · 23 June 2014
LX Ventureshas decided to change its corporate name to Mobio Technologies Inc and to begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange as "MBO". LX Ventures acquired Mobio, a Vancouver-based online media platform for musicians, from Canadian venture capital firms Naavon Capital and Rho Canada Ventures in 2013. The company said that Mobio's technology is currently its primary focus. LX Ventures also said that it is well advanced in an application to begin trading on the U.S.-based OTCQX marketplace.
3 min read · 23 June 2014
LX Ventureshas decided to change its corporate name to Mobio Technologies Inc and to begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange as "MBO". LX Ventures acquired Mobio, a Vancouver-based online media platform for musicians, from Canadian venture capital firms Naavon Capital and Rho Canada Ventures in 2013. The company said that Mobio's technology is currently its primary focus. LX Ventures also said that it is well advanced in an application to begin trading on the U.S.-based OTCQX marketplace.
3 min read · 23 June 2014
Slyce has raised an additional $12 million in funding, bringing its total funds raised to just over $27 million. The latest round, closed in escrow, was completed by a syndicate of agents led by Canaccord Genuity Corp and including Salman Partners Inc, Cormark Securities Inc and Beacon Securities Ltd. The investors were not disclosed. Based in Calgary and Toronto, Slyce has developed a visual search platform that allows consumers to buy products at the moment they discover them. Venture-backed since 2013, the company has plans to be listed this year on the TSX Venture Exchange.
3 min read · 23 June 2014
