Private Equity
Cybersecurity startups are all the rage in Silicon Valley. One of the most talked about is Shadow Networks, which is creating a virtual environment for detecting and undermining advanced persistent threats. Led by Canadian-born president and CEO Eric Winsborrow, Shadow Networks has raised more than US$15 million from VCs, including Canadian VCs Yaletown Venture Partners, which seeded the company, and Rho Canada Ventures. Now Shadow Networks has plans for coming to Canada.
7 min read · 12 May 2014
Wurldtech Security Technologies Inc has agreed to be acquired by General Electric Co (NYSE: GE). The financial terms of the transaction were not published. With its headquarters in Vancouver, Wurldtech is a provider of cybersecurity technology and services to help assess, protect and certify critical infrastructure and industrial products. The company will retain its name and operate as a subsidiary to continue providing the necessary focus on services to its customer base, General Electric said. Founded in 2007, Wurldtech was a portfolio company of Canadian venture capital firm Vanedge Capital and other investors.
3 min read · 09 May 2014
AudienceView has raised a new round of equity financing. The round, the size of which was not disclosed, was led by Canadian venture capital firm Five Corners Capital, which in 2013 assumed oversight of fund investments formerly managed by Ventures West Capital. Five Corners was joined by new and existing investors. Funding will be used to grow AudienceView's self-serve e-commerce platform, through which organizations and individuals can manage their own branded online store to drive ticketing, fundraising and related e-commerce offerings. Founded in 2002, the Toronto-based company has been venture-backed since 2005. Ventures West 8 LP is AudienceView's largest shareholder.
3 min read · 09 May 2014
Capital pool company Southtech Capital Corp (TSX-V: STU.P) announced that Redfall Technologies Inc, which does business as Vogogo, has agreed to amalgamate under the issuing name Vogogo Inc. In connection with the deal, Redfall intends to complete a $5.4 million private placement and $20 million share exchange. Tony Lacavera, chairman and CEO of Globalive Holdings and WIND Mobile, is a proposed director of the new company. Based in Calgary, Redfall is an online payment and transaction processing business. Founded in 2008, it is a portfolio company of Canadian venture capital firm AVAC. AVAC invested $1 million in Redfall in July 2013.
10 min read · 08 May 2014
Canadian chocolate manufacturer and distributor Corfias Inc recently secured $575,000 in financing from four members of Anges Québec, a network of 147 angel investors that invests in early-stage companies. The investors include Maxime Detraux and Bernard Giguère. The Boucherville, Québec-based Corfias will use the funds to increase production, accelerate marketing, consolidate its sales force and leverage the potential of its premium chocolates brand.
3 min read · 07 May 2014
RosterBot Inc, a web-based athletic team management app, has received more than $1 million in seed-stage financing. The round was led by U.S. private equity firm Sora Capital with the participation of angel investors, including David Tedman, co-founder of Hootsuite, and RosterBot co-founder Bret Hedican. Paul Reinhart, Sora's president and CEO, has joined the company's board of directors. Founded in 2012, RosterBot also announced that it has been accepted into the startup acceleration program of Invoke Labs, a Canadian digital innovation firm. RosterBot has its headquarters in Vancouver and also has an office in Silicon Valley.
3 min read · 07 May 2014
Mobile sports app theScore Inc (TSX-V: SCR), spun out of Score Media Inc in 2013, has closed a public share offering and private placement totaling $17.25 million. Canadian venture capital firm Relay Ventures, which contributed to last year's $16 million financing of the Toronto-based startup, participated in the deal with Levfam Holdings. Investment proceeds will be used to further develop theScore's platform, expand sales and marketing, and for general corporate and working capital purposes. Relay Ventures' managing partner John Albright was interviewed by peHUB Canada in May 2013 about theScore and Relay's other recent deals in the early-stage mobile connectivity space.
4 min read · 07 May 2014
Georgian Partners has taken time away from fundraising to lend support to a Canadian ed-tech startup it feels has especially strong growth prospects. The Toronto-based VC firm has led the $10 million Series B financing of Top Hat, a mobile and web-based provider of classroom engagement tools. It was joined in the round by existing investors. The deal comes only a few weeks after Georgian Partners wrapped up the initial close of its second applied analytics fund, raising $100 million.
3 min read · 06 May 2014
Kabbage Inc, an Atlanta-based online lender to small businesses, has raised a US$50 million Series D financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm SoftBank Capital and was joined by a number of other new and existing investors, including Thomvest Ventures, the US$250 million early-stage fund of Canada's Peter Thomson. Founded in 2008, Kabbage now has raised about US$106 million in equity since 2010. The company also has raised some US$367 million in debt funding.
4 min read · 05 May 2014
Kinaxis Inc has filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian securities regulators concerning a proposed initial public offering and secondary offering of its common shares. The IPO was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal, which quoted sources saying that Kinaxis intended to raise more than $100 million. The Ottawa-based company is a provider of cloud-based subscription software. Founded in 1984, it has been backed by Canadian and U.S. venture capital and private equity firms, including GE Capital, Intel Capital and TechnoCap. Kinaxis is currently a portfolio company of HarbourVest Partners.
2 min read · 05 May 2014
