Private Equity
TouchBistro Inc, a provider of mobile point-of-sale solutions for the food and beverage industry, has closed a second tranche of its seed financing round. The Toronto-based startup received investments from U.S. venture capital firm Walden Venture Capital and Canadian alternative assets manager Kensington Capital Partners. Following completion of the round's first tranche, led by Relay Ventures last November, the latest deal brings TouchBistro's total funding to $6 million. The company, which recently opened an office in New York and soon will open one in San Francisco, said it has plans for aggressive growth, which includes doubling its customer base in the next 12 months.
4 min read · 26 March 2014
Clio, a specialist in cloud-based management tools for the legal industry, has secured $20 million in a Series C financing round led by U.S. venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors Acton Capital Partners and Point Nine Capital joined in the round, as did Canadian firm Version One Ventures, which is investing in Clio for the first time. The deal brings total venture capital raised by the Vancouver-based company to $27 million. Clio said that the new funding will be used to accelerate product development and sales and fuel global expansion over the next 12 months. Founded in 2009, the company has legal professionals in 50 countries using its service.
4 min read · 25 March 2014
Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital is planning to raise a new fund focused on investing in innovative agriculture and food companies, The Globe and Mail reported. The report said Avrio is targeting $125 million for the new fund – a larger size than its previous funds, which have ranged between $75 million and $100 million. Based in Calgary, and with offices in Montréal and Toronto, the firm has invested in 65 transactions since its founding in 2006. Last week, peHUB Canada reported that Avrio would gain an exit from the sale of Wolf Trax, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer of plant nutrition products. The company is being sold to Compass Minerals for $95 million.
1 min read · 24 March 2014
Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital is planning to raise a new fund focused on investing in innovative agriculture and food companies, The Globe and Mail reported. The report said Avrio is targeting $125 million for the new fund – a larger size than its previous funds, which have ranged between $75 million and $100 million. Based in Calgary, and with offices in Montréal and Toronto, the firm has invested in 65 transactions since its founding in 2006. Last week, peHUB Canada reported that Avrio would gain an exit from the sale of Wolf Trax, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer of plant nutrition products. The company is being sold to Compass Minerals for $95 million.
1 min read · 24 March 2014
PHEMI Health Systems said Monday that it has closed a $2.8 million seed-stage financing round. The investors included Canadian venture capital firms BDC Venture Capital and Yaletown Venture Partners, as well as a number of strategic angel investors. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, PHEMI Health Systems is a big data platform company that provides solutions that improve clinic productivity, patient outcomes and medical research. Update: Proceeds of the investment will facilitate the company's commercialization of its patient care management platform PHEMI Central.
3 min read · 24 March 2014
Wolf Trax Inc, a manufacturer of plant nutrition products, has agreed to be acquired by Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP). The all-cash transaction is valued at $95 million. The acquisition will position the Overland Park, Kansas-based Compass Minerals for future growth with new products that serve a greater diversity of crops and geographies, the company said. The deal also provides an exit to Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital, which has been an investor in Winnipeg-based Wolf Trax since December 2010. Founded in 1998, Wolf Trax last year generated sales of approximately $20 million.
3 min read · 21 March 2014
Wolf Trax Inc, a manufacturer of plant nutrition products, has agreed to be acquired by Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP). The all-cash transaction is valued at $95 million. The acquisition will position the Overland Park, Kansas-based Compass Minerals for future growth with new products that serve a greater diversity of crops and geographies, the company said. The deal also provides an exit to Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital, which has been an investor in Winnipeg-based Wolf Trax since December 2010. Founded in 1998, Wolf Trax last year generated sales of approximately $20 million.
3 min read · 21 March 2014
The power of the crowd may soon be harnessed to help fund business startups in Canada, with several provincial securities regulators publishing proposed rules on Thursday that would allow large numbers of people to invest small amounts in promising projects, reports Reuters. The Ontario Securities Commission, the country's biggest capital markets watchdog, said its new rules would allow registered online portals to collect up to $2,500 per investment from small-scale investors. Regulators in Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick published a joint proposal similar to the Ontario document.
3 min read · 21 March 2014
Cloud-based hardware engineering platform Upverter Inc has raised $2.3 million in follow-on financing in a round led by early stage venture firm Version One Ventures, General Partner Boris Wertz told peHUB Canada. The round included Golden Venture Partners and several entrepeneurs and angel investors, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the news. Founded in 2010 by engineering students at the University of Waterloo, Upverter provides electrical engineers with collaboration, data and design tools aimed at creating hardware more efficiently and in less time.
1 min read · 21 March 2014
Cloud-based hardware engineering platform Upverter Inc has raised $2.3 million in follow-on financing in a round led by early stage venture firm Version One Ventures, General Partner Boris Wertz told peHUB Canada. The round included Golden Venture Partners and several entrepeneurs and angel investors, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the news. Founded in 2010 by engineering students at the University of Waterloo, Upverter provides electrical engineers with collaboration, data and design tools aimed at creating hardware more efficiently and in less time.
1 min read · 21 March 2014
