Private Equity
Bradmer Pharmaceuticals Inc (TSX Venture: BMR.H) has agreed to a reverse take-over transaction with Alpha Cancer Technologies Inc, a Toronto-based pre-clinical biopharmaceutical company with a targeted chemotherapy delivery platform focused on the global oncology market. Upon completion of the transaction, the resulting issuer will carry on the business of Alpha. In Jan. 2013, Alpha secured $2.1 million from XDL Angel Group. The company at the same time received $950,000 from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario to support clinical trials of its chemotherapy platform.
8 min read · 19 February 2014
Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) have jointly launched the BDC Innovation Award. The new award will recognize an early-stage Canadian company that has demonstrated the ability to bring innovation to market, re-shaping a sector or industry in a new or unexpected way. Nominations for the award are open until April 4, 2014, and the winning startup will be honoured at the 2014 CVCA Annual Conference in Ottawa from May 20-22, 2014.
3 min read · 19 February 2014
Akebia Therapeutics Inc, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company, has filed with U.S. regulatory authorities for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. The company plans to list on NASDAQ under the symbol AKBA. While no additional IPO information was released, a report from advisory firm Renaissance Capital said the company was set to raise up to US$75 million. Akebia is a portfolio investment of Canadian venture capital firm GeneChem. In 2013, GeneChem fund AgeChem participated in a US$41 million Series C financing of the company co-led by Satter Investment Management and Novo A/S. Founded in 2007, Akebia develops treatments for anemia and cancer.
2 min read · 18 February 2014
Hospitality software solutions provider GuestDriven Inc has secured $3 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by Canadian venture capital firms Plaza Ventures and Real Ventures, and U.S. firm Structure Capital, with the participation of a number of angel investors. The company said it plans to use the funds to grow its GuestDriven Mobile Guest Engagement platform, which is aimed at delivering a personalized hotel experience for guests from booking to check out. GuestDriven also announced that Plaza Ventures' Jesse Kaplan and Real Ventures' John Stokes were among new appointees to its board of directors. The Montréal-based company, formerly known as MConcierge Systems, received its seed-stage financing in 2011.
4 min read · 18 February 2014
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (TSX-V: AUP) has completed a US$52 million private placement. The deal was led by venBio, New Enterprise Associates, Redmile Group, RA Capital Management, Great Point Partners and Apple Tree Partners, with the participation of existing investors Lumira Capital, ILJIN Life Science and Difference Capital. Lumira, Difference Capital and ILJIN in 2013 helped finance Aurinia's merger with Isotechnika Pharma Inc. The Edmonton-based company intends to use the new funds for the clinical and non-clinical development of its lead drug candidate, a therapy for treating lupus nephritis. Aurinia's current leadership team includes former senior managers of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp, which was acquired in 2008.
6 min read · 18 February 2014
British Columbia Discovery Fund VCC, a retail venture capital fund managed by Discovery Capital Management Corp, announced that it made redemption offers of $10.9 million of its Class A Shares in 2013. It also flagged its redemption plan for 2014. The fund intends to redeem approximately 20 percent of its net asset value, or $9.6 million, based in part on the successful Mar. 2014 closing of the previously-announced sale of portfolio company In Motion Technology Inc to Sierra Wireless Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR) (TSX: SW). In January, Sierra Wireless said it would acquire the Vancouver-based provider of mobile enterprise technologies for US$21 million.
4 min read · 18 February 2014
In a peHUB Canada exclusive, Tom Rand, managing partner of the privately-backed MaRS Cleantech Fund, writes about what's at stake in the current global debate over climate change and the potential impact of clean technologies. For Rand, the issue comes down to a contest between the Cleantech Bulls and the Climate Bear. In this contest, a number of Canadian venture-backed startups like Hydrostor, Woodland Biofuels, Sparq Systems and Polar Sapphire are demonstrating why the Cleantech Bulls are showing increasing muscle.
4 min read · 18 February 2014
Sluggish growth among young technology firms could bode trouble for the U.S. economy, according to a new report from the Kauffman Foundation, reports Reuters. The number of technology firms aged five years or younger - key drivers of job creation - has fallen to below 80,000, down from a high of 113,000 in 2001, according to the report. Today's levels are roughly on par with the mid-1990s. Factors that could help account for the drop include a tendency of older technology companies to acquire increasingly younger technology firms, taking them out of the pool of young companies prematurely, said report co-author Ian Hathaway in a telephone interview. For example, when Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for US$1 billion, it was just 2 years old. Separately, many old-line Silicon Valley companies buy start-ups simply to acquire their talented engineers in a phenomenon that has become known as the "acquihire."
2 min read · 14 February 2014
Front Desk Inc has secured US$4 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm Floodgate with the participation of Canadian firm Version One Ventures, as well as Second Avenue Partners and other existing investors. Boris Wertz, general partner at Version One Ventures, has also joined the company's board of directors. Based in Seattle, Washington, Front Desk is a mobile-first, software-as-a-service platform that provides cloud-based client management tools to small businesses in the personal services economy. The company was founded in 2013. Boris Wertz was last month interviewed by peHUB Canada.
2 min read · 14 February 2014
Klipfolio Inc said Friday that it has closed $1.7 million in venture capital financing. The Canadian and U.S.-based investors included BDC Venture Capital IT Fund and Mistral Venture Partners, which co-led the round, as well as Fundfire, BOLDstart Ventures, Acadia Woods and CommonAngels Ventures. Based in Ottawa, Klipfolio is a provider of cloud-based web and mobile dashboard solutions. Update: Investment proceeds will allow the company to continue to grow its customer base in the global business intelligence software market, Klipfolio said.
4 min read · 14 February 2014
