North America

Drug developer Aristea Therapeutics rakes in $15 mln Series A

San Diego-based Aristea Therapeutics, a drug developer, has secured $15 million in Series A funding. The investor was Novo Holdings A/S. In connection with the financing, Dr. Tiba Aynechi and Dr. Ken Harrison from Novo Ventures (US) have been named to Aristea's board of directors.

Digital health company Triduum snags $9.5 mln Series B

Tridiuum, a digital health company, has secured $9.5 million in Series B financing. The lead investor was Sopris Capital. Other participants in the round included Fresenius Medical Care Ventures, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Martinson Ventures.

New venture fund Multiverse launches

Multiverse Investment Fund I LP, a Los Angeles-based fund focused on investing in gatekeeper bio and high-tech companies, has launched. Jack Kavanaugh, a former founder, chairman and CEO of ZetaRx, is one of the managing members of Multiverse's general partner.

RiverVest closes fourth fund at $184.4 mln

RiverVest Venture Partners, a life sciences venture firm, has closed its oversubscribed fourth fund at $184.4 million. According to the firm, RiverVest has funded 47 and exited or taken public 22 life science companies.

Canadian cybersecurity firm Cybeats inks $3 mln

Toronto-based cybersecurity company Cybeats has raised $3 million in funding. Ripple Ventures led the round with participation from GreenSoil Building Innovation Fund, MaRS IAF, MLA48, ScaleX and Inovia Capital. In conjunction with the funding, Cybeats has named Matt Cohen, founder and managing partner of Ripple Ventures and Susan McArthur, managing partner of GreenSoil Building Innovation Fund, to its board.

Automated customer service Ada nabs $19 mln in Series A

Toronto-based automated customer service Ada has raised $19 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm FirstMark Capital. It was joined by Leaders Fund and Burst Capital, as well as Bessemer Venture Partners, Version One Ventures and Barney Pell, which backed last year's $2.5 million seed deal. Founded in 2016 by CEO Mike Murchison and Head of Design David Hariri, Ada's platform allows customer service teams to build and manage artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots to automate interactions. It will use the funds raised to expand into new global markets and sectors, enhance the platform, and grow the team.

Spectrum Equity backs DataCamp

DataCamp, a New York-based online interactive learning platform focused on increasing data fluency, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding. Spectrum Equity led the round with participation from return backers Accomplice and Arthur Ventures.

Spectrum Equity invests in DataCamp

Spectrum Equity has invested in DataCamp. Financial terms weren’t announced. Existing investors Accomplice and Arthur Ventures are also investing. DataCamp, of New York, is a data science and analytics learning platform.

FTV Capital leads Egress $40 mln round

Egress said Dec. 18 that it has raised $40 million in Series C funding led by FTV Capital. Existing investor AlbionVC also participated. Egress provides data privacy and compliance software.

Cycle's Pascal Drouin, Natalya Novikov become partners

Cycle Capital Management has promoted Pascal Drouin to partner, Natalya Novikov to partner and CFO, and Catherine Bérubé to vice president, sustainability, investor relations and public affairs. Drouin, formerly a junior partner, joined Cycle in 2013. He previously served as a risk modeling leader at GE Capital. Novikov, formerly vice president, finance and administration, also joined in 2013. Before then, she was an accountant with MNP. Bérubé, formerly head of communications and public relations, came on board in 2014 following a career in public and governmental relations. Cycle is a Montréal-based clean technology venture capital firm. It oversees assets of $355 million.