North America

Smarter Sorting attracts $5 mln seed

Austin, Texas-based Smarter Sorting, a reuse solution for household hazardous waste, has raised $5 million in seed funding. The investors included RTP Ventures.

BDC partners with WEOC to support women entrepreneurs

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has entered into a partnership with Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WECO) to support women entrepreneurs and increase their financing opportunities. BDC will work with five WEOC member organizations and some 90,000 women business owners who work with WEOC members at the national level. The agreement adds to BDC's other commitments, including a new target of $1.4 billion in lending to women-led businesses by 2021, announced in last week's federal Budget 2018, and $200 million of investment in women-led technology companies.

PE, VC activity hits record in Latin America in 2017

Private equity and venture capital activity in Latin America hit a record in 2017 driven by an upsurge in VC and mid-market deal making, according to the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

Cherubic Ventures raises $1.5 mln toward fourth venture fund

Cherubic Ventures has set out to raise a fourth venture fund, according to a filing with the SEC.

Travis Kalanick's next act: the 10100 investment fund

Ex Uber CEO Travis Kalanick took to Twitter to announce the creation of his 10100 investment fund.

Mojio tops up $30 mln Series B for connected car roll-outs

Vancouver-based connected car platform Mojio Inc has raised an undisclosed investment from European venture capital firm Iris Capital and Telus Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Telus Corp. The investment, which tops up the company's $30 million Series B financing, closed late last year, will help Mojio accelerate adoption of its connected car solutions for mobile network operators and automotive makers in North America and Europe. Founded in 2012, Mojio's other backers include Amazon Alexa Fund, BDC Capital, Deutsche Telekom, innogy Ventures, Kensington Capital Partners, Relay Ventures and Trend Forward Capital.

Self-driving trucking company Starsky Robotics rides off with $16.5 mln Series A

San Francisco-based Starsky Robotics, a self-driving trucking company, has raised $16.5 million in Series A funding, according to a post by CEO and co-founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher. Shasta Ventures led the round with participation from other investors included Y Combinator, Trucks.vc, 50 Years and 9Point Ventures.

Blockdaemon raises $3.28 mln from Comcast Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Plug & Play, Liquid 2, others

Blockdaemon said it raised a $3.28 million seed round led by Comcast Ventures and joined by Boldstart Ventures, MState, Plug & Play, Liquid 2 Ventures and angels Meagan Jones, Sam Lessin and Jeff Fagnan.

Aikon unveils blockchain protocol, announces funding

San Mateo, California-based Aikon, which has unveiled a blockchain protocol called the Open Rights Exchang, announced it has raised $2 million in funding from OVO Fund and angel investors from the United States, Japan and Europe. The company was founded in 2017 by encryption software pioneer Stefan Roever, former political campaign manager and tech entrepreneur Marc Blinder and banking and fintech executive Betsabe Botaitis.

ORIX Capital Partners collects $160.3 mln for inaugural fund

New York City-based ORIX Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, has raised $160.3 million for its debut fund, according to an SEC filing. No target was listed on the document.