brad meikle
Personal vision innovator eSight Corp recently secured an investment from Canadian venture capital firm iGan Partners. The value of the financing round was not published. The Ottawa-based eSight's eyewear solution captures live images through an embedded high-resolution camera that allows visually impaired people to see. Founded in 2006, the company previously received funding from FedDev Ontario, First Leaside Visions II LP and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund. It has also been backed by members of angel organizations Boston Harbor Angel, Capital Angel Network, Golden Triangle AngelNet and Angel One Investor Network.
Identity verification platform Trulioo Inc has received US$6 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S.-based Tenfore Holdings, with the participation of Canadian investor BDC Venture Capital and Blumberg Capital. Tenfore's Dan Levine has joined the company's board of directors. The latest round, which will be used to accelerate growth into developing and emerging markets where traditional identity verification products are largely unavailable, brings Trulioo's total funding so far to over US$8.3 million. The Vancouver-based startup recently announced that it had surpassed 100 million cyber identities scored, mostly in North America and Europe.
500px, a Toronto-based platform for discovering, sharing, buying and selling photos, has purchased Authintic Analytics Technologies Inc. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition of Authintic, an analytics technology provider with offices in Toronto and New York City, brings additional data sciences and advertising industry expertise to 500px as it enters the photo licensing business, the company said. Founded in 2009, 500px has been venture-backed since 2012. In August 2013, the company secured $8.8 million in a Series A financing round led by U.S. venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Harrison Metal.
Hatchbrands Ventures, an internet accelerator and micro-fund based in Ottawa, has hired Marco Janeczek as venture partner. Janeczek's experience includes working at H-FARM and First Stone Ventures. Hatchbrands Ventures was recently bought by iBrands Corp, a Roswell, Georgia-based holding company that acquires and operates niche market brands.
Interactive video content network Keek Inc has completed its previously-announced reverse take-over of Primary Petroleum Corp and has commenced shares trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol KEK. As a result, Canadian private equity and venture capital firm Pinetree Capital announced a purchase of Keek equity representing 11.3% of the company's total issued and outstanding common shares. Based in Toronto, Keek has been venture-backed since 2011. In January 2013, it raised $18 million in a deal led by AGF Investments, Pinetree and Plazacorp Ventures, and with Cranson Capital also participating.
Canadian venture capital firm Renewal Funds has raised a total of $63 million in the final close of its third fund, Renewal3. The fund, which is focused on investing in early-stage growth companies in organic and natural foods, green products, and environmental and social innovation sectors, received capital commitments from individual investors, families, foundations and institutional investors based in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Limited partners include 22 foundations. With Fund III's final close, total assets under management now stand at nearly $100 million. Founded in 1994, Renewal Funds has its headquarters in Vancouver.
Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 4.2 million common shares at $11.00 per share. The IPO is intended to raise gross proceeds of $46.2 million. Aquinox's stock has been approved for a NASDAQ listing and is expected to begin trading immediately under the symbol AQXP. Based in Vancouver, Aquinox is a clinical-stage biotech company that develops novel and targeted small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory disease. It has been backed by Canadian and U.S. venture capital firms since 2007. In April 2013, the company secured a US$18 million Series C financing led by Johnson & Johnson Development Corp.
U.S. venture capital funds showed gains in performance in the third quarter of 2013, according to the Cambridge Associates LLC U.S. Venture Capital Index®, the benchmark of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The quarterly, 1-, 3-, 5-, 10- and 15-year time horizons all showed higher returns, with no change in the 20-year horizon. The NVCA attributed the improved performance to a better exit environment and a healthier market for initial public offerings.
Retail venture capital fund GrowthWorks Canadian Fund has been given extended creditor protection by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, pursuant to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, until April 10. The fund also completed its previously announced sale and investor solicitation process, though none of the proposals received were accepted. It is now in discussions with Roseway Capital, to which GrowthWorks Canadian Fund is obliged, to formulate an asset management and realization plan.
HootSuite Media Inc has launched HootSuite Labs, a team focused on emerging social technologies and that will engage with the company's early adopters and customers to shape the future of social media and digital marketing. Among its activities, HootSuite Labs will develop disruptive products, experiment with new innovations, and promote related sector events. Based in Vancouver, HootSuite last year raised US$165 million in a Series B financing round led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and OMERS Ventures.