brad meikle
Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and Thomson Reuters announced the results of Canadian venture capital investment activity in 2013. The report found a total of $2.0 billion invested last year, up 31% from 2012, and reflecting the highest level of disbursements since 2007. Deal-making was led in information technology sectors, and by a number of major financings, including the US$165 million Series B financing of Vancouver’s HootSuite, the largest in the domestic market's history. Year-over-year growth was supported by increased activity on the part of both Canadian and foreign VC funds. In contrast with deal trends, VC fund-raising activity, totaling $1.3 billion in 2013, declined 24% relative to the especially strong fund-raising year that was reported in 2012. Full reports of Canadian market trends in 2013 can be downloaded in english and in french.
LX Ventures (TSX Venture: LXV), an accelerator that acquires, integrates and supports high-growth technology companies, is undertaking a private placement offering to raise up to $3 million. Funds raised will be used to accelerate the growth of companies recently added to LX Ventures' portfolio. These include Vancouver-based music content network Mobio Technologies Inc, bought in May 2013; Vancouver-based online campaign platform Strutta.com Media Inc, bought in Dec. 2013, and; Las Vegas, Nevada-based cloud manager Copper.io Inc, bought in Jan. 2014. LX Ventures has it headquarters in Vancouver.
An infographic created by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) highlights data attesting to the positive impact of venture investment in Canadian innovative companies. Some of the data come from a 2013 report, published by the CVCA in partnership with Industry Canada and Statistics Canada, providing new evidence of the economic benefits of market activity. Speaking about Canadian venture deal-making trends in 2013, BDC executive vice-president Jérôme Nycz said results show "the fruits of an ecosystem coming together." BDC also pointed to recent trends that have been influenced by BDC Venture Capital's fund-of-funds activity, direct investments made by its specialty IT, energy/cleantech and healthcare funds, and its role in facilitating the implementation of Ottawa's Venture Capital Action Plan.
Hatchbrands Ventures, a specialized micro-capital fund, has agreed to be acquired by iBrands Corp, a Roswell, Georgia-based holding company that acquires and operates niche market brands. The financial terms of the transaction, and the transaction's completion date, were not published. Founded in 2010, the Ottawa-based Hatchbrand makes pre-IPO investments in technology startups developed in accelerators and incubators found in post-secondary environments.
Canadian venture capital firm BEST Funds has invested $1.5 million in XipLink Inc, a Montréal-based developer of wireless bandwidth optimization products. Proceeds of the investment will be used for sales and marketing initiatives, as well as to support the company's continued technological developments. Founded in 2007 by a team of wireless data communications professionals, XipLink sells its applications and embedded software to clients worldwide. The Toronto-based BEST funds earlier this month invested in enterprise solutions provider PitchPoint Solutions Inc.
Canadian venture capital firm Georgian Partners has secured a total of $100 million in the first close of its second partnership, Georgian Partners Growth Fund II. The lead investor was Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, managed by Canadian private markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners, which earlier this month announced that it had committed to Fund II. Additional backers of the first closing include BMO Financial Group, Kensington Capital Partners, Fondaction CSN, family offices and a large strategic software investor. Georgian Partners said the new fund will continue to invest in expansion-stage enterprise software, Internet and information companies that are exploiting applied analytics. One of the firm's portfolio companies, Shopify Inc, raised $100 million in a Series C round last December. Founded in 2008, Georgian Partners is based in Toronto.
Hifi Engineering Inc has obtained $5.4 million in a new round of financing. The strategic investors were Canadian energy delivery company Enbridge Inc and Cenovus Environmental Opportunity Fund, the venture investment arm of Canadian integrated oil company Cenovus Energy Inc. The Cenovus fund has backed the company since 2009. Investment proceeds will be used to support the next phase of Hifi Engineering's research and development involving adaptation of its fiber optic sensing technology to the early detection of leaks in oil and gas pipelines. Founded in 2007, Hifi Engineering has its headquarters in Calgary.
FusionPipe Software Solutions Inc recently raised a seed-stage financing round from angel investors. The undisclosed round, which the company reported as over-subscribed, will be used to further develop and commercialize its platform of mobile data security solutions for enterprises. FusionPipe also announced the appointment of David Snell as its CEO. Prior to joining the company, Snell was chief marketing officer at venture-backed Canadian software company QuickMobile Inc. Founded in 2010, FusionPipe is based in Vancouver.
Anges Québec Capital Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund managed by Anges Québec (AQ), has been promised new commitments in the 2014-2015 Québec budget, tabled on February 20th by finance and economy minister Nicolas Marceau. The budget specified a $25 million commitment to Anges Québec Capital Fund. That is on top of the $30 million the fund received at the time of its formation in 2012. In partnership with the Montréal-based AQ and its network of private angel investors, Anges Québec Capital Fund has backed a number of technology startups over the past two years. At the beginning of 2014, the AQ network had 140 members and had invested in 35 early-stage companies.
EnerMotion Inc has secured $250,000 from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). The company's waste heat recovery technology, which converts exhaust heat from trucks and other large engine vehicles into a power source for heating and cooling systems, is currently entering customer demonstration trials. Founded in 2008, the company is based in Bolton, Ontario. EnerMotion is also a portfolio company of Sustainable Development Technology Canada.