brad meikle
Vancouver-based ePACT Network Ltd has secured a new round of financing, and entered into a strategic partnership with Calgary's Byye Group to support accelerated spread of emergency preparedness. The undisclosed financing, estimated by one source as more than $1 million, was provided by Byye and existing Canadian venture capital investors BDC Venture Capital and Yaletown Venture Partners. Proceeds of the investment will be used to expand international sales and marketing efforts, along with key product enhancements. Founded by emergency management specialists and web technology experts in 2012, ePACT has been venture-backed since 2013.
Vivione Biosciences Inc (TSXV: VBI), a diagnostic platform with offices in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Calgary, has closed a private placement generating total proceeds of $216,000. The company issued units to Arkansas Venture Capital Investment Trust for the purposes of acquiring equipment and completing regulatory approvals of its technology. Founded in 2006, the company's platform detects bacteria and other pathogens in key food and water safety, clinical, industrial and oil and gas environments.
Workplace mobility solutions provider Sharedesk has raised $1.1 million in a seed-stage financing round, Betakit has reported. The round was led by Timothy Draper, founding partner of U.S. venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Draper was joined by other investors. ShareDesk has also announced the launch of its workplace management software and application, Optix. Optix, an easy-to-use solution that improves the flexible working experience for both space managers and mobile professionals. ShareDesk is based in Vancouver. It is led by CEO and co-founder Kia Rahmani.
Sulvaris Inc has received approval from regulators to begin construction of a new Vitasul production facility. The facility, which will be built on the site of Keyera Corp’s Strachan gas plant near Rocky Mountain House in central Alberta, will convert elemental sulphur into Vitasul, a premium plant nutrient sulphur fertilizer developed for sale in global markets by the Calgary-based Sulvaris. The company confirmed that financing of the project was provided in Aug. 2013 by Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital, ATB Financial, and other investors. While the deal's financial terms were not released, Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB Canada) has reported that a portion of the value totals $42 million.
LumaStream, a specialist in end-to-end low-voltage systems for LED lighting, has raised US$10 million in a Series B preferred equity tranche from a Toronto-based investment group. The group was unnamed, but was said to have ties to both the lighting industry and home-building market. Funding proceeds will be used to expand LumaStream's capacity to fulfill orders from a growing number of hospitality and multi-site retail customers, according to the company. Founded in 2009, LumaStream has its headquarters in Petersburg, Florida. It also has an office in Waterloo, Ontario.
General Fusion Inc said Thursday that it has named Nathan Gilliland as CEO. Previously, Gilliland worked at organic waste converter Harvest Power where he was president and co-founder. In 2013, he also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at U.S. venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers. Based in Burnaby, British Columbia, General Fusion is a producer of commercial fusion energy. Founded in 2002, its backers include Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Cenovus Energy and Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
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.
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.
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.
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.