brad meikle
British Columbia Discovery Fund VCC, a retail venture capital fund managed by Discovery Capital Management Corp, announced that it made redemption offers of $10.9 million of its Class A Shares in 2013. It also flagged its redemption plan for 2014. The fund intends to redeem approximately 20 percent of its net asset value, or $9.6 million, based in part on the successful Mar. 2014 closing of the previously-announced sale of portfolio company In Motion Technology Inc to Sierra Wireless Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR) (TSX: SW). In January, Sierra Wireless said it would acquire the Vancouver-based provider of mobile enterprise technologies for US$21 million.
In a peHUB Canada exclusive, Tom Rand, managing partner of the privately-backed MaRS Cleantech Fund, writes about what's at stake in the current global debate over climate change and the potential impact of clean technologies. For Rand, the issue comes down to a contest between the Cleantech Bulls and the Climate Bear. In this contest, a number of Canadian venture-backed startups like Hydrostor, Woodland Biofuels, Sparq Systems and Polar Sapphire are demonstrating why the Cleantech Bulls are showing increasing muscle.
Sluggish growth among young technology firms could bode trouble for the U.S. economy, according to a new report from the Kauffman Foundation, reports Reuters. The number of technology firms aged five years or younger - key drivers of job creation - has fallen to below 80,000, down from a high of 113,000 in 2001, according to the report. Today's levels are roughly on par with the mid-1990s. Factors that could help account for the drop include a tendency of older technology companies to acquire increasingly younger technology firms, taking them out of the pool of young companies prematurely, said report co-author Ian Hathaway in a telephone interview. For example, when Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for US$1 billion, it was just 2 years old. Separately, many old-line Silicon Valley companies buy start-ups simply to acquire their talented engineers in a phenomenon that has become known as the "acquihire."
Front Desk Inc has secured US$4 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm Floodgate with the participation of Canadian firm Version One Ventures, as well as Second Avenue Partners and other existing investors. Boris Wertz, general partner at Version One Ventures, has also joined the company's board of directors. Based in Seattle, Washington, Front Desk is a mobile-first, software-as-a-service platform that provides cloud-based client management tools to small businesses in the personal services economy. The company was founded in 2013. Boris Wertz was last month interviewed by peHUB Canada.
Klipfolio Inc said Friday that it has closed $1.7 million in venture capital financing. The Canadian and U.S.-based investors included BDC Venture Capital IT Fund and Mistral Venture Partners, which co-led the round, as well as Fundfire, BOLDstart Ventures, Acadia Woods and CommonAngels Ventures. Based in Ottawa, Klipfolio is a provider of cloud-based web and mobile dashboard solutions. Update: Investment proceeds will allow the company to continue to grow its customer base in the global business intelligence software market, Klipfolio said.
Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital has reported that more than half of its clean-tech portfolio received follow-on financing since Feb. 2013. The companies, which Chrysalix said will "directly propel breakthroughs" in innovations for oil and gas, electric power and utilities, chemicals and materials, and mining and metals include: Axine Water Technologies Inc, a developer of wastewater treatment solutions; General Fusion Inc, a specialist in magnetized target fusion technology; and Glasspoint Solar Inc, a manufacturer of solar steam generators. Wal van Lierop, CEO and co-founder of the Vancouver-based Chrysalix was last month interviewed by VCJ senior editor Joanna Glasner about the firm's fourth fund, targeted to raise between US$150 million to US$250 million.
Canadian venture capital firm BEST Funds has secured a $2.8 million financing into PitchPoint Solutions Inc, a Toronto-based enterprise solutions company that is primarily focused in the financial sector. The investment will allow the company to increase its sales and marketing initiatives, while continuing to develop new technologies to support it client base. With its headquarters in Toronto, BEST Funds finances high-growth Canadian companies in software and technology sectors. The firm has been involved in 350 transactions since inception.
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF), which in Jan. 2014 raised $218 million in its initial close, has made its first two fund commitments totaling $60 million. NVCF backed Georgian Partners Growth Fund II, managed by Toronto-based Georgian Partners, which is focused on investing in expansion-stage enterprise software, Internet and information companies. Georgian Partners' Fund II has been widely reported as having raised $100 million in total in its first close. NVCF also committed to XPV Water Fund II, managed by Toronto-based XPV Capital Corp, which is focused on investing in proven entrepreneurs operating in the global water industry. NVCF is managed by Canadian private markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners. With headquarters in Toronto, Northleaf currently manages $5 billion in institutional investor commitments.
Tacit Innovations, designer of a mobile app and platform that allows customers to discover restaurants, browse menus, manage their orders and pay for their meals, recently secured $700,000 in seed-stage financing. The Toronto-based company's backers are BDC Venture Capital, Canrock, Hyperdrive, the founders, and a number of private investors. Funding proceeds will be used to fuel technology development, as well as sales and marketing, with a focus on launching the product in restaurants across North America, according to the company. Tacit Innovations is a graduate of the latest cohort of Communitech Hyperdrive, a Waterloo-based startup accelerator and investor.
Social login and sharing provider LoginRadius has received $1.3 million in financing. The investors include Accelerate Fund, an angel co-investment fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm AVAC, Yaletown Venture Partners, Real Ventures, BDC Venture Capital, and a number of angel investors. Proceeds of the deal will be used to facilitate the company's growth and product innovation, which is aimed at transforming the way users connect to the web and mobile applications, LoginRadius said. A recent graduate of startup accelerator FounderFuel, the Edmonton, Alberta-based company said it is currently powering social login and sharing on 100,000 websites in 180 countries with a monthly reach of 15 million users.