brad meikle
Mériance, a provider of a new line of anti-aging treatments for the face with a natural collagen base, recently secured $150,000 in funding from Philippe Bergeron, an entrepreneur and angel investor affiliated with Anges Québec. Other Anges Québec members have previously invested in the Montréal-based Mériance, which is currently targeting its cosmetics products to the global marketplace. Anges Québec manages a network of 140 investors that has to date backed a total of 35 early-stage companies.
Canadian venture capital firm Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital intends to raise a fourth clean-tech fund, eyeing a fund size of US$150 million to US$250 million, reports peHUB Canada affiliate publication VCJ. According to the firm’s co-founder and CEO, Wal van Lierop, the timing is right because investors are coming back to the clean-tech sector.
Bit Stew Systems Inc announced this week that it has raised a round of an undisclosed size from Yaletown Venture Partners and Cisco. Based in Vancouver, Bit Stew is a developer for softwarre for smart grid systems and electrical utilities companies in Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Bex.io announced this week that it has raised $500K in venture capital funding from CrossPacific Capital Partners and several angel investors. Based in Vancouver and founded less than a year ago, Bex.io provides Bitcoin-related services to entrepreneurs, offering access to digital currency.
Toronto-based venture capital firm Pinetree Capital has purchased 18 million common shares of Augusta Industries. No financial terms were disclosed. As a result of the transaction, Pinetree now holds an aggregate of 52,272,112 common shares of Augusta. Based in Canada, Augusta Industries is a provider of health monitoring sensor systems.
Canadian venture capital firm iGan Partners has led the financing of Sciencescape, a Toronto-based technology platform that helps academics and researchers discover and organize publications and related work in their fields, with an initial focus on the biomedical sector. The investment's value was not published. Other participants in the deal included BDC Venture Capital, Extreme Startups, and a number of angel investors. Funding will be used to further develop Sciencescape's platform, which was recently released in beta form, and for sales and marketing initiatives. Led by co-founder and CEO Sam Molyneux, the company was launched last year.
Imagistx Inc, a Markham, Ont.-based maker of an ultra high resolution system that provides significant improvements in detecting prostate cancer, has secured a $4.2 million round of financing. The deal was led by Canadian venture capital firm iGan Partners, along with IAF, Veddis Ventures and a number of angel investors. Imagistx said it is also negotiating further commitments from major strategic investors. Proceeds of the financing will be used to conduct large-scale, multi-site clinical trials, further enhance the company's prostate ultrasound imaging system, and bring its products to market worldwide.
When InContact Inc, a provider of internet-based call center services, wanted to gauge the success of its video marketing campaign, it turned to Canadian video analytics startup Vidyard, reports Reuters. The Kitchener, Ontario-based Vidyard - which says it could list its shares within the next two years - analyzed how many people InContact's videos reached and how long they were watched, enabling its customer to better target its audience. Vidyard, which in March secured $6 million in its series A financing led by venture capital firm OMERS Ventures, expects to go in for another round of private financing well ahead of its market debut.
Ed-tech start-up Gummii Inc has secured a $1.3M round of angel financing led by Calgary businessman Eric Prosser and Accelerate Fund LP, an angel co-investment fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm AVAC. Founded in 2012, the Calgary-based Gummi, developer of an iPad math app for kids, previously received $500,000 in seed-stage capital. Its funding to date totals $1.9 million. The most recent investment proceeds will be used to build out the Gummii curriculum, as well as more parent-oriented features. Accelerate Fund was launched last year with the backing of Alberta Enterprise.
Vivity Labs Inc, the Vancouver-based creator of brain-training app Fit Brains and other products, has been acquired by U.S.-based learning solutions provider Rosetta Stone Inc for US$12 million in cash. The deal, which is expected to close in Jan. 2014, will bring together affiliated products and allow Rosetta Stone to move into new areas of technology-driven education, the company said. Founded in 2007, Vivity Labs received $1 million in angel funding in 2008 according to AngelList.