brad meikle
Canadian property and casualty insurer Gore Mutual Insurance Co has provided seed-stage funding to BrokerLift Inc, a Toronto-based turnkey e-commerce platform that enables insurance brokers to compete with other online distribution channels. The investment, the value of which was not disclosed, is intended to accelerate adoption of the company's solution among brokers. As part of the deal, Gore has negotiated an incentive for its broker network to join BrokerLift's platform with no set-up fees. BrokerLift was launched last July by Thomas Accardo and Behzad Salehoun.
Canadian life sciences venture capital firm Lumira Capital has appointed Dr. Richard Glickman, Frank Stonebanks and Dr. Brian Underdown as venture partners. Glickman currently chairs Aurina Pharmaceuticals Inc and enGene Inc, both Canadian portfolio investments of Lumira. Stonebanks is currently managing general partner of Blackcomb Advisors LLC, a strategic advisor to life sciences companies and investors. Underdown, who joined Lumira in 1997, has served as a managing director. Toronto-based Lumira said the appointments lend support to its investment and corporate partnering initiatives and expand its presence in Canadian and U.S. life sciences innovation hubs.
Toronto-based advocate marketing software provider Influitive has raised an additional $8.2 million for its Series B financing, initially closed last July. The extension brings the Series B round to $38 million, and Influitive's total financing since 2010 to about $50 million. The top-up funding was led by Leaders Fund, which was launched in January, and Export Development Canada. Existing investors, including Canada's Georgian Partners, Relay Ventures and BDC Capital IT Venture Fund, also participated. Along with the deal, Influitive announced it has bought Toronto-based Ironark Software. Influitive said the acquisition will lend expertise to the company and support its mobile capabilities.
Cambridge, Mass.-based semiconductor company Arctic Sand Technologies Inc has raised US$19 million in a Series B financing. The round was led by Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd and was joined by the company's existing investors, including Canadian venture capital firm Northwater Capital Management. Founded in 2011, Arctic Sand has developed technology based on power conversion intellectual property developed and licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its products help to significantly improve power conversion efficiency.
Canadian video advertising technology company SourceKnowledge has secured $1.5 million in mezzanine financing. The investment was made by Growth and Transition Capital, a division of BDC Capital. Montréal-based SourceKnowledge said the funds will be used to scale growth in its performance advertising platform Engage, which gives marketers tools to identify, recapture, convert, and measure high-value audiences across any device. It also plans to increase marketing efforts across North America. Founded in 2009, SourceKnowledge was recognized by Deloitte's 2015 Technology Fast 500 for a 133 percent growth rate between 2011 and 2014.
Fifty B.C.-based CEOs and investment professionals have sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging the creation of a first ever Canadian clean-tech strategy. The letter said Ottawa has "a unique opportunity" to turn Canada into a global clean-tech leader by adopting several key initiatives. They include a $500 million fund that would back up to 20 clean-tech venture capital funds, and help leverage up to $3 billion in total capital. Other proposals include a $1 billion clean-tech loan guarantee program available to early-stage projects; and a federal tax system review to ensure clean-tech companies have access to the same benefits as resource companies.
Formulating Change Inc, a.k.a. ChangeIt, a Canadian philanthropy-driven technology company, has raised a total of $2.2 million in financing. Of this total, $1.46 million was provided by members of MaRS Angels and Golden Triangle Angel Network, and $730,000 by FedDev Ontario. Based in Waterloo, ChangeIt has developed software that allows consumers to make donations to charities by rounding up credit or debit card purchases to the nearest dollar. The company, which is also backed by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, aims to use the new funds to hire a sales team to market its product to North American financial institutions.
MLA48, a fund launched in 2014 by Canadian angel organization Maple Leaf Angels, recently invested in Oneset, an online fitness community that connects trainers, athletes and enthusiasts. The terms of the financing were not disclosed. Founded last year by University of Waterloo alumni Amad Abdullah, George Xu, Moez Bhatti and Omas Abdullah, Oneset recently graduated from the FounderFuel accelerator program in Montréal and is now located at Waterloo’s Velocity Garage. The investment by MLA48 is the fund's fourth to date.
Finland's Nokia Corp has agreed to acquire Nakina Systems Inc, an Ottawa-based software company that provides network integrity management solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close this quarter. Nokia said the acquisition will increase its security capabilities as it helps customers address demands of hyper connectivity, new regulations and emerging technologies. Nakina Systems has been venture-backed since its founding in 2002. Its current Canadian and U.S. investors include Covington Capital Corp, Export Development Canada and VIMAC Ventures.
Vision Critical Communications Inc has agreed to spin off its North American research consulting arm in a sale to MARU Group, a British customer intelligence professional services provider. No financial terms were disclosed. Vancouver-based Vision Critical said the deal will allow it focus on its customer intelligence software and support platform. Upon the deal's closing this quarter, the consulting arm will become a standalone business and strategic partner to Vision Critical. Founded in 2000, Vision Critical is venture-backed. It last financing, totaling $16 million, was led by Georgian Partners in mid-2014. MARU is a portfolio company of U.K. private equity firm Primary Capital Partners.