brad meikle
Canadian clinical-stage oncology specialist ProNAi Therapeutics Inc has announced the pricing of its initial public offering of common shares on the NASDAQ Global Market. The company, which expects to begin trading under the symbol "DNAI" this week, is seeking US$138 million in proceeds, which is up from its previously-disclosed target. Founded in 2004, ProNAi is focused on developing a new class of therapies through its DNA interference platform for patients with cancer and hematological diseases. In 2014, the Vancouver-based company raised US$59.5 million in Series D financing from mostly U.S. venture capital firms, including Vivo Capital, Frazier Healthcare Ventures and OrbiMed Advisors.
Venture capitalists spent US$17.5 billion on U.S.-based investments last quarter, the National Venture Capital Association said, the most since the final quarter of 2000, Reuters reported. The software sector drew US$7.3 billion of the investments, more than any quarter since the tracking started in 1995. Media and entertainment sector drew the second-largest sum of US$2.7 billion.
Canadian venture capital firm Klass Capital has increased its stake in Docebo SpA, an Italian cloud e-learning solutions provider. After providing US$3 million in funding to the company in February, Klass Capital acquired the shares of angel investor Seeweb, Docebo said. The acquisition's value was not disclosed. Klass Capital Founder and Managing Partner Daniel Klass said the firm plans to commit resources to Docebo's strategy for future mergers and acquisitions. Established in 2005, Docebo reports to having over 800 business-to-business customers in more than 80 countries.
Activity in Canada’s venture capital market continued to grow in Q2 2015, according to a preliminary report by Thomson Reuters. The report showed $538 million of VC invested in 90 financing rounds between April and June, the highest level of second-quarter disbursements since 2005. The twelve months ending June 30th saw a total of $2.6 billion invested, the strongest four consecutive quarters since 2002. In contrast, activity in Canada's buyout and related private equity market fell short in the second quarter, with $1.7 billion invested in 61 transactions, the report showed. However, PE deal-making during the first half of the year, reflecting a total of $7.5 billion in disclosed values, was on pace to exceed investment levels of three of the past four years.
Crew has secured $10 million in Series A financing, bringing its total investment to $11 million. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Accomplice, formerly known as Atlas Venture, with participation from iNovia Capital, Real Ventures, Boldstart Venture Capital, BDC Capital, AngelList, Launch Capital and LDV Capital. Based in Montréal, Crew helps designers and developers connect with project owners that need a website, mobile app or related work done. Since it was founded two years ago, more than $18 million in contracts have been posted to its marketplace, the company said. Crew plans to use the proceeds of the Series A round to grow its team and further develop its platform.
TRACE Live Networks, developer of a visually intelligent camera capable of capturing and distributing live-action footage, has raised $7 million in a Series B financing. The round was led by Canadian investment dealer Salman Partners, the principals of which led TRACE's seed funding last December, and Varo Capital. With the latest deal, the company has raised a total of $10 million to date. Created by the Business Instincts Group and led by co-founder and CEO Cameron Chell, TRACE plans to bring its platform products and accessories, including smart camera The TRACEr1, to market in the fall of 2015. The startup has its primary offices in Toronto and Venice, California.
The Match Group, part of billionaire Barry Diller's IAC/InterActive Corp, said it would buy Canadian online dating website PlentyOfFish in a deal valued at US$575 million, ahead of an IPO expected by the end of the year, Reuters reported. Vancouver's PlentyOfFish, launched in 2003, has over 90 million registered users worldwide with about 3.6 million active daily users.
OurCrowd, an equity crowdfunding platform based in Israel, has invested $1 million in Influitive, a Toronto-based advocate marketing software provider that recently secured $30.5 million in a Series B financing led by Georgian Partners. OurCrowd made the investment with its opening of an office in Canada. The office will be headed by David Shore, previously a managing director at Canadian technology investment firm Terracap Ventures. Shore will assume the role of OurCrowd's director of investor relations in Canada. Founded in 2012 by CEO Jon Medved, OurCrowd has raised over $140 million in equity crowdfunding for its 72 portfolio companies.
Compass Diversified Holdings, an affiliate of U.S. private equity firm The Compass Group, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Fresh Hemp Foods Ltd, a.k.a. Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods. The final purchase price was $132.5 million. As a result, Compass now holds about 87 percent of Manitoba Harvest, with company managers and existing investor White Road Investments holding the balance. Founded in 1998, Manitoba Harvest is a vertically-integrated hemp food producer. The Winnipeg-based company has been a portfolio investment of Canadian agribusiness venture capital firm Avrio Capital since its Series A financing in April 2009.
Introhive has secured US$7.2 million in a Series B financing. The investors were not disclosed; however, Entrevestor reports that they included Canadian venture capital firm Build Ventures, an existing investor, and that part of the round reflects the conversion of debentures previously issued by U.S. strategic investor Salesforce.com. Based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Introhive leverages data science to enhance customer relationship management (CRM) utilization and value. It said it plans to use the new funds to expand its partner channel and direct sales team. Introhive was founded in 2012 by former Blackberry executives Jody Glidden and Stewart Walchli.