brad meikle
The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has committed $3 million for Communitech Corp to establish the Open Data Exchange in Waterloo, Ontario. The project, which is expected to result in the incubation of 15 new data-driven companies, has a total of cost of about $6 million, with another $50 million to be leveraged from venture capital and other partners. Communitech, Desire2Learn Inc, OpenText Corp and the University of Waterloo have pledged to match FedDev Ontario's contribution.
General Fusion Inc has netted an additional $27 million in venture capital funding. The round was led by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the Malaysian government's strategic investment fund, and was joined by the company's existing investors. They include: BDC Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Braemar Energy Ventures, Cenovus Energy, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Entrepreneurs Fund, GrowthWorks, SET Ventures and Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The Vancouver-based General Fusion said the deal's proceeds will be used to further develop its commercial fusion energy technology. It also said the round will see a second close later this year. General Fusion was founded in 2002 by Dr. Michel Laberge.
Kik Interactive, a Canadian username-based smartphone messenger that facilitates chat networks, has named Josh Jacobs as president of Kik Services. Previously, Jacobs was global CEO of Accruen, a programmatic advertising agency. Last November, Kik Interactive raised $38.3 million in Series C funding. U.S. venture capital firm Valiant Capital Partners led the round with participation from Millennium Technology Value Partners, SV Angel, Foundation Capital, RRE Ventures, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.
A new study from the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire has reported that the U.S. angel market saw a larger number of investors disbursing fewer dollars in 2014. According to the report, a total of 316,600 individual angels invested US$24.1 billion last year, which is down 2.8 percent from 2013. On the other hand, the number of U.S. startups receiving angel funding was up 3.8 percent in 2014, compared to the year before. Angel investors were most active in software, followed by healthcare services, medical devices and related equipment.
Securities regulators in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia announced they have implemented, or expect to implement, registration and prospectus exemptions that will allow early-stage companies to raise capital through crowdfunding in their jurisdictions. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said members have agreed to a common set of rules that will allow startups to raise up to $500,000 per year from authorized funding portals. Related rules and policies can be viewed on CSA member websites.
Slyce Inc (TSX-V: SLC), a venture-backed visual product search platform that went public last year, has raised $8.7 million in a bought deal financing. The offering, which brings the company's total funding to over $36 million, was led by Salman Partners and Beacon Securities, with PI Financial also participating. Slyce said the investment's proceeds will allow it to respond to increasing demand in the market. The company currently serves 4.5 million proprietary users and over 8 million users in total. Based in Toronto, Slyce has completed three acquisitions since 2014. They include its buy in January of SnipSnap App LLC Co, a U.S. mobile couponing company.
BitGold Inc, a Canadian platform for savings and payments in gold, has completed its previously announced going public transaction. The company obtained a listing on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol XAU through a reverse take-over (RTO) deal with Loma Vista Capital Inc. Established last year, the Toronto-based BitGold secured $3.5 million in a Series A financing in December. The round's backers included PortVesta Holdings, PowerOne Capital and Soros Brothers Investments.
COM DEV International Ltd (TSX: CDV) has invested US$500,000 in Anokiwave Inc, a fabless semiconductor company based in San Diego, California. COM DEV said its investment is part of a recent financing of the company. According to Crunchbase, Anokiwave secured US$2.6 million from unidentified venture capital sources in March. COM DEV, a Canadian designer and manufacturer of space hardware, said its investment in Anokiwave will give it access to the company's technology, which is targeted to the satellite communications market.
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial has provided US$3 million in a venture debt financing facility to a U.S. provider of automation and management software. The business, which Wellington said is backed by venture capital investors, was not identified. Funding proceeds are intended to support the company's next phase of growth. Based in Toronto, Wellington provides term, venture and amortizing loans of up to $30 million. Since 2012, it has led more than $230 million in transactions.
MaRS Discovery District and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) have agreed to partner in an initiative to launch and grow Canadian clean technology and energy innovation startups. The initiative, which will draw on SDTC’s funding and support activity and MaRS' skills development programs, aims to connect companies with global opportunities, share market information, and highlight the work of leading startups. SDTC Vice President David Harris Kolada said the MaRS-SDTC collaboration is intended to advance the goal of creating a $50 billion Canadian clean technology industry by 2022.