brad meikle
The Ontario government plans to establish a new fund to support emerging health technologies in the province. The Health Technology Innovation Evaluation Fund will be capitalized at $20 million to support pre-market evaluations and early adoption of innovations in specific care settings and across the health sector. Last month, the provincial government announced it would commit $25 million to Scale Up Ventures Fund, an Ontario early-stage venture capital fund.
MycoDev Group Inc, a biotechnology company that produces a biopolymer called chitosan, has raised a $500,000 investment from New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF). According to Thomson Reuters' data, the investment is part of a $1.06 million first-time financing. MycoDev, which is headquartered in Fredericton, New Brunswick, is currently refining its product for use as a main ingredient in surgical hemostatic hydrogels and trauma care. The proceeds of NBIF funding will be used for the purchase of equipment and for fine-tuning the production and extraction process.
Canadian entrepreneur and venture professional Mark MacLeod has left his most recent job as CFO at FreshBooks to take on a role for which he is uniquely well-suited: mentoring startups. MacLeod this week announced the launch of SurePath Capital Partners, a financial advisory firm that aims to help companies overcome challenges to achieving high growth.
Shopify Inc, a Canadian e-commerce platform for small businesses, has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 7.7 million shares at between US$12 and US$14 per share. As reported by Reuters in April, Shopify is expected to raise proceeds of US$100 million or more. The company will list the stock on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols "SHOP" and "SH", respectively. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets are serving as the IPO's lead underwriters. Shopify's Canadian and U.S. venture capital investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Georgian Partners, Insight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures.
Canadian mobile measurement company Mobidia Inc has been bought by App Annie Inc, a U.S. mobile app intelligence platform. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. San Francisco's App Annie said the deal combines the industry's two largest data sets into its technology solution, giving customers access "to more granular, accurate app usage insights." Based in Richmond, British Columbia, Mobidia has been venture-backed since its founding in 2005. Its Canadian investors include BDC Capital and Discovery Capital. Earlier in 2015, App Annie raised its Series D round, which was led by Institutional Venture Partners and joined by Greycroft Partners, IDG Capital Partners and Sequoia Capital.
A new report by the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) found venture capital and private equity investment in Canada in the year's first quarter largely held onto gains racked up in 2014. Led by activity in information technology sectors, venture capital disbursements to 121 financings totaled $362 million in Q1 2015, up three percent from the year before. Led in energy and power sectors, private equity deal making also grew in the first quarter, though transactions accounted for reduced values of $5.4 billion. The report also found Canadian private equity funds raised $841 million in new commitments between January and March, while Canadian venture capital funds raised $196 million.
B-TEMIA Inc has received undisclosed financing from a group of Canadian private investors and the private healthcare fund of Epic Capital Management, a Toronto-based boutique investment firm. Headquartered in Québec City, B-TEMIA is a medical device company that develops human augmentation systems that restore, maintain and enhance human mobility. Founded in 2010 by President and CEO Stéphane Bédard, the founder of Victhom Human Bionics Inc, the company plans to use proceeds of its investment to extend product commercialization and seek U.S. market approval.
Canadian biotechnology startup Mirexus Biotechnologies Inc has obtained US$3.7 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Barbados-based Goddard Enterprises Ltd and was joined by investors associated with the GreenSky Presidents Club, which helped to seed the company in 2014. Proceeds of the investment will be used by Mirexus to market its products, to build manufacturing capability, and to enhance its research capability. Based in Guelph, Ontario, the company is commercializing a novel nanotechnology based on polysaccharide nanoparticles that can be used in a range of markets, from cosmetics to nutraceuticals to biomedical applications.
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, a venture fund of funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, has added the Ontario Pension Board to its investor base. With the new commitment from Ontario Pension Board, as well as increased commitments from BDC Capital and the Ontario government, capital committed to the Northleaf fund now totals $264 million. Since its initial close in January 2014, the fund has made commitments to the latest partnerships of Georgian Partners, Golden Venture Partners, Relay Ventures, Versant Ventures, Version One Ventures and XPV Capital. It has also made direct investments in Canadian startups eSentire, FreshBooks, Silanis, Vision Critical and Wattpad.
BEST Funds announced that the board of directors of the BEST Total Return Fund, a late-stage venture capital fund, has approved a proposal to wind up the fund and suspend any new investment activity. A meeting of the fund's shareholders will be asked to vote on the proposal in the summer of 2015. The initiative follows respective decisions of the Ontario and federal governments to phase out tax incentive programs for labour-sponsored venture capital funds.