brad meikle
Slack Technologies Inc, a group messaging platform launched in early 2014 by Canadian entrepreneur Stewart Butterfield, has secured US$160 million in new investment at a post-funding valuation of US$2.8 billion. New and existing investors committed to the deal, including Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, The Social+Capital Partnership, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital Growth, DST Global and Index Ventures. Slack, which has offices in San Francisco and Vancouver, said daily use of its technology has grown to more than 750,000 people. It reports having raised US$340 million since its founding.
Synodon Inc (TSX-V: SYD) has agreed to exit its investment agreement with Canadian venture capital firm AVAC. The agreement will also settle the company's repayment obligation of a royalty on revenue "for an amount that management believes approximates the estimated net present value of the outstanding commitment to AVAC." The Edmonton-based Synodon, a remote sensing platform that provides datasets to energy businesses, received an investment from AVAC in 2008. The company is also backed by China Select Capital Partners.
Scribble Technologies Inc has bought Appinions Inc, a U.S. provider of influence analytics marketing technology to brands, agencies and online publishers. The deal's financial terms were not published. Scribble said the acquisition creates "an unrivalled data-driven content marketing platform" and solidifies its presence in the U.S. market. Based in Toronto, Scribble raised $12 million in Series C financing last October. Its investors include Georgian Partners, Export Development Canada, Summerhill Venture Partners, Rogers Venture Partners and Waterloo Innovation Network Fund. Appinions' backers included Canadian specialty finance firm Difference Capital Financial.
An investor group led by the senior management team at Agrisoma Biosciences Inc has made an undisclosed equity investment in the company. The group, which includes members of the board of directors, has taken a 22 percent stake in the Gatineau, Québec-based Agrisoma, an agribusiness that commercializes Resonance Carinata, an oilseed crop designed for biofuels and animal feeds. In a related deal, the company bought all of the shares that were previously held by Calyx Bioventures Inc. In September 2014, Agrisoma secured $8 million in a Series A financing from Canadian venture capital firms Cycle Capital Management and BDC Capital.
SD Tech Fund, a venture capital fund sponsored by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), has invested $8.05 million in two clean technology projects based in Atlantic Canada. The fund committed $6.35 million to OpenHydro Canada to support the Bay of Fundy Tidal Stream Project, which aims to harness tidal energy as a source of renewable power supply to homes. It also committed $1.7 million to Green Power Labs Inc, a company that is developing an advanced building energy management system. SD Tech Fund has to date backed 269 projects with $684 million from the federal government.
Canadian switch technology specialist Phybridge Inc has agreed to purchase Network Video Technologies (NVT), a Menlo Park-based supplier of Internet protocol and power-over-ethernet transmission products focused on the security market. The value of the acquisition was not released. Phybridge, which has its headquarters in Toronto, said the NVT deal will facilitate the bringing of its long-reach ethernet technology into the security market. Founded in 2006, Phybridge is a portfolio company of MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund managed by Canadian innovation hub MaRS Discovery District.
Shopify Inc, a Canadian e-commerce software maker, filed with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering of Class A common stock in Canada and the United States, Reuters reported. The venture-backed company's offering has a nominal fundraising target of about US$100 million. Reuters previously reported that a Shopify IPO this year could value the business at over US$1 billion.
Shopify Inc has filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian securities regulatory authorities for an initial public offering of its Class A subordinate voting shares. The terms of the offering were not disclosed, however, The Globe and Mail reported that the company plans to raise about US$100 million. Shopify said it intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols “SHOP” and “SH”, respectively. Based in Ottawa, Shopify is a cloud-based commerce platform designed for small businesses. It has secured more than $120 million in venture capital since 2010, including the $100 million Series C round led by OMERS Ventures and Insight Venture Partners in late 2013.
Box Inc (NYSE: BOX) has agreed to buy Verold Inc, a Canadian developer of a cloud-based visual editor for rendering 3D content into interactive presentations. The value of the acquisition was not disclosed. Box, which has its headquarters in Los Altos, California, said Verold's technology will be integrated into the company's enterprise content collaboration platform. Last August, the Toronto-based Verold secured $1.6 million in follow-on financing from Canadian venture capital firms GrowthWorks and Ontario Capital Growth Corp (OCGC), as well as several angel investors. MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund was also an early investor in the company.
Investment activity in Canada's private equity and venture capital markets continued to grow in the first quarter of 2015, according to a preliminary report by Thomson Reuters. The report showed that a total of $431 million in venture capital went to 96 rounds of financing between January and March, the highest level of first-quarter disbursements in Canada since 2007. Buyout and related private equity deal making was similarly strong in this period, the preliminary report showed, with 78 transactions accounting for $5.3 billion in disclosed values, which is the highest level of market activity ever recorded for a first-quarter period in Canada.