brad meikle
Kraken has agreed to buy Cavirtex, a Calgary-based exchange for buying and selling bitcoin in Canadian dollars. No financial terms were disclosed. Kraken, a global bitcoin exchange, said the acquisition of Cavirtex and New York's Coinsetter will set the stage for its "immediate and significant expansion into the North American market." Founded in 2011, Cavirtex claims to be Canada's first bitcoin exchange. It joined with Coinsetter last year. San Francisco-based Kraken has secured funding from several venture capital investors, including Hummingbird Ventures, which led its Series A round in 2014.
Covington Group of Funds has completed over $42 million in shareholder redemptions for Covington Fund II. This total includes over $24 million redeemed since the retail venture capital fund was re-opened on January 18, 2016. Since being closed to new investors in 2012, Fund II has seen 21 portfolio exits and has redeemed over 50 percent of outstanding units, representing about $180 million in assets, Covington said. The fund continues to hold investments in 32 companies. Covington said it is optimistic that 2016 "will offer potential exit opportunities" for some of these holdings.
San Francisco-based Taulia Inc, a financial supply chain company, has secured US$46 million in a Series E financing. Zouk Capital led the round, which was joined by new and existing investors. One of the company's backers is TELUS Ventures, the venture investment arm of Canadian telecommunications provider TELUS Corp. Taulia, which has developed technology that helps businesses improve their payables processes and supplier relationships, will use the new funds to accelerate global growth.
Venture capital firms in the United States raised US$28.2 billion in committed capital last year, according to a report by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Due to slower trends in 2015's final months, fundraising declined by 9 percent year over year. However, results in 2015 still reflected the second strongest annual performance since 2006. NVCA President and CEO Bobby Franklin said the U.S. venture capital industry has pulled in close to US$60 billion in commitments in the last two years alone.
Coupa Software has acquired Contractually, a Vancouver-based provider of contract process and automation software to businesses. No financial terms were disclosed. Coupa, a cloud spend management solutions provider, said the deal will allow it to "transform the antiquated contract processes to the digital world with a modern application focused on collaboration technology." Based in San Mateo, California, Coupa is a portfolio company of Battery Ventures, Crosslink Capital, El Dorado Ventures, Iconiq Capital, Rally Ventures and T. Rowe Price, among others. Founded in 2010, Contractually has been backed by Full Stack Foundry, a Canadian angel investor.
Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of social media platform Hootsuite, has launched a new company that provides functional stand up desks. Vancouver-based Oristand has developed desks made of industrial-weight, recyclable cardboard for US$25. Holmes said Oristand's flexible work station gives businesses "an option to enhance the work environment and promote the overall health and well-being of employees" at an affordable price. In 2015, Holmes was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA).
Canadian marketing automation technology company Limelight Platform Inc has closed $3.1 million in seed-stage financing. The round was led by Rowanwood Ventures, a new fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm iGan Partners, with participation from Jason Tryfon, Sandhill Angels, Hyde Park Ventures and Acceleprise Ventures. Based in Toronto, Limelight has developed an end-to-end platform to help brands optimize live marketing such as demos, trade shows, test drives and VIP events. It plans to use the proceeds of its seed round to accelerate expansion into the United States. Limelight was founded in 2014 and is led by CEO Jonah Midanik.
Canadian specialty finance firm Wellington Financial has extended US$7 million in venture debt financing to FinancialCAD Corp (FINCAD), a provider of enterprise valuation and risk analytics for multi-asset, multi-currency portfolios. Vancouver-based FINCAD, which provides its financial analytics software to more than 1,000 organizations worldwide, said it plans to use the funding to support its continued innovation and strategic growth. The company is also a portfolio investment of Beedie Capital Partners. In November 2015, Wellington closed its fifth fund, Wellington Financial Fund V, at its hard-cap target of $300 million.
StormFisher Environmental Ltd has acquired London Energy Garden, an anaerobic digester, from a Canadian affiliate of Harvest Power Inc. No financial terms were released. Harvest Power, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based organics management business, developed London Energy Garden, which turns organic waste from southwestern Ontario into renewable energy and natural fertilizers. The company is backed by True North Venture Partners, Industry Ventures and Generation Investment Management.
MLA48, a fund launched last year by Canadian angel organization Maple Leaf Angels, has led a pre-seed financing of ConferenceCloud Inc, a digital platform that provides a virtual solution for hybrid conferences, lectures and meetings. No financial terms were disclosed for the round. ConferenceCloud, a graduate of the 2015 University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program cohort, aims to help conference organizers take their content online and sell tickets to virtual attendees around the world. The Toronto-based startup was co-founded in 2014 by CEO Olivia Simmons and CTO John-Alan Simmons.