Kirk Falconer

Lightspeed POS Inc (TSX: LSPD) has acquired iKentoo SA, a Geneva, Switzerland-based point-of-sale (POS) solutions provider to small businesses in the hospitality industry, for an undisclosed amount. Lightspeed, a Montréal-based retail and restaurant POS and e-commerce platform, said the deal expands its footprint by more than 3,800 customer locations mostly in Switzerland, South Africa and France. Lightspeed went public in Canada this year, raising $276 million. Going into the public launch, it was backed by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Inovia Capital and others. In April, the company raised US$55 million in credit facilities from CIBC Innovation Banking.

Vendasta, a Saskatoon-based white-label software company, has raised $40 million in its latest financing. Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF) led a $25 million round. It adds to a $15 million investment made in May, led by Comporium Inc and Saskworks Venture Fund and joined by Vanedge Capital and BDC Capital's IT Venture Fund. Founded in 2008, Vendasta provides a cloud commerce platform to channel partners that assist small and mid-sized businesses with their digital needs. Its products are are sold by more than 1,200 agencies and over 25,000 salespeople. Led by CEO Brendan King, Vendasta will use the funds raised for new hires, enhancing the platform, and expanding into new customer channels.

Landr, a Montréal-based creative platform for musicians, has closed its Series B financing, raising $26 million. Sony Innovation Fund, U.S. microphone maker Shure, Investissement Québec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ led the round. They were joined by Warner Music, Plus Eight Equity Partners, Slaight Communications, YUL Ventures and PEAK Capital Partners. Founded in 2012 in partnership with Canadian company creator TandemLaunch, Landr uses artificial intelligence to help artists and labels learn about, collaborate on, master, release and monetize music online. To date, it has supported more than 2.5 million artists worldwide. Led by CEO Pascal Pilon, Landr will use the funds raised to accelerate growth, expand into new markets, and develop new products.

Rival Technologies, a Vancouver-based conversational marketing technology provider, has secured more than $8.5 million in a first-time financing. The round was backed by unidentified Canadian investors. Rival, part of the Reid Campbell Group, was launched last year by CEO Andrew Reid, founder and former president of Vision Critical. The company's platform product, Chat Lab, helps organizations create mobile communities of customers, fans and employees that can be tapped for insights into preferences, opinions and habits. The round's proceeds will be used to further develop Rival's technology and grow its affiliate, research consultancy Reach3 Insights.

Toronto-based contextual data intelligence company Flybits has raised about $46 million (US$35 million) in a Series C financing. The round was led by Point72 Ventures, the venture capital fund of U.S. billionaire Steve Cohen. It was joined by Mastercard, Citi Ventures and Reinventure, as well as existing investors Portag3 Ventures, TD Bank Group and Information Venture Partners. Founded in 2013 by CEO Hossein Rahnama, Flybits leverages data science to help banks and other financial institutions connect with customers through more personalized experiences. It will use the funds raised to grow global teams, commercialize artificial-intelligence and machine-learning patents, enhance its technology, and develop a marketplace for creating new services.

DefenseStorm, an Alpharetta, Georgia-based provider of cybersecurity and cybercompliance solutions to banks, has raised US$15 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian growth equity firm Georgian Partners. Georgian Managing Partner Justin LaFayette will join the board. Founded in 2014, DefenseStorm provides cloud-based, compliance-automated solutions to help regional and community banks and credit unions achieve real-time cyber safety and soundness. DefenseStorm said it will also partner with Georgian's impact team to accelerate the adoption of applied artificial intelligence and trust and create new product capabilities.

CIBC Innovation Banking, the technology lending arm of CIBC, has opened a new office in Austin, Texas. The location, which brings the group's North American offices to nine, will be joined by Sara Johnson, who was hired as managing director. CIBC Innovation Banking also expanded its teams in Menlo Park, hiring Holly Dungan as managing director, and Denver, Colorado, hiring Kevin Grossman as managing director, corporate finance. Dungan, Grossman and Johnson all previously worked as technology financing solutions providers in the U.S. market. PE Hub Canada last year interviewed Mark McQueen, the group's president and executive managing director, about his North American scaling strategy.

Aspen Technology Inc (Nasdaq: AZPN) has agreed to acquire Mnubo, a Montréal-based provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet-of-things data analytics, for $102 million. Founded in 2012 by CEO Frédéric Bastien, CTO JC Cimino, VP Growth Aditya Pendyala and VP Data Science Jean-Charles Beaudin, Mnubo is the maker of SmartObjects, a solution that helps manufacturers build better connected products and services. Aspen, a U.S. asset optimization software company, said the acquisition will enable solutions that combine process expertise with AI and machine learning. Last year, Mnubo raised a $16.5 million Series B financing led by Munich Re. McRock Capital and White Star Capital, which backed 2015's $6 million Series A round, also invested.

Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp (SCAC) has filed a final prospectus with Canadian regulatory authorities outside of Québec for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Neo Exchange. The IPO is for Class A restricted voting units priced at US$10 per unit, for total proceeds of US$500 million, not including the greenshoe option. SCAC, a newly-formed special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), in June said it will target businesses in the cannabis industry or related sectors. SCAC is sponsored by Subversive Capital Sponsor LLC. Its chairman is Michael Auerbach, general partner of U.S. venture capital firm Subversive Capital.

Two Canadian investment pros are enrolled in the world’s foremost school for venture capitalists. Last month, Real Ventures’ Janet Bannister and Build Ventures’ Rob Barbara joined VCs from around the globe in the 24th class of Silicon Valley educator Kauffman Fellows, a program dedicated to boosting VC skills. The goal is to equip the some 64 participants in the class with new tools and strategies for performing the daily tasks of a VC, everything from managing a fund to nurturing a startup. Upon completing the program, they will become part of an exclusive network of graduates, called Fellows. Bannister and Barbara, who enrolled with the help of scholarships provided by BDC Capital, are set to bring the number of Canadian Fellows to 11.