Kirk Falconer

Vancouver-based carbon capture technology company Inventys has wrapped up its Series C financing, raising about $34 million (US$26 million). Inventys received an additional $13 million (US$10 million) from U.K.-based fund OGCI Climate Investments, which led the Series C's first tranche last year, and BDC Capital's clean technology practice, with existing investors Husky Energy Inc, Roda Group and Chevron Technology Ventures also contributing. The funds raised will allow Inventys to complete its 30-tonne-per-day CO₂ capture plant demonstration project with Husky, due to begin operations in Q3 2019. They will also support scale-up activities for the manufacturing of the company's filter beds and rotating adsorption machine.

Canadian healthcare technology venture capital firm iGan Partners has exited its investment in Rhythm Xience, an Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based medical device company. The exit resulted from Rhythm's acquisition by Carlsbad, California's Acutus Medical, a venture capital-backed arrhythmia care provider. Founded in 2014, Rhythm designs, develops and makes solutions used in catheter-based cardiac rhythm management. Toronto-based iGan, which earlier this year closed its first fund, iGan Fund I, at $100 million, led Rhythm's last financing in 2018.

Chrysalix Venture Capital, a Canadian industrial innovation venture capital firm, has invested in Feasible, an Emeryville, California-based battery analytics platform company. Terms weren't disclosed. The investment is the first made by Chrysalix RoboValley Fund. Founded in 2015, Feasible is the developer of EchoStat, which uses sound waves to provide real-time analytics and insights for solving challenges in battery design, manufacturing and product management. Chrysalix RoboValley Fund was launched in 2018 with a target of US$120 million ($158 million). It invests in early-stage intelligent systems companies focused on improving productivity and critical business processes.

Opus One Solutions, a Toronto-based smart grid software engineering company, has raised additional capital for its Series B financing. The undisclosed second tranche was led by Canadian growth equity firm MacKinnon Bennett & Co (MKB) and Export Development Canada (EDC). Canadian venture capital firm Renewal Funds, which led the round's undisclosed first tranche in December, added to its investment. The funds raised will be used by Opus One to accelerate growth in North American and global markets. Founded in 2011 by President and CEO Joshua Wong, Opus One provides transactive energy and distributed energy management solutions to utilities and other market participants.

Ackroo Inc (TSX-V: AKR), an Ottawa-based gift card and loyalty marketing technology and services provider, has secured a $4 million debt facility from BDC Capital. The facility's proceeds will be used for acquisitions. They include Ackroo's acquisition of certain assets of I.Q. 7/24 Inc, the digital marketing and business intelligence business of Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. The $2.7 million deal is expected to close next month. Founded in 2012, Ackroo provides its in-store and online automated marketing solution to automotive, petroleum, hospitality and retail merchants.

Xanadu, a Toronto-based photonic quantum computing and AI startup, has raised $32 million in a Series A financing. The round brings the company's total funding to date to $41 million, according to a news release. The Series A was led by OMERS Ventures. OV, the venture arm of $97 billion Canadian pension fund OMERS, also led Xanadu’s seed financing last year. Also participating were Georgian Partners, Radical Ventures, Real Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and individual investor Tim Draper, founder of DFJ. Launched in 2016 by CEO Christian Weedbrook, Xanadu is focused on leveraging the discovery that quantum computing can make use of photons, or particles of light, to rapidly perform complex calculations at room temperature.

Nikon Corp has invested about $10 million (US$7.5 million) in Wrnch, a Montréal-based provider of computer vision tools. Nikon, a Japanese maker of optical instruments, said the investment will help expand the range of its imaging business. Launched in 2015 in partnership with Canadian seed investor TandemLaunch, Wrnch provides an artificial intelligence software platform to digitize and analyze human motion and behaviour from standard video in real time. It is led by CEO Paul Kruszewski. Wrnch closed a $1.8 million Series A financing in 2016. It was led by Mark Cuban’s Radical Ventures and joined by Aligo Innovation, gr0k Technologies and TandemLaunch.

Slack, a San Francisco-based enterprise messaging software provider, has gone public on the New York Stock Exchange at a value of US$25 billion, Reuters reported. Slack went the unusual route of a direct listing, different from a traditional initial public offering because it does not raise fresh funds, the report said. The method was pioneered last year by Spotify Technology. Slack, which has an office in Vancouver, was launched in 2014 by CEO Stewart Butterfield, a Canadian entrepreneur. Its venture capital investors include Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Dragoneer Investment Group and General Atlantic.

Procurify, a Vancouver-based spend management platform, has closed its Series B financing, raising about $27 million (US$20 million). The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Information Venture Partners. It was joined by Runa Capital, HarbourVest Partners, Manulife and BC Tech Fund, managed by Kensington Capital Partners. The company is also backed by Point Nine Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and BDC. Founded in 2012 by CEO Aman Mann, CTO Eugene Dong and CRO Kenneth Loi, Procurify provides software that helps organizations manage their expenditures. The funds raised will be used for new hires, undertaking sales and marketing initiatives, and expanding Procurify's offering globally.