Kirk Falconer
Months after opening its San Francisco office, the largest Canadian pension fund has so far made commitments to three Silicon Valley managers, according to Delaney Brown.
L'Oréal's venture capital arm, Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development, has made a minority investment in Functionalab Group, a Montréal-based developer and marketer of skin care and beauty brands.
The top-up tranche was led by Drive Capital and joined by the National Bank of Canada's NAventures.
Valent Low-Carbon Technologies has secured a $30 million investment from Kensington Private Equity Fund, an affiliate of Kensington Capital Partners, and John Risley's CFFI Ventures.
The round was led by Conexus Venture Capital and joined by SaskWorks. Existing investors Information Venture Partners, ScaleUp Ventures, Bay Partners, StandUp Ventures and PIC also participated.
Potloc, a Montréal-based provider of consumer intelligence, has raised more than $13 million in a Series A financing. The round, which brings total funding to $17 million, was led by Brightspark Ventures and Investissement Québec and joined by Fonds Ecofuel, Cap Horn and Desjardins Capital. Founded in 2014 by CEO Rodolphe Barrerre, COO Louis Delaoustre and CTO Jérémy Lagrue, Potloc will use the funds raised for new hires, entering new markets, including the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, and developing artificial-intelligence capabilities.
Mylo, a Montréal-based automated savings and investment app, has secured $10 million in financing, bringing its total funding to $14 million. The latest round was led by NAventures, the venture capital arm of National Bank of Canada. It was joined by existing investors Desjardins Capital, Ferst Capital Partners and Tactico. Launched in 2015 by CEO Philip Barrar, Mylo will use the proceeds for product innovation, new hires, continued growth in Canada, and expansion internationally.
Luge Capital has raised additional resources for its debut early-stage financial technology venture capital fund, bringing it to a total size of $85 million. The new commitments came from iA Financial Group and BDC Capital, which join existing Luge investors Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Desjardins Group, Sun Life Financial, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and La Capitale. Montréal- and Toronto-based Luge was founded last year by General Partners David Nault and Karim Gillani. It has to date led or co-led investments in Finaeo, Flare Systems, Flinks and Owl.co.
Flare Systems, a Montréal-based dark-net intelligence platform focused on helping financial institutions prevent cyber-crimes, has raised $1 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Luge Capital, a Canadian fintech venture capital firm. Also participating was White Star Capital. Founded in 2017, Flare Systems will use the round's proceeds to expand its roll-out in Canada and the United States, and further develop its suite of products. Luge last year raised an initial $75 million for its inaugural fund.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is looking to raise a venture capital fund to back startups developing mobility technology, according to a report by the Sacramento Business Journal. The fund is targeting US$100 million, the report said, mostly from corporate investors, such as automotive and technology companies. EnerTech Capital, a Toronto-based energy technology venture capital firm, will manage the fund.