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Avrio Capital, a Canadian food and agriculture technology investor, and Alliance Consumer Growth, a U.S. consumer and retail growth equity firm, have invested in the launch of healthy snack food company Way Better Brands LLC. Terms weren't disclosed. Way Better Brands combines two existing companies, Live Better Brands, the Minneapolis-based owner of tortilla chips and crackers brand Way Better Snacks, and Left Field Foods, the Calgary-based maker of air-puffed potato snacks brand Spokes. Avrio Managing Partner Aki Georgacacos said the deal creates a "best in-class consumer products business" with snacking solutions across multiple categories.

Canopy Rivers, the venture capital arm of Canopy Growth Corp, has appointed Narbe Alexandrian as president, effective immediately. Alexandrian will lead corporate development initiatives and manage the firm on a day-to-day basis. Alexandrian joined Canopy Rivers last year from OMERS Ventures, where he served as a senior associate. Before then, he was a senior strategy manager in Telus Corp’s internet of things group. Based in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canopy Growth is a producer of medical and recreational cannabis.

Canadian private equity firm Yaletown Partners has hired Michael Sfalcin as a principal. Sfalcin will be based in Yaletown's Toronto office, helping the firm identify and create new investment opportunities across Canada. He joins from BMO Financial Group, where he served as director of financing, technology and innovation sector. Before then, he was an investment director at Canadian venture capital firm BEST Funds. Last year, Vancouver-based Yaletown held the first close of its emerging-growth technology fund, Yaletown Innovation Growth Fund, raising more than $100 million.

Toronto-based biotechnology startup Acorn Biolabs has raised $3.3 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was backed by Canadian investors Real Ventures, Globalive Technology, Pool Global Partners and Epic Capital Management, among others. Founded in 2017 by CEO Drew Taylor, CSO Patrick Pumputis and CTO Steven ten Holder, Acorn has developed a home-based, non-invasive solution that allows consumers to collect and preserve live cells for future therapeutic uses. The company, located in MaRS Discovery District's JLABS, will use the funds raised to add to its team and prepare for the technology's commercial launch in Q2 2019.

Our Home & Miniature Land Inc, a Toronto developer of an indoor miniature attraction, has closed the first of two financing rounds. The undisclosed deal was led by Canadian investment firm Canso Investment Counsel and joined by 98 investors. Founded in 2012 by President Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, Our Home & Miniature Land is creating an immersive and interactive attraction showcasing Canadian vistas, landmarks and cities in miniature scale. The company said the current round will close in September. It will launch a second financing when a site facility is located. The attraction is expected to open in 2020.

Slack, a cloud-based collaboration software provider, has acquired Missions, an app that automates processes and tasks in Slack. The seller was Robots & Pencils, a Calgary-based digital innovation agency. No financial terms were disclosed. Slack said it will build on Missions' technology to help enterprise teams streamline routine tasks, freeing them to do more creative and strategic work. Led CEO Stewart Butterfield, a Canadian entrepreneur, San Francisco-based Slack last year raised US$250 million from SoftBank Group, Accel Partners and other investors. Founded in 2009, Robots & Pencils is backed by U.S. investors Next Sparc and Zanite Ventures.

Veerum has raised $3.9 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Brick & Mortar Ventures. It was joined by Blackhorn Ventures, Creative Ventures and several unidentified strategic investors in Alberta. Founded in 2014 by CEO Steve Fisher, COO Scott Benesh and Product and Strategy Manager Amit Varma, Calgary-based Veerum develops digital technologies to help manage capital projects. It plans to use the funds raised to expand into the United States and adapt solutions tested in the energy industry to other, large-scale industrial projects, such as facility construction and mining.

Frank & Oak, a Montréal-based clothing brand, has secured about $20 million (US$16 million) in its latest financing. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec led the round and was joined by other investors, including Goodwater Capital and Investissement Québec. Founded in 2012 by CEO Ethan Song and COO Hicham Ratnani, Frank & Oak provides clothing and accessories for men and women on the web and in 16 boutiques. It will use the funds raised to expand its digital experience and support growth online. Frank & Oak's other investors include BDMI, Campfire Capital, Lightbank, Real Ventures, Rho Canada Ventures and Version One Ventures.

Canadian merger and acquisition (M&A) deal values hit a four-year high in the third quarter of 2016 due to several high-profile mega-deals, Crosbie & Co reported. According to data developed from Capital IQ and other sources, 681 deals took $132.4 billion in this period, up from 672 deals worth $79.6 billion a year ago. Enbridge Inc’s offer to buy Spectra Energy Corp, and the planned combination of Agrium Inc and Potash Corp, accounted for about 65 percent of all values. In the domestic market, Crosbie counted 461 deals valued at $46.7 billion in Q3 2016, which is also up from the 433 deals worth $17.7 billion a year ago.

AT&T, Dish Network Corp and WPP have agreed to acquire Invidi Technologies Corp, a Canadian-born addressable advertising solutions provider. No financial terms were disclosed. The deal, expected to close in Q1 2017, will see Invidi operate independently under the companies’ collective ownership. AT&T will hold a controlling interest. Founded in 2000, Invidi has raised more than US$132 million in venture capital funding, according to Crunchbase, from such investors as EnerTech Capital, GroupM, InterWest Partners and Menlo Ventures. The Princeton, New Jersey-based company has its Canadian office in Edmonton.