There is a new Canadian technology investor in town. Gibraltar Ventures, a Toronto-based firm that is seeking to bring disruptive technology solutions to consumers and small to medium-sized businesses, this week completed the initial close of its first $50 million fund, Gibraltar Ventures Fund One LP. Backers of the fund included BDC Capital. Gibraltar has also made its first investment, leading the $5.2 million Series A financing of online tickets marketplace FanXchange.
Serial entrepreneurs have been growing their presence in Canadian innovation hubs since the tech boom of the 1990s. And several have been responsible for some of the hottest venture-backed startups to emerge of late, such as Waterloo's Auvik Networks. Repeat founders might also be having an important impact on the bottom lines of VCs. The portfolio evolution of Canadian venture capital firm Celtic House Venture Partners, a 20-year-old media communications technology investor, is illustrative of the trend.
UrgentRX Fast Powders has raised $17.5 million in a Series C growth capital financing round, according to Jordan Eisenberg, the company's founder and CEO.
D-Wave Systems Inc has raised an additional US$28.4 million in venture capital financing according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Burnaby, British Columbia-based company, which designs and manufactures quantum computing and superconducting electronics, secured the latest round from a mix of new and existing investors. Since its founding in 1999, D-Wave's Canadian and U.S. backers have included BDC Venture Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Goldman Sachs, GrowthWorks, Harris & Harris Group and Kensington Capital Partners. The company's prior round, totaling $30 million, closed in October 2012.
Spectrum Equity beat the target for its seventh fund by more than $150 million, according to an SEC filing.
Canada’s venture capital market had a pretty good year in 2013. Will the market show similar momentum in 2014? Things were looking hopeful in the first quarter, when both VC fund disbursements and deals showed year-over-year growth. In the second quarter, the auspices also appear to be favourable, primarily because of a relatively large crop of sizeable IT financing rounds.
Canada’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (CVCA) these days has a full public policy agenda. Much of it is concerned with current or forthcoming federal and provincial programs to stimulate the venture capital market. The group also is keeping an eye on trends in international financial regulation. The CVCA's newly installed CEO Mike Woollatt, and CVCA advisor Richard Rémillard, who recently launched Rémillard Consulting Group, weigh in on today's policy agenda, top priorities and some issues that are appearing on the horizon.
After a monster exit with Oculus VR, two-year old VC firm shows it knows a thing or two about scaling fast.
Dave McClure’s 500 Startups will openly market its next seed fund taking advantage of newly approved rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission allowing the broad public solicitation of investors.
Tasktop Technologies, developer of an integration technology designed to improve software productivity, has raised $11 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm Austin Ventures and joined by Canadian firm Yaletown Venture Partners, which helped seed the company in 2013. Tasktop has found a warm reception in the market because the making and management of software is these days “core to modern innovation,” said Mike Satterfield, partner at Yaletown.