Canada’s venture capital industry today features a number of high-powered women occupying senior positions on the investment and executive teams of their firms. However, the presence of female VCs in the top ranks of their organizations might be more the exception than the rule, according to a new report produced by MaRS Data Catalyst, the research arm of Toronto-based innovation hub MaRS Discovery District.
Acceleration Resources LLC has raised its inaugural fund, Acceleration Resources I LP, with US$21 million, in an effort led by a veteran of Passport Capital LLC and Sun Capital Partners Inc, according to public filings and a person familiar with the firm. The fund is focusing on Canada, a rich source of fossil fuel for export to the United States and elsewhere. The money raised will be used to fund up to US$52 million in horizontal drilling at the Notikewan, Falher and Cardium formations in Alberta.
After toughing it out for a while, employees of North American private equity and venture capital firms are being rewarded with fatter paychecks. That’s according to the recently released 2013-2014 Holt‑MM&K‑Thomson Reuters Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report. Based on a survey of over 100 organizations, the report found salaries and bonuses rose for both partners and non-partners between 2012 and 2013.
BDC Venture Capital Healthcare Fund recently launched The Healthy VC, a blog intended to stimulate dialogue and debate about the fast-growing healthcare technology sector – and the opportunity it presents to venture capital firms and their entrepreneurial partners.
Venture professional Lars Leckie, co-chair of the C100, bets that Canada is the big winner when Canadian entrepreneurs and VCs leave home to work in Silicon Valley. His case example: Mike Serbinis, a serial entrepreneur who founded, and continues to lead, the fast-growing e-reading business Kobo.
Deal activity in the private equity secondary market this year has been a controversial topic – the overriding opinion being that deal activity has been slow from late last year through the first half of 2013. However, some secondary market professionals who work in the smaller end of the market say their activity has been as busy as ever.
After a year on the fund-raising trail, Toronto-based buyout firm Imperial Capital Group has exceeded the $250 million target set for its fifth fund, Imperial Capital Acquisition Fund V, peHUB Canada has learned. That’s double the capital committed to the firm’s previous fund, which closed in 2009. And with considerable commitments still outstanding, Fund V's final close, due before the end of 2013, is likely to be nearer to $300 million.
Toronto-based TorQuest Partners recently announced the final close of its third partnership, TorQuest Partners Fund III, at $535 million – one of the largest Canadian private equity funds raised in recent years. For the firm’s senior partners this outcome reflects more than sheer perseverance in a brutal fund-raising climate. It’s also a strong vote of confidence by LPs in the investment strategy pursued for over two decades.
There's a Canadian on the exec team of every important tech giant, and if you don’t know who it is, you have to look deeper. These Canadians are CEOs, CFOs and CTOs. They are sitting in board meetings, driving innovative products that are having global impact – and increasingly, helping fellow Canadian entrepreneurs. The C100, the non-profit volunteer organization founded in 2009, has aimed to create awareness about this seasoned Canadian tech talent – and to connect it with up-and-coming startups in Canada.
In the world of technology, companies are increasingly moving beyond growing organically and using acquisitions to enlarge their business operations. Guest columnist Jacoline Loewen , a director at Crosbie & Co. Inc., shares her perspective on the benefits and challenges of M&A.