Investment news
Here’s some of the latest investment news coming out of Waterloo Region:
New venture fund to invest $50 million in Waterloo tech companies
July 21, 2005
A new $50 million venture capital fund managed by Tech Capital Partners Inc. is the latest in a series of
developments making Waterloo Region one of the best places to start a business in North America. The fund, designed to invest in seed and early-stage technology companies in Waterloo Region, highlights the entrepreneurial zeal that led CIBC World Markets to name the region the fastest-growing major centre in Canada.
"Tech Capital´s new fund breathes oxygen into an already red-hot Waterloo economy," says Iain Klugman, president of Communitech: The Waterloo Region Technology Association. "This kind of cash infusion historically attracts others to contribute three-to-five times the initial investment, leading to more than $200 million in new dollars for Waterloo Region tech companies.
"Entrepreneurs and investors are realizing that Waterloo Region has the resources, infrastructure and support needed to successfully commercialize their inventions," says Tech Capital founding partner Tim Jackson. "Tech Capital is continuing to invest in this Region because of the investment opportunities we see everyday."
Source: Communitech
Sandvine closes $19M round of funding
May 19, 2005
Sandvine has raised $19 million in a round of funding led by Newbury Ventures. Existing Sandvine investors BDC Venture Capital, Celtic House Venture Partners, Tech Capital Partners, and VenGrowth Capital Partners also participated in the round.
California-based Newbury Ventures is affiliated with Kanata´s Eagle One Ventures. Eagle One co-founder and former Newbridge CFO Ken Wigglesworth has joined Sandvine´s board, representing Newbury. Also joining the board is Mark Guibert, RIM´s VP of corporate marketing.
Sandvine raised $19.5 million when it launched at the end of August 2001.
Agile Systems raises $7M
May 12, 2005
Agile Systems has closed a $7.0 million round of financing lead by New York´s Expansion Capital Partners with participation from RBC Capital Partners, Covington Capital, RoyNat Capital and BEST Total Return Fund.
RBC and Covington (through the Triax Growth Fund) first invested in Agile a few years ago. They are both represented on Agile´s new board, along with new investor Expansion. Agile´s other directors are CEO Ralph Steedman and chairman Richard Black, who´s been involved with Arise since he was with Helix Investments in the 1990s. GrowthWorks, which took over the Working Ventures funds -- a significant investor in Agile -- did not participate in this round.
Steedman said Agile has an "aggressive product development schedule" planned for the next 18 months. He was the CEO of Burlington´s CRS Robotics during its turnaround period from 1998 to 2002 when it was acquired by Thermo Electron, which is an Agile customer. From 1995 to 1996 he was CEO of Zenon Environmental, also of Burlington. Steedman joined Agile in 2003 and the company has had a low profile locally since then.
Andrew Pinkerton of GrowthWorks has joined the board of Biomedical Photometrics. Earlier this year, GrowthWorks acquired Fullarton Capital, manager of the Canadian Science and Technology Growth Fund which had invested $500,000 in the Waterloo company. GrowthWorks expects to merge the fund with its GrowthWorks Canadian Fund.
Source: Gary Will