The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) has announced the winners of its annual Deal of the Year and Ted Anderson Community Leadership Awards.
Montreal-based Real Ventures has won the Deal of the Year award in the venture capital category for its investment in Montreal-based SweetIQ, which provides businesses with location-based marketing analytics and automation solutions.
Real Ventures first invested in SweetIQ in 2011. The VC firm then participated in SweetIQ’s $4.2 million Series A round in November 2015. Real Ventures, which closed $180 million in November 2017, has also supported other startups including League, Breather, Vrvana, PasswordBox, and Frank+Oak.
“An outcome like this can only be achieved through teamwork,” said John Stokes, a partner at Real Ventures. “The founders were always willing to wear whatever hat was needed to move the company forward, the management team put in the extra effort whenever it was required, and our investment partners, especially Plaza Ventures and Desjardins, also played important roles in supporting the company throughout the journey.”
“It’s more important than ever that as the industry association, we spotlight the accomplishments of our members through our annual awards program.”
Montreal-based Novacap Management won the Deal of the Year award in the private equity category for its investment in Montreal-based Chemical Computing Group (CCG), which is developing customized software applications for drug discovery, pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic researchers. Novacap sold CCG to Altaris Capital Partners in April 2017, an exit that generated an internal return rate of 48 percent.
CVCA said both Real Ventures and Novacap were selected as winners for outstanding cash realization value and multiple of invested capital returned.
Established in 1998, the CVCA’s ‘Deal of the Year’ Award aims to highlight and celebrate the achievements of CVCA members who have had investment successes. The selection process focuses on CVCA members with the most significant investment return gained through an exit from a Canadian portfolio company in 2017.
“Canadian private capital investors are playing an increasingly critical role in our economy,” said Mike Woollatt, CEO of CVCA. “It’s more important than ever that as the industry association we spotlight the accomplishments of our members through our annual awards program.”
In addition to announcing the Deal of the Year award recipients, CVCA also named Rob Antoiniades, chair and co-founder of The Upside Foundation as the recipient of the 2018 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award for his leadership in creating the foundation. The Upside Foundation allows early-stage, high-growth companies to support their community by donating stock options to a charity of their choice.