Over the last few weeks, six Canadian tech companies have recently made acquisitions or have been acquired. Here’s the latest on Canada’s movers and shakers.
Blue Charm acquires Symbi Medical
Halifax-based healthcare organization Blue Charm Adherence has acquired fellow Halifax-based company Symbi Medical. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Symbi was founded in 2018 and has developed technology to assist patients before and after medical procedures. Symbi was created by Cameron Sehl, Max Jennings, Devin McArthur, and Dr. Sameer Berry. Blue Charm provides patients with interactive self-help platforms that assist in managing health and medication adherence.
Blue Charm said the acquisition of Symbi advances its predictive analytics capabilities and “takes the patient experience to another level.”
Since it was founded, Symbi has garnered customers from across Canada and the United States. It provides a HIPAA-compliant patient management platform that supports thousands of patient interactions. The idea behind the platform is to improve clinical decision-making and help healthcare organizations to better manage risk, intervene effectively, and improve health outcomes.
eStruxture to acquire Canadian colocation business from Aptum Technologies
eStruxture, which touts itself as the largest Canadian-owned cloud and carrier-neutral data center provider, is set to acquire the Canadian colocation business of Aptum Technologies.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it includes all eight of Aptum Technologies’ Canadian data centers along with all customers and employees associated with its colocation business. A colocation center, or carrier hotel, is a type of data centre where equipment, space, and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers.
Aptum Technologies, a client of eStruxture, is a global hybrid multi-cloud managed service provider. Founded in 2017 and based in Québec, eStruxture provides network and cloud-neutral data center solutions to more than 900 customers. According to Crunchbase, eStruxture has raised more than $430 million to date and in 2017 pulled in one of the highest VC deals for the year at $80 million.
“With the addition of the new facilities (five in Toronto, two in Montreal and one in Vancouver), eStruxture will operate a total of 14 facilities across Canada, increasing its total footprint to over 600,000 square feet of combined data center space and a total IT capacity of 100 megawatts,” the company said. “The newly acquired data centers offer both central and edge locations, are scalable, sustainably designed, and highly connected.”
Eddyfi/NDT acquires Dynamic Risk
Québec-based company Eddyfi/NDT has acquired Calgary-based Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems, the latter considered a market leader in providing integrity risk management and compliance services and software to the energy sector. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Eddyfi/NDT was founded in 2020 and calls itself a test and measurement (T&M) technology group focused on non-destructive testing (NDT). NDT includes a wide range of analysis techniques used in science and technology industries to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. Through its two divisions, Eddyfi/NDT works with clients such as large engineering firms and service companies in markets such as aerospace, energy, mining, power generation, or transportation.
Dynamic Risk offers pipeline systems modelling software that proactively identifies threats and consequences and analyzes mitigative options, in order to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations. It works with clients in the transmission, midstream, upstream and gas utility industries to avoid pipeline failures. The company has 115 employees and offices in Calgary and Houston. As part of the deal, Dynamic Risk will remain a separate entity and become Eddyfi/NDT’s fourth platform and business unit.
Requiti acquires Pinmo
Requiti, a Canadian firm that helps businesses navigate business tax incentives like Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED, has acquired FinTech startup Pinmo for $13 million CAD.
According to Requiti, which was founded in 2014, Pinmo has been offering its own tax credit solutions since it was founded in 2017 but got its start as a tech company specializing in social media monetization and advertising technologies.
The deal will allow Requiti, the company said, to focus on offering a full suite of financing and business investment solutions. To date, Requiti claims to have worked with 400 businesses and helped them secure over $50 million in tax incentives.
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Crank Software acquired by AMETEK
Ottawa-based Crank Software has been acquired by AMETEK, Inc., an American global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices.
The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, AMETEK announced two other acquisitions at the same time as Crank Software, noting that it purchased all three for a total of $270 million. AMETEK also acquired US-based Magnetrol International and Germany’s EGS Automation.
Crank Software was founded in 2007 and provides user interface (UI) solutions. According to the company, it “bridges the gap between UI design and embedded systems development, helping to accelerate product development time to market by 50 percent.”
Magnetrol and Crank Software have joined AMETEK as part of its electronic instruments group, which provides advanced analytical, monitoring, testing, calibrating and display instruments.
Plurilock acquires Aurora Systems Consulting
Plurilock Security, a Victoria-based startup focused on behavioural-biometric cybersecurity tools, has acquired Aurora a US-based cybersecurity solutions provider.
Plurilock uses behavioural biometrics and AI to provide continuous authentication, rather than login-based authentication for logins. In September, Plurilock began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).
With 140 clients and a revenue of $28.11 million USD in 2020, Aurora provides cybersecurity products to US government agencies and corporate firms. Its main clients comprise large organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of the Air Force, U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of the Army.
Founded in 2016 and spun out from the University of Victoria, Plurilock brought its products to market in 2017. The company’s goal is to transform the cybersecurity market. it works with customers that include the government, financial, and other regulated industries that face sophisticated threats.
Aurora will continue to operate independently but as a wholly-owned subsidiary under Plurilock. The terms of the deal include $1.5 million USD in cash and shares in Plurilock. According to the company, the closing cash payment will be paid from a portion of the cash proceeds raised from a recent $5.1 million CAD private placements that closed in February 2021.
Image source Crank Software via Facebook
