In recent days, six Canadian startups have announced fresh funding rounds to fuel their growth. Here’s the latest on who raised, how much, from whom, and what these companies will be putting the new funds toward.
Certn announces $43 million raised in the last last year
In the last year, Victoria-based startup Certn, which develops human risk intelligence solutions, has raised $43 million CAD over three separate funding rounds, with the latest being a $9.5 million Series A extension.
The Series A extension, which closed in December, was led by Telstra Ventures and B Capital Group, with funding also provided by Cyber Mentor Fund.
Certn said the funding has allowed for new hires to support product strategy and customer success.
Certn’s Series A funding round closed in November and totalled $27.8 million. The round was led by Inovia Capital and 01 Advisors, with participation from Preface Ventures, Scribble Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Basement Fund, Weekend Fund, Owl Capital, and Panache Ventures.
The final round included in the $43 million was a $6.1 million seed round, closed in February 2020. The seed round was led by Tribe Capital and included participation from Preface Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Weekend Fund, Scribble Ventures, and Basement Ventures.
Certn, which was founded in 2016, said the funding has allowed for new hires to expand its product strategy and customer success efforts.
Dating app Clover secures $12 million in growth capital
Clover, a Toronto-based startup that offers a dating app, has raised $12 million CAD in growth capital financing.
A spokesperson for Clover told BetaKit two-thirds of the funding consisted of growth debt provided by Espresso Capital. The spokesperson said the remaining equity portion was provided by a private family fund based in Atlanta, Georgia, which preferred to remain undisclosed.
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Clover claims that last year, the company generated $19 million in revenue from 900,000 paid subscriptions, representing a 67 percent compound annual growth rate over the past three years.
Founded in 2014, the startup’s dating app targets the Gen Z and millennial markets, which comprise 50 percent and 42 percent of its current user base, respectively. According to the startup, 90 percent of the Clover app’s users are concentrated in the United States.
Flosonics Medical raises $14 million USD Series B round
Flosonics Medical, a medical device startup based in Sudbury, Ontario, has raised $14 million USD in Series B funding.
The funding was led by Arboretum Ventures and included participation from existing investors iGan Partners and Genesys Capital. Following the round, Dan Kidle, partner at Arboretum Ventures, has joined Flosonics’ board of directors.
Flosonics Medical is developing non-invasive wireless sensors to improve the management of critically ill patients. The startup’s core technology, FloPatch, is a wearable ultrasound sensor that sticks to a patient’s neck.
CEO and co-founder of Flosonics Medical Joseph Eibl told BetaKit the new capital will be put towards commercialization and new product development.
VEERUM secures $7.4 million in Series A financing
Calgary-based SaaS startup VEERUM, which works in the industrial asset visualization space, has raised a $7.4 million CAD Series A round of funding.
VEERUM targets its product toward companies in oil and gas, mining, and industrial construction.
The round was led by BDC’s $250 million Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and Builders VC with participation from existing investors Brick and Mortar Ventures, Evok Innovations, Intergen, and Creative Ventures. VEERUM said the new funding will allow the startup to expand in international markets, including the US.
Founded in 2014, VEERUM offers a cloud-based solution aimed to facilitate data management across the entire asset lifecycle, allowing companies to view asset data in the context of a 3D model. The startup targets its product toward companies in various industries, including oil and gas, mining, utilities, and industrial construction.
“The pandemic creates an even more urgent need for digital tools that can increase productivity and reduce costs in the industrial sector,” said Joe Regan, managing partner of the Industrial Innovation Venture Fund at BDC Capital. “With impressive progress over the past two years and very positive customer feedback, VEERUM is well-positioned to meet this increasing demand while continuing to grow and deploy its solution in the US and globally.”
AgTech startup ChrysaLabs closes $1.3 million seed round
Montréal-based AgTech startup ChrysaLabs has raised a $1.3 million CAD seed round of financing.
The round was led by the Ecofuel investment fund, and included participation from Premier Tech and Anges Québec. Proceeds from the round will allow ChrysaLabs to continue its commercialization in collaboration with companies in the agricultural sector in Canada and in the US.
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ChrysaLabs offers a soil fertility analysis solution that combines artificial intelligence, optics, cloud computing, as well as a database of thousands of soil samples. The solution provides agronomists and growers with the information needed to make decisions faster.
“The tools currently available to agronomists and growers do not allow them to properly manage soil health and fertility, which generate tremendous economic and environmental impacts,” said Samuel Fournier, co-founder and CEO of ChrysaLabs. “The technology we are developing alleviates the problems of lack of soil data and supports the industry for a more prosperous and sustainable agriculture.”
sMedia Ventures receives $3.5 million growth credit facility
sMedia Ventures, a tech startup based in Regina that offers digital marketing solutions, has received a $3.5 million CAD growth credit facility from FirePower Capital.
sMedia plans to use the capital to grow its automotive dealership customer base and strengthen its proprietary marketing tech platform. Marshal Finch, CEO of sMedia, said the new capital will help the startup support its existing customer base of more than vehicle dealerships, as well as expand its sales and marketing teams.
Founded in 2011, sMedia offers digital marketing solutions primarily to the automotive, power sports, marine, RV, and high-end electronics industries. The purpose of its technology is to help businesses understand the relationship between their traffic sources and sales.
“sMedia’s customer base has faced unprecedented challenges for nearly a year now, and sMedia’s new offerings launched this past year, in addition to their well-established platforms, helped move the dial in the right direction for those [more than 600] dealerships,” said Trevor Simpson, associate partner at FirePower Capital.
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