Osler is proud to have advised on five of Canada’s top 10 venture capital financings in 2017, as reported on The PE Hub Network, including the largest financing of a local IT company in 25 years (Lightspeed POS) and the largest round on record for an artificial intelligence startup (Element AI). In total, the top 10 financings raised more than $1 billion from investors. The rankings are based on PE Hub Canada’s list of the largest deals announced in 2017, along with preliminary data from Thomson Reuters.
Osler advised on the following five transactions in PE Hub’s top 10 venture capital financings of 2017, representing
- Montréal-based Lightspeed POS Inc. in a US$166-million transaction in which Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired Accel Partners’ stake in the company. Lightspeed is an emerging Canadian tech firm that designs and develops point-of-sale solutions for retailers and restaurants
- Element AI Inc. in its $137 million Series A financing, the largest Series A financing round for an artificial intelligence company in history. Element AI is headquartered in Montréal and develops AI-powered solutions for customers in cybersecurity, fintech, manufacturing, logistics and transportation, and robotics
- Vision Critical Communications Inc. in its $76 million secondary sale of shares to two strategic growth equity funds. Vancouver-based Vision Critical is a critical source of customer intelligence for the world’s leading brands
- Online investment manager Wealthsimple in two funding events with the company’s majority shareholder, Power Corp’s Portag3 Ventures, for a total of $70 million
- Clinical stage cardiovascular company Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the US$55 million first tranche of its Series C financing round led by Novo Holdings A/S
Read more about the top 10 venture capital financings of 2017.
