Guelph-based online health and beauty store Well.ca just announced that it has closed a $1.1 Million private financing round. The funds will be used to scale its warehousing and distribution capabilities, expand its product offering and add features to its website.
Apparenlty the startup was approached by several US VCs eager to participate in the round but they ended up raising the money at home and from Angel investors.
“The significant interest from venture capitalists, especially in a year when financings of Internet companies have declined dramatically, was a great validation for us,” said Ali Asaria, Well.ca’s founder and chief executive officer. “We were fortunate to be cash flow positive when we started meeting potential investors. As a result, we felt we could be far more selective than most companies, and cherry pick the best investors to help us evolve our offering and continue to exceed customer expectations. We’re absolutely delighted with the group we’ve been able to assemble, and we think they will have an enormous impact that goes well beyond what the money will buy.”
Toronto-based Thunder Road Capital, a company founded by former JumpTV CEO and eBay Canada managing director Jordan Banks, is the lead investor in the round. Banks will also join the Well.ca board of directors effective immediately.
Other investors include Hilton Silberg - founder of Day Night drugstore chain in the Hamilton area which sold to Rexall Pharma Plus in 2007, Andrew Sloss - GM of Kijiji Canada, and David Ceolin - founder of Digital Cement which was acquired by Pitney Bowes in 2007.
