Facebook Acquires Instagram for $1 Billion
Social networking giant Facebook has acquired mobile photo sharing app Instragam for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock.
read more
Canada Gets a New, $100-Million Cleantech Venture Capital Fund in Ontario
Ontario is welcoming a new $100-million cleantech venture capital fund. The fund is a joint venture of Sail Venture Partners and Stifel Nicolaus Canada.
The fund will invest in companies with "innovative, ready-for-market products across the clean-tech sector, including energy, water and green innovations," according to an official document. The fund is backed by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, which hopes the fund will grow companies and create jobs in Ontario.
read moreDell Makes Canadian Acquisition
Dell announced this morning that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vancouver's Make Technologies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Award-winning Make Technologies provides application modernization software and services that reduce the cost, risk and time required to re-engineer applications.
Make Technologies was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Vancouver. Make Technologies’ approximately 100 employees will be joining the Dell Services team.
read moreThe First Pitch to Close All Five Dragons in the Den Turns to Crowdfunding
If you watch Dragons Den, you'll remember Vancouver's Bradley Friesen and his pitch for a hangover prevention cure aptly named Last Call.
According to Friesen, he is about to be the first pitch in six seasons to slay all five dragons. With $25,000 in Dragons money in his pocket he has now turned to crowdfunding to raise another $40,000 to get Last Call off the ground.
Frieson has posted a pitch on Indiegogo and raised $17K will 17 days remaining on campaign. Check out his pitch after the jump.
read more90% of Internet Startups in Vancouver Come to This One Superangel
In Vancouver, every internet startup seeking seeking angel funding is familiar with one name: Boris Wertz.
The CEO of W Media Ventures—the W standing for Wertz—Boris is the very definition of "superangel" in Vancouver. The 38-year-old, who came to Canada from Germany in 2002 to manage Victoria's AbeBooks, is by far the city's most renowned financial supporter of consumer internet startups.
read moreCONFIRMED: HootSuite takes $20 Million Investment from OMERS Ventures
Earlier this week Techvibes reported that Vancouver's HootSuite was on the verge of closing a massive finanacing round. Today it was confirmed.
OMERS Ventures is buying a $20 million ownership stake in Vancouver-based HootSuite via a secondary purchase from the company’s existing shareholders. Word on the street is that the financing pegs that valuation of HootSuite at over $200 million.
read moreUS Senate Passes Crowd Funding. What about Canada?
Raising money for startups is about to become easier in the United States thanks to a new bill that was backed last week by the US House of Representatives.
While sites like Kickstarter have made crowdfunding a popular way for individuals and small companies to secure philanthropic funding of projects, the new Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (Jobs) will do the same for startups.
The Jobs Act will allow small-scale investors to invest up to $10,000 (or 10 percent of their annual income, whichever is less) in companies they back.
read moreMaRS Launches Canada's First Early Stage Cleantech Venture Fund
MaRS Discovery District in Toronto has launched Canada's "first dedicated early-stage cleantech venture fund." Called the MaRS Cleantech Fund LP, it "ushers in a new model in early-stage technology investing by leveraging the strength of a non-exclusive, but strategic relationship between MaRS Discovery District and the private sector," according to a statement released by the organization.
HootSuite on Verge of Closing Massive Financing Round
HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes has stated publicly that he wants to grow the social media dashboard into a $1 Billion company.
But how do you do that?
Step one: Raise a massive Series B financing round that gives your company a nine digit valuation and you're well on your way.
Word on the street in Vancouver is that HootSuite is in the process of closing a funding round that will do just that.
But this news shouldn't come as much of a surprise to Techvibes readers.
read moreGrowLab Gets a New Executive Director
Ten months ago, Vancouver welcomed Silicon Valley style accelerator program GrowLab to the startup community. And it conveniently filled the void left by Bootup Labs, when Bootup unceremoniously closed its doors in late 2010.
Founded by Boris Wertz of W Media Ventures, Debbie Landa of Dealmaker Media, Jason Bailey of Eastside Games, and Leonard Brody of Clarity Digital, GrowLab hit the ground running with an influx of company applications and money from investors including BDC, iNovia Capital, and the BlackBerry Partners Fund, along with Rho Canada, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Growthworks, Yaletown Venture Partners, Chris Albinson, and Mike Edwards.
GrowLab Executive Director Michael Tippett was hired in time to announce the inaugural five startups in August 2011. And after completing the four-month accelerator program the class graduated at November's Demo Day event. Word on the street is that two of the five startups have received follow-on financing that is close to being finalized.
While applications for the 2012 Spring Program closed last week, GrowLab continues to blossom.
Techvibes reported last month that Tippet is no longer the Executive Director. And now we know who his replacement will be.
read more