In case you missed it, watch our Inovia 2025 Wrapped now!
Happy New Year!
As we step into 2026, we’re energized by the momentum across our portfolio. Thanks to the hard work of our founders and operators, LPs, ecosystem partners, and our team of company builders, the year ahead is set for high velocity.
Here are a few highlights of our last quarter:
- Portfolio company Wealthsimple hit a $10B valuation with $750M financing.
- We welcomed two new portfolio companies, Great Question and Good Start Labs.
- We doubled down on Flare and Spellbook.
- We promoted 2 new partners strengthening our leadership bench for our next phase of growth.
- We opened 1 new office in Abu Dhabi Global Market.
- We celebrated 2 years of Discovery Fund I.
- We hosted our inaugural Operator Meetup in Toronto, gathering 110 senior leaders from 40 portfolio companies for an afternoon of learning, connection, and collaboration.
Read more about Q4 below!
— The Inovia Team
Portfolio News
Fundraising – Portfolio Companies
- Great Question Secures $13M Series A Funding from Inovia to Accelerate Research Democratization for Enterprises I Press Release
- Flare Raises Another US$30M to Fuel Global Cybersecurity Expansion and Acquisition Plans I BetaKit
- Wealthsimple’s Milestone Deal: Online Financial-Services Giant Hits $10B Valuation with $750M Financing I The Globe and Mail
- Good Start Labs Launches with $3.6M Round Led by Inovia Capital and General Catalyst I LinkedIn
- Spellbook Raises $50M + CEO, Scott Stevenson Interview I Artificial Lawyer
Fundraising – Discovery Portfolio
- Numbi Raises Pre-Seed to Build AI-Native Finance Ops for Latin American SMEs I LinkedIn
- Tempo Raises $5M to Build the Best Design Tool for Design Engineers I LinkedIn
- Clove Raises $14M in Pre-Seed Funding I LinkedIn
- Nexcade Emerges from Stealth with $2.5M to Transform Freight I FreightWaves
M&A, Partnerships, and Notable Client Wins
- BC Transit Partners with Vancouver-Based Spare to Modernize handyDART Transportation Across 29 B.C. Communities I Press Release
- TransLink Selects Vancouver-Based Spare to Modernize HandyDART Across Metro Vancouver I Press Release
- Spare and VoTran Modernize Paratransit Across Volusia County to Give Riders Reliable Transportation and Independence I Press Release + LinkedIn Video
- Dropbox Has Chosen Spellbook as Its AI Contracting Platform I LinkedIn
- AppDirect Closes Acquisition of Network and Mobility Lifecycle Management Platform to Complement Its Newly Launched Everything Store for B2B I Press Release
- BenchSci Extends ASCEND Agreement with Merck to Support Preclinical Disease Biology Research I Press Release
- Cohere Signs Deal with Thales to Use its AI for the Canadian Armed Forces I The Logic
- Inova Health Selects Signal 1’s AI Management Platform to Accelerate Responsible AI Deployment and Oversight I Press Release
- AppDirect and Tackle.io to Unite to Extend Leadership in B2B Subscription Commerce with Native Hyperscaler Marketplace Integration I Press Release
- Clearco Partners with Highbeam to Streamline Strategic Funding and Banking for Ecommerce Brands I Clearco
- AlayaCare acquires Nightingale to expand NDIS and disabilities offerings in Australia I Press Release
- AppDirect Acquires NXTSYS, MSP-Focused Technology Solutions Distributor I Press Release
- BenchSci and Mila Partner to Advance AI for Biological Inference and Accelerate Drug Discovery I Press Release
- BenchSci Announces Three-Year License Agreement with Sanofi to Access and Use BenchSci’s ASCEND Platform I Press Release
Thought Leadership
- What It Really Takes to Scale Hospitality: Culture and Leadership Lessons One Year After Our Blockbuster Deal – Rob Blood, Lark I Hospitality Daily Podcast
- The Other Stuff #29 — Aidan Gomez: Empathy and Conviction I The Other Stuff Podcast
- Spellbook Launches First Annual State of Contracts Report I LinkedIn
- Vasco launches 2026 Revops Trends & Predictions I Vasco Newsletter
- Intelligence Isn’t Enough: Why Energy & Compute Decide the AGI Race – Eiso Kant, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Poolside I The MAD Podcast
- The State of Alternative Assets: A Fintech Perspective I 2025 Report by Luge Capital
- Cohere’s Chief Scientist Joelle Pineau on Scaling Laws & Talent Acquisitions I 20VC Podcast
- The Case For Human-Centered AI In Home-Based Care I AlayaCare CEO Adrian Schauer in Forbes
Other Exciting News
- Seven Tech Firms, Including Cohere, Joined Canada’s $100-Million Club in 2025 – and 2026 Could Bring Even More I The Globe and Mail
- Leaders at Cohere, Wealthsimple Top The Logic Readers’ Votes as Canada’s Leading Innovators Of 2025 I The Logic
- Federal Government Funds Four Quantum Computer Developers, Aiming to Keep Them in Canada I The Globe and Mail
- The Mind-Bending Complexities of Quantum Investing I Financial Times article featuring Photonic
- Clearco Is Growing Again I The Logic
- Meet the TechTO Canadian Rocketships 2025 – The Final List of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Startups, Including Cohere, Mantle, Spellbook, and Wealthsimple I TechTO
- Guesty Launches AI Agent for Revenue Management I Short Term Rentalz
- Introducing Preference Learning in Spellbook Reviews I Spellbook
- Skyfall AI Comes Out of Stealth and Launches First Research Paper I LinkedIn
- “A Shared Mission.” CIBC Innovation Banking Backs Vessel, Modernizing the Funds it Finances I BetaKit
- Three Canadian Companies, Including Photonic, Advance to Next Stage in Darpa Quantum Computer Challenge I The Globe and Mail
- Flare Launches Identity Exposure Management to Combat 50 Million Weekly Breached Identities and Stop Account Takeovers in Seconds I Press Release
- Adrian Schauer, Founder and CEO of AlayaCare, Named a Winner of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 I Press Release
Inovia Thoughts
Investment Blog
- From Insight to Impact: Backing Great Question’s Mission to Redefine User Research I Kory Jeffrey & Katherine Hovdestad
Insights
- From Foundations to Autonomous Operations: The AI-Powered Finance Automation Playbook I Rania Ajakane & Alexis Garneau
- What’s Next in Travel Tech: Four Trends Shaping the Future of the Industry I Mia Morisset & Rania Ajakane
- Cybersecurity and Agentic AI – A Race to Contain this Emerging Exposure I Taha Mubashir, Etienne Gauthier, Ayush Malhotra, and Yoran Beisher
- Gen AI in Travel & Hospitality: Early Wins, Structural Tensions, and the Road Ahead I Mia Morisset & Katherine Hovdestad
Inovia News
- Inovia Capital Promotes Kory Jeffrey and Taha Mubashir to Partner I Inovia Blog
- Inovia Capital Announces Opening of Abu Dhabi Office to Deepen Strategic Partnerships in the UAE and Broader GCC Region I Inovia Blog
- Celebrating Two Years of Discovery Fund I: Backing Canada’s Boldest Emerging Managers & Founders I Inovia Blog
- Inovia Emerging Managers Portrait Series: Meet Telegraph Ventures I Inovia Blog
- Welcome to Inovia Senior Advisor & Entrepreneur in Residence Brian Heath I Inovia Blog
- Canadian Innovation Delegation to KSA and UAE: Elevate Canada’s Tech Presence on the Global Scene I Chris Arsenault
Our Team in the News
- Krista Skalde-Roy on Network Power, People Data, and the Future of Talent in Venture Capital I Getro
- Inovia Promotes Two Principals to Partner as It Readies 2026 Fundraising Push I BetaKit
- A “Terrifying” Time to Build: Canadian VCs Debate AI Bubble at RevStar Summit I BetaKit article featuring Karamdeep Nijjar
- Karim Sharobim Named Among the Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Canada 2025 I Legal500
- Karim Sharobim Named a Finalist for the ZSA Quebec General Counsel Awards 2025 I Droit-inc
Podcast & Recordings
- AI Salon x Flagship Podcast: Live @ Mila I Flagship Podcast featuring Hugues Lalancette
- What Do GPs Really Stand For I FII Institute TV featuring Chris Arsenault