Wow, we’ve just completed an incredible Q2 filled with significant momentum and noteworthy milestones. Our team has been hard at work, making investments, leading conversations on matters transforming our industry, and raising capital. We recently celebrated the first closing of Growth Fund III, co-led by CDPQ, IQ, FsFTQ and BDC, and we are grateful for the trust of all our new and returning LPs.
Here are other Q2 highlights:
- We welcomed five new portfolio companies: Guesty, Plenty, CreditApp, Infinity SPM, and gaiia
- We also invested in a follow-on round for Vidyard
- In May, we participated in the CVCA conference, where Partners Karam Nijjar and Hugues Lalancette, along with Principal Mia Morisset, shared their insights over the three-day event in Montreal
- In June, we gathered with LPs and portfolio founders at our AGM, CEO and GP Summits in Toronto, watch our recap video here
- We also co-hosted the tech ecosystem at a Collision Happy Hour with Westcap
- We welcomed new EiRs, JP Chauvet and Adam Schlesinger
- And, in partnership with Builtfirst (acquired by our portfolio company AppDirect in May 2024), we launched our new perk platform offering partnership discounts with over 150 offers from Inovia portfolio companies and other partners like AWS, Slack, Google and NVIDIA.
We hope you enjoy a wonderful summer and look forward to catching up in the fall.
— The Inovia Team
Portfolio News
Fundraising
- gaiia Closes CAD$18M Series A as It Looks to Build the Shopify for ISPs I BetaKit
- Following the Strategic Partnership Announcement With Onestream, InfinitySPM Secures Growth Funding Led by Graphite Ventures and Inovia Capital I Press Release
- Led by Former Solium CEO, CreditApp Secures $2.7 Million to Commercialize Auto Lending Software I BetaKit
- Two Small Fish Ventures Holds $41-Million CAD Final Close for Fund III I BetaKit
- BlinqIO Raises $5M to Automate Software Testing Using Generative AI I SiliconANGLE
- An Early Stripe Employee Raises $5M to Launch an Alternative to ‘patriarchal’ Fintech Apps That Let Only One Person Manage a Couple’s Money I Fortune
- Belgium’s Aikido Lands $17M Series A for Its ‘no Bs’ Security Platform Aimed at Developers I TechCrunch
- Guesty snaps up $130M to help property managers list on AirBnB and beyond I TechCrunch
- Vidyard Records US$15M Round as Scale-Up Uses AI to Make Video Easier for Clients I The Logic
M&A and Partnerships
- Optionality Joins Cohere’s Start-Up Program I Press Release
- Photonic and Microsoft Detail Quantum Computing Milestone I Photonics Spectra
- Neo4j Announces Collaboration with Snowflake for Advanced AI Insights and Predictive Analytics I Press Release
- Brazil-Based Nubank Launches Travel Booking Platform, NuViagens, That Will Be Powered by Hopper I PhocusWire
- Lightspeed Announces Partnership With Uber Direct and Uber Eats Marketplace I Press Release
- AppDirect Acquires Low-Code B2B Marketplace Builder Builtfirst I BetaKit
- Wealthsimple Enters Mortgage Space Through Pine Partnership I BetaKit
- Guesty, Short-Term Rental Software Provider, Acquires Rentals United I Skift
- Lightspeed Thrilled to Announce Latest Partnership with Mews I LinkedIn
- Announcing Cohere Command R+, now available on Azure I Microsoft
Podcasts
- From VC To Creating Your Own Startup With Emily Luk Of Plenty I Financial Samurai
- Alex Barrett on The Hard Part with Evan McCann I The Hard Part Podcast
Portfolio Awards
- PayShepherd on EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Prairies Regional Finalists List I EY
- Certn on EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Pacific Regional Finalists List I EY
- Hopper most innovative company 2024 I Fast Company
- Raive was selected as part of the 18 finalists of the LVMH Innovation Award I Press Release
- Stephanie Simmons of Photonic on Macleans’ Power List: Tech I Macleans
- Dax Dasilva recipient of the Icon of Canadian Entrepreneurship” (ICE) Award I LinkedIn
Other Exciting News
- Cohere’s Aidan Gomez Says It’s Time for Businesses to ‘Commit and Start Adopting’ Generative AI I The Logic
- How Dax Dasilva Plans to Get Lightspeed to $1 Billion in Revenue I BetaKit
- AI Will Make Money Sooner Than You’d Think, Says Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez I The Verge
- Guesty CEO on a Future IPO: ‘We’ll Be Ready’ I Skift
- Carmichael: Dax Dasilva’s guide to the galaxy I The Logic
- Plenty – The Investment Platform for Couples I Product Hunt
- AI Doesn’t Pose a Risk to Frontline Workers Yet: Workjam CEO I Yahoo Finance
- ResQ Announces New System and Sensors to Simplify Operations I QSR Magazine
- Wealthsimple Experiencing Massive Growth After Two Quarters of Record Asset Gains I The Globe and Mail
- AppDirect Launches AppDirect AI—An AI Marketplace and Creation Studio That Provides the Ability to Create and Use Purpose-built, Secure AI Apps in Minutes I Business Wire
- BenchSci: Building the Disease Biology Generative AI Platform for Pharma R&D I YouTube
Inovia Thoughts
Portfolio Blogs
- Investing in gaiia, Simplifying the Day-to-Day Operations of Internet Service Providers I Magaly Charbonneau, Etienne Gauthier, and Manpreet Deol
- Investing in CreditApp: Disrupting Incumbents with Innovative FinTech in Auto Lending I Taha Mubashir & Jules Pichette
- Investing in Plenty: Empowering Couples with a Modern Approach to Wealth Management I Pascale Archambault
- Investing in Guesty: The Global Choice for Property Management Software I Dennis Kavelman, Mia Morisset, and Andrew Biddell
Inovia Insights
- Patrick Pichette & Dennis Kavelman: Fueling the Canadian Tech Flywheel for Our Economic Prosperity I Patrick Pichette & Dennis Kavelman
- Optionality and the Conversations You Need to Have I Chris Arsenault
- Beyond Buzzwords: Exploring Cybersecurity Trends Pre-RSA 2024 I Taha Mubashir & Etienne Gauthier
Inovia News
- Welcome to Inovia Executive in Residence JP Chauvet I Inovia Blog
- Welcome to Inovia Executive in Residence Adam Schlesinger I Inovia Blog
Emerging Manager Series
- Inovia Emerging Managers Portrait Series: Meet Boon I Portrait
Our Team in the News
- Inovia Raises Initial $300 Million USD for CDPQ-led Third Growth Equity Fund I BetaKit
- After Over a Decade at Lightspeed, JP Chauvet Aims to Be “Good Sounding Board” as Inovia’s Newest Executive-in-Residence I BetaKit
- Huge opportunities for Saas: The Chief Financial Officer is undergoing a strategic transformation driving the need for next-generation tooling I Phoebe Kitchen at SaaStr Europa 2024
- Profile: Patrick Ghoche, Inovia Capital I The Drawdown
- Canada’s Quest to Recharge Its Growth Trajectory I Chris Arsenault in Venture Capital Journal
- Opinion: Canada is Well Placed to Be a Global Tech Leader — Let’s Not Blow It Now I Dennis Kavelman & Patrick Pichette in the National Post
- Springtime for Canada’s fintech industry? I McKinsey & Company article with contribution from Rania Ajakane
- Three Cutting-edge Advances Reshaping Retail’s Omnichannel Experience I Mike McGraw in Retail Insight Network
- New capital gains tax to create long-term problems in Canada’s tech economy I BNN Bloomberg interview with Dennis Kavelman
Podcasts
- Inovia Sessions Podcast – The Strategic Moves Behind Atlassian’s M&A Success with Sarah Hughes, Head of Corporate Development and Product Partnerships I Meryl Almeida & Sarah Hughes
- Inovia Sessions Podcast – Mastering M&A with Hilary Shirazi, Head of Corporate Development at Notion I Meryl Almeida & Hilary Shirazi
- Inovia Sessions Podcast – Season Premiere: Navigating the Complex World of M&A I Meryl Almeida
- Optionality & Opportunity: Vision, Impact and the Future of VC I Chris Arsenault on the Unstacked Startups Podcast
Industry Highlights
- Wealthy Canadians Investing More in Government-backed Venture Capital Funds I The Globe and Mail
- 2024 VC Regional Impact Award: Inovia Capital, on Behalf of a Syndicate, Recognized for Their Investment in Clearpath Robotics I CVCA
- Federal budget to pump $2B into AI compute, set up new safety institute I The Logic