Funding Roundup: Vention, Solink, Bold Commerce

January 18, 2019

As companies are diving headfirst into their 2019 plans, investments are starting to heat up again. Here are three Canadian companies that closed financing rounds this week:

Vention

Montreal-based Vention closed CAD $17 million in a Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Vention is an innovative digital manufacturing platform for custom-built factory equipment, and the investment will assist the company’s second major platform upgrade since it began in 2016.

“Building a large-scale industrial business takes a special breed of investor. We are excited to partner with Bain Capital Ventures, which has a long track record in our industry,” said Vention’s founder and CEO, Étienne Lacroix. “Working with Bain Capital Ventures also means we’re bringing an investor on board with a deep understanding of our manufacturing clients’ needs.”

Solink

One of Ottawa’s fastest-growing companies, Solink, has announced the closing of a $16.3 million series A funding round led by Valor Equity Partners with participation from Generation Ventures, ScaleUp Ventures, and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s IT Venture Fund.

The company, which develops video surveillance software for businesses, is looking to grow its 60 person team this year–and the capital raised will help. The demand for Solink’s product is high, and according to the company’s CEO Mike Matta, this is due to the artificial intelligence capabilities of the security software. “We’re getting customers that are opening the app every single day asking questions that live outside of security, like, ‘Did this person show up for work? Did the garbage get collected?’” says Matta. “Those are questions that naturally get answered through video. And customers are getting answers for their questions through our product.”

Bold Commerce

Winnipeg’s Bold Commerce has announced a CAD $22 million Series A funding round led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Round13 Capital. Bold Commerce provides e-commerce software and solutions, and will use the financing to develop AI solutions for merchants using their software.

“This investment validates the success we have achieved over the past seven years, including the company and culture we’ve created, and the innovative AI-first solutions we’ve developed that are leading the way in headless commerce,” said Yvan Boisjoli, co-founder and CEO of Bold Commerce. “Whitecap and Round13 bring world-class expertise to our board and will play an important role in supporting our continued international growth.”