Inovia Q3: Over US$1.5B in financing, 2 new partners, a SPAC IPO and 1 new company
Friends,
We hope you enjoyed the summer as much as we did and were able to decompress even though our tech ecosystem was buzzing and busier than ever. Inovia portfolio companies raised over US$1.5B in financing during this quarter which is testimony to this continuing momentum and strength.
Some impressive rounds marked the quarter. Clearco raised US$215M from SoftBank, while Hopper raised an additional US$175M round. And we are really excited for Rewind, Nacelle, WorkJam, and Armored Things, which all closed substantial growth financing rounds. We welcomed our newest Inovia portfolio company, Wazo. And last but not least, huge congratulations to portfolio companies Allocadia, acquired by BrandMaker, and Tugboat Logic, acquired by OneTrust.
As for the Inovia team, we were thrilled to welcome two new world-class partners, Krista Skalde, who joined as Partner & Chief Talent Officer and Steven Woods as Partner & Chief Technology Officer. These exceptional individuals complement our team of operators and reinforce our mission to actively support founders building sustainable global companies.
We were also very proud to announce the launch of SOAR Technology Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, co-founded and co-sponsored by Inovia, which closed its initial public offering on the NYSE in the total amount of US$230M. SOAR is an exciting milestone for Inovia as it further supports our full-stack model. We believe that SPACs not only increase optionality for tech companies and dealflow opportunities, they are another great way to pursue our mission.
We wish you a successful Q4, and we’ll be back in December when we wrap up an incredible year for our portfolio companies and the entire tech ecosystem.
— The Inovia Team
Portfolio Companies in the News
Fundraising
- Inovia co-sponsors a US$230M SPAC IPO | Press Release
- Clearco gets the SoftBank stamp of approval in new US$215M round | TechCrunch
- Hopper raises US$175M as travel surges and its fintech tools help offset variant concerns | TechCrunch
- SaaS data backup and recovery platform Rewind raises US$65M | Venture Beat
- Neo Financial announces $64 million Series B raise to accelerate growth| Businesswire
- Tiger Global backs Nacelle with US$50M for its e-commerce infrastructure | TechCrunch
- WorkJam announces US$35M growth financing |Betakit
- Crowd Flow scanner Armored Things raises US$12M | SportTechie
- Wazo raises US$6M to increase its innovation capabilities and accelerate its commercial development | Le Monde Informatique (French only)
- Playbook, which aims to be the ‘Dropbox for designers,’ raises US$4M in round led by Founders Fund | TechCrunch
M&A
- Allocadia and BrandMaker join forces creating global marketing operations leader | Newswire
- Tugboat Logic acquired by OneTrust to automate InfoSec assurance and certification |VentureBeat
- Cocoon team acqui-hired by Substack |TechCrunch
- Toronto’s Top Hat buys fourth conventional publisher, stepping up efforts to digitize textbook business | Globe and Mail
Hiring and board appointments
- Wealthsimple adds Inovia Partner, Former Google Exec Patrick Pichette to Board of Directors | Betakit
- Sonder Holdings Inc. Continues to Build World Class Board of Directors in Preparation for Public Listing | Business Wire
- Sonder Holdings Inc. Appoints Hospitality Advisory Executive Gilda Perez-Alvarado to Board of Directors | Business Wire
- Inovia Capital Partner and Former RIM CFO and COO Dennis Kavelman Joins BenchSci Board of Directors | Yahoo Finance
- WorkFusion appoints new CEO Adam Famularo I LinkedIn
Other exciting news
- RenoRun, the leading online construction supplier has launched in Chicago | Inside
- Zwift signs on as title sponsor for Tour de France Femmes | Cycling Tips
- WorkJam unveils the next generation of its Frontline Digital Workplace: WorkJam Everywhere |Newswire
- Clearco partners with California’s MicroAquire to help founders find acquisitions | BetaKit
Inovia Thoughts
- Letter to a founder about to raise a major growth round | Medium
- Better Pay and ‘Micro Offices’: VC Veteran Ponders Tech’s Future | Bloomberg
- Inovia Dismisses Startup Bubble Fear With Gains Backed by ‘Amazing Growth’ | Bloomberg
- Steve Woods follows the orange backpack to Inovia | Communitech
- Wazo: Embedded Communications
- Tugboat Logic: Building the next generation digital trust infrastructure
Industry highlights
- Inovia welcomes two world-class partners | Medium
- Montreal’s Inovia Capital taps former Google executive for top tech role | Financial Post
- Can Canada’s red hot technology sector last? | Globe and Mail
- Startups have never had it so good | TechCrunch
- Canada’s startup market booms alongside hot global VC investment | TechCrunch
- Montréal Saw Best Venture Funding Quarter Yet In Q2 As Local Startups Clinched More Megadeals | Betakit
- Canada’s red-hot technology sector smashes venture-capital funding record set in dot-com bubble | Globe and Mail
- Tech Update: Investment pours in for Toronto AI firm, competition heats up for top talent and a new partnership tackles waste | Toronto Star
Upcoming Events
- Inovia Session on Diversity — October 7th. Hurry up! Still time to register!
- Inovia will sponsor a panel moderated by Chris Arsenault, with Dax Dasilva (CEO of Lightspeed) and Manon Brouillette (COO and Deputy CEO of Verizon) | Réseau Capital (in French)
- Krista Skalde will be a panelist at Biais dans les processus de recrutement | Réseau Capital (in French)
- Steve Woods and Krista Skalde will each lead an Ask an Expert session at the CIX Digital Summit
- Chris Arsenault will speak at Réseau Mentorat on November 9th I Réseau Mentorat (in French)
