CVCA Announces 2020 Deal of The Year, 2020 Global Dealmaker, Private Capital Regional Impact and Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award Recipients

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CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association

Jun 12, 2020, 11:30 ET

TORONTO, June 12, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) today announced the winners of the 2020 CVCA Awards, sponsored by HarbourVest Partners Canada, ahead of the association's annual Invest Canada '20 conference taking place digitally this year.

CVCA's most distinguished honour, the Deal of the Year recognition went to:

For general partners operating on the global stage, CVCA's new Global Dealmaker award went to:

  • Toronto-based Imperial Capital won the new 2020 PE Global Dealmaker Award for its investment in Norristown, Pennsylvania-headquartered MRO Corporation
  • Toronto-based EnerTech Capital won the new 2020 VC Global Dealmaker Award for its investment in Livonia, Michigan-headquartered Ushr, Inc.

In recognition for community leadership:

  • Laura Lenz, Partner, OMERS Ventures is the recipient of the 2020 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award

CVCA's regional impact awards:

"Winners of the 2020 CVCA Awards have proven vision and innovation are alive and well in the Canadian private capital industry" said Kim Furlong, CEO, Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. "This list of companies exemplifies how venture capital and private equity is present in every sector and helping fuel the economy of the future."

"It's a pleasure to see so many people and organizations in private capital from across a variety of industries and geographies working hard and setting new standards," said Beth Maliakkal, Chief Financial Officer, Imperial Capital and Chair, CVCA Awards Committee. "On behalf of the 2020 CVCA Awards committee, congratulations on this incredible recognition."

2020 PE Deal of the Year Award

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $515 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit. Brookfield owns and operates long-life assets and businesses, many of which form the backbone of the global economy. Brookfield's private equity group has won the 2020 Private Equity (PE) Deal of the Year award for its investment in Markham-based BGIS.

BGIS is a provider of real estate management services, including facilities management, project delivery services, energy and sustainability solutions, building performance management, workplace advisory and management, and real estate services. Brookfield originally invested into BGIS in April 2015. With Brookfield's investment, BGIS was able to expand geographically, expand their product offering and execute on accretive tuck-ins. Brookfield sold stake in BGIS to CCMP Capital Advisors on May 31, 2019.

Read more about this deal here. 

2020 VC Deal of the Year Award

Information Venture Partners (IVP) is a team of experienced venture capital investors that focuses Seed and Series-A companies in B2B FinTech and Enterprise SaaS. Information Venture Partners has won the 2020 Venture Capital (VC) Deal of the Year award for its investment in St. John's-based Verafin Inc.

Verafin provides the industry's leading Financial Crime Management platform, providing a cloud-based cross-institutional software platform for Fraud Detection and Management, BSA/AML Compliance and Management, High-Risk Customer Management and Secure 314(b) Information Sharing. Almost 3000 banks and credit unions use Verafin to effectively fight financial crime and comply with regulations. IVP originally invested into Verafin in August 2009, contributing to strong growth and profitability.

Read more about this deal here. 

2020 PE Global Dealmaker Award

Founded in 1989, Toronto–based Imperial Capital is a leading lower middle market private equity firm focused on North American opportunities to build or acquire growth–oriented platform investments in targeted industry niches within healthcare, business, and consumer services industries. Imperial Capital has won the new 2020 PE Global Dealmaker Award for its investment in Norristown, Pennsylvania-headquartered MRO Corporation. The PE Global Dealmaker Award is new in 2020 and was created to recognize outstanding realized investment returns on a global PE investment.

MRO Corporation provides a suite of Protected Health Information (PHI) disclosure management services comprised of release of information, government and commercial payer audit management and accounting of disclosures. Imperial Capital originally invested in MRO Corp. in September 2014. The investment fueled organic growth, acquisitions of small local competitors and increased market share from the industry's largest competitor.

Read more about this deal here. 

2020 VC Global Dealmaker Award

Founded in 1996, EnerTech Capital is a private investment firm focused on empowering energy innovation within the technology and mobility space. They invest in mid-stage companies that offer products or services that dramatically improve the profitability of producing or consuming energy. EnerTech Capital has won the new 2020 VC Global Dealmaker Award for its investment in Canadian spin-out Ushr, Inc., now headquartered in Detroit. The VC Global Dealmaker Award is new in 2020 and was created to recognize outstanding realized investment returns on a global VC investment.

Ushr offers automotive manufacturers the most accurate, comprehensive, and advanced high-definition map technology available on the market today. Having mapped the entire U.S. and Canada controlled access highway network with under four inches deviation, Ushr's platform provides the most accurate long and medium-distance sensing systems to enable autonomous vehicles (AVs) to safely navigate roadways. EnerTech Capital originally invested in Ushr in June 2017.

Read more about this deal here.

2020 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award

Laura Lenz, Partner, OMERS Ventures, is the recipient of the 2020 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award for driving awareness and support for families and those directly impacted by pediatric stroke. Ms. Lenz is the founder of the Canadian Pediatric Stroke Support Association (CPSSA). In addition to supporting Canada's economic productivity, the Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award recipient also fosters strong corporate social responsibility as a foundation for building solid vibrant communities. The award recognizes the commitment of time and effort to an organization or cause over several years.

For nine years Ms. Lenz was the co-chair of the CPSSA, building it from the ground up while still forging a successful career as a venture investor. She has built a community of more than 500 families who are caring for children who have had a stroke.

Read more about Ms. Lenz community work here. 

PE Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Western Canada

Founded in 1989, PFM Capital is Saskatchewan's largest private equity investment firm with over $800 million in assets under management across several funds. Based in Regina, PFM's niche focus allows investors to benefit from the Prairies' economic strengths by taking advantage of the firm's established local contact network and long-term track record. PFM Capital Inc. has won the 2020 PE Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Western Canada for its investment in Calgary-headquartered Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. (SRIC).

Steel Reef is a privately held mid-stream company targeting strategic small to mid sized infrastructure investments in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Steel Reef is focused on partnering with upstream Exploration and Production companies by purchasing or constructing their infrastructure to allow their capital expenditures to be focused on the drill bit.

Since PFM Capital's investment in March 2013:

  • SRIC grew their team from 6 people to 114. They have created approximately 107 jobs in the last 5 years.
  • SRIC has spent over $475M since inception, primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan, directly impacting these economies.
  • 1 out of 5 or 20% women as executive officers

Read more about the community impact of this investment here.

VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Ontario

FACIT is a commercialization venture firm that builds companies with entrepreneurs to accelerate oncology innovation, with a portfolio that has attracted over $850 million in investment to Ontario. Blending industry experience, capital and the unsurpassed clinician-scientist network of its strategic partner the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), FACIT capitalizes on the province's investment in research and healthcare to the benefit of the local economy and patients worldwide. FACIT has won the 2020 VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Ontario, for its deal involving Propellon Therapeutics' blood cancer drug candidate.

Propellon was created by FACIT in 2016 and is focused on developing a portfolio of first-in-class WDR5-targeted anti-cancer therapies. Since its inception and to date, FACIT has invested $37.2M of its Ontario-First capital into Ontario oncology innovations, with an additional $5.6M in grant-based funding provided to very early stage innovative projects. In turn, these innovations have attracted more than $850M in follow-on investment (leverage ratio 1:20).

As part of the US$1B partnership between Propellon, Triphase Accelerator and US pharma giant Celgene (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company), FACIT negotiated a deal to have maximum impact on Ontario:

  • Drug discovery and development jobs will stay in Ontario
  • Clinical trials will be run in many sites in Ontario
  • Industrial manufacturing within Ontario
  • One of the largest oncology licensing transactions for a preclinical asset in Canadian history and worldwide academia

Read more about the community impact of this investment here.

VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Western Canada

Lumira Ventures is Canada's leading and most active healthcare venture capital firm. Lumira invests in best-in-class North American companies developing innovative therapeutics and medical technologies whose products offer transformative improvements to patient health outcomes and provide meaningful reductions to the overall cost of healthcare delivery. Lumira Ventures has won the 2020 VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Western Canada for their investment in Victoria, BC-headquartered Aurinia Pharmaceuticals.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies to treat targeted patient populations that are suffering from serious diseases with a high unmet medical need. The company is currently developing Voclosporin, an investigational drug, for the potential treatment of Lupus Nephritis, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, and Dry Eye Syndrome.

Since Lumira's investment, Aurinia has also contributed to regional economic impact:

  • Has created 42 high quality employment opportunities and higher than market average wages in a sector that pays 2.5x in the US compared with other sectors.
  • Aurinia has:
    • Women on Executive Team: 2 or 14%; Visible Minorities on Executive Team: 1 or 7%; Women on Board of Directors: 1 or 13%

Read more about the community impact of this investment here. 

VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Eastern Canada

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2019, it held CAD 340.1 billion in net assets. As one of the largest pension funds in Canada, CDPQ invests globally in financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. CDPQ has won the 2020 VC Private Capital Regional Impact Award for Eastern Canada for their investment in Montreal-based Lightspeed POS.

Montreal-headquarted Lightspeed POS provides a point of sale platform with a simple way to build, manage and grow their retail, restaurant, or eCommerce business, and create a best-in-class customer experience. Since their investment in 2015, Lightspeed has employed an additional 700 people.

Read more about the community impact of this investment here. 

About the CVCA

Our vision 

A thriving Canadian economy driven by private capital

Our Mission

CVCA's mission is to help our members fuel the economy of the future by growing the businesses of today. We do this by supporting and connecting a vibrant private capital industry with advocacy, research, and education.  

CVCA is also the nation's ultimate resource for data on Canadian private capital investments. Please visit: http://www.cvca.ca.

SOURCE CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association

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CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association