Edmonton-based hybrid learning platform Showbie has added $7.5 million CAD to its Series A as the startup aims to take advantage of the accelerated adoption of new classroom technologies due to the pandemic.
The fresh capital brings Showbie’s total funding for its Series A round to $12.5 million. The startup initially raised a $5 million Series A round last August that was led by Rhino Ventures.
Investors in the extension, which closed in late December, include new funding from ATB Private Equity, along with participation from existing investors and debt financing from RBC. To date, the company has raised $16.5 million total.
Showbie plans to use the new capital to expand its sales and marketing efforts and speed up new feature development, “including launching a new app in the Google Play Store and improving administrator-focused features and reporting.”Keep reading here.Calgary startup Symend raises US$43-million, hires hundreds, bringing hopes of tech revival to depressed oil patch
Symend Inc., a Calgary startup that has become one of Canada’s most rapidly expanding technology enterprises serving big corporations, has raised an additional US$43-million in venture capital, just nine months after securing US$52-million from investors.
The financing was led by Inovia Capital, which also led last May’s round. Other investors include Ignition Partners, Impression Ventures, BDC Capital, Mistral Ventures, Plentyoffish.com founder Markus Frind and Matthew Schiltz, a former chief executive of DocuSign Inc.
“We like to invest in and double down on companies we see as super-high growth [opportunities] and that are big winners, and Symend is definitely in that category,” Inovia managing partner Dennis Kavelman said.
Symend is one of several Calgary software companies, including Benevity Inc., Solium Capital Inc., RS Energy Group and Neo Financial Technologies Inc., that have attracted significant capital in the past two years, providing a bright counterpoint to Alberta’s bleak oil and gas industry.
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