60+ stories. $4.1 billion. Top funding news of 2021
A month-by-month look at some of the most noteworthy funding stories of the year — presented by Boast.ai.
Global venture capital funding records fell every quarter this year as investors poured money into the thriving technology industry. There’s no place this was more evident than in BC where new unicorns (private companies worth $1 billion or more) seemed to have been born nearly every month.
As local companies shared their fundraising news, Vancouver Tech Journal was there for it all — connecting our readers to the stories that mattered, while filling the gaps in their knowledge, awareness and understanding of the people, ideas and technologies shaping their community and world.
Now, for our final dispatch of the year, I’m showcasing 60+ key funding stories you may have missed — presented by Boast.ai. A recent SVB report proclaimed that when it came to venture capital in 2021, Canada joined the conversation. In 2022, it wouldn’t be a stretch to predict that Canada — and British Columbia, in particular — will come to dominate if not own the conversation. See you next year.
- William
JANUARY
Svante raises $75M for carbon capture technology » Continue.
EdTech startup Wize raises $3M » Continue.
Kardium raises $115M in new financing » Continue.
FEBRUARY
Former POF exec launches dating app Snack with $3.5M in funding » Continue.
Fraction Technologies raises $289M » Continue.
Svante raises USD $75M for carbon capture technology » Continue.
Burnaby’s Advanced Intelligent Systems is one of 20 cleantech firms to split $55M federal investment » Continue.
Boast.ai secured a $100M credit facility from Brevet Capital » Continue.
MARCH
'We don’t want to just write cheques': Shopify executives launch investing collective Backbone Angels » Continue.
🦄 Dapper Labs raised $305M from Will Smith, Michael Jordan and 40+ others » Continue.
Vancouver's Launchtrip raises $4.7M seed investment » Continue.
'Your body isn't wired to deal with that': Inside Kris Hartvigsen's Rollercoaster Year » Continue.
A message from Boast.ai*
Take advantage of this downtime and secure funding for your 2022 growth plan
If you haven’t already, this is the time to get your company’s financial plan together. You want to focus your energy to get into the new year as set up as possible – with the capital you need to scale already in the bank. This is why Boast offers quarterly advances on SR&ED refunds to help founders access their non-dilutive capital early.
* Partner Message
APRIL
🦄 “Two hammers looking for a nail” secure $2 billion, a timeline of Clio » Continue.
Tasktop raises $126M from Sumeru Equity Partners » Continue.
MAY
Felix Böck's ChopValue raises $3M to expand global network » Continue.
Stoko raises $6M to build 'supportive apparel' industry » Continue.
Kris Hartvigsen's Dooly raises $96.5M Series B round » Continue.
StoryTap Technologies secures $2.3M seed round » Continue.
Hydra Energy raises $15M to scale green hydrogen fueling infrastructure » Continue.
Agtech firm CubicFarms raises $22M to plow into R&D » Continue.
JUNE
🦄 Trulioo raises $476M, valued at $2.1B » Continue.
Bench raises $72.5M and relaunches product offering » Continue.
Clir Renewables secures $27M in Series B funding » Continue.
🦄 Workforce analytics company Visier raises $154M from Goldman Sachs to become Vancouver's latest tech unicorn » Continue.
Sneaker startup SoleSavy raises $15.5M in Series A funding from Shopify's president, Dapper Labs' CEO and Diplo » Continue.
Commit raises $6M seed round to connect engineers and startups » Continue.
Version One Ventures closes $120M in two new funds » Continue.
JULY
Spark RE Technologies raises $6.2M from Pender Ventures, BDC Capital » Continue.
Visualping raises $6M to build AI-driven improvements into its website tracking service » Continue.
ReadyMode, formerly XenCALL, secures $4M » Continue.
Lumira Ventures closes $276 million fund IV to back health care companies » Continue.
AUGUST
Cleantech, IOT-focused VC firm Yaletown Partners closes $130M fund » Continue.
Medimap raises $3.5M seed round led by Tiny Capital » Continue.
RainStick raises $1M to further quest for smarter showers » Continue.
HTC-backed Highstreet raises $5M for its commerce-centred metaverse » Continue.
Canada Drives raises $100M to accelerate online auto sales across Canada » Continue.
🦄 Victoria-based Blockstream raises $266M, valued at $4B » Continue.
D3Security raises $19M in financing led by Vistara Growth » Continue.
Safety tech firm LifeBooster secures investment from W. L. Gore » Continue.
SEPTEMBER
🦄 “It’s now ours to lose and we don’t intend on losing.” — Semios, now $100M richer, has gone from greenhouse to powerhouse to unicorn » Continue.
Conexiom raises $165M to automate sales and invoicing processes » Continue.
🦄 Dapper Labs raises $320M led by Coatue, seals La Liga NFT deal » Continue.
Nelson’s SMRT1 Technologies raises $484,000 from crowdfunding website » Continue.
Camera-ready: Pixieset announces growth investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity » Continue.
Audette raises $1M in seed funding led by Active Impact Investments » Continue.
🦄 After sixth round of funding, Nexii joins BC's unicorn club, valued at $1.55B » Continue.
OCTOBER
Pocketed secures $1M for its founder-funding marketplace » Continue.
Fraction raises $20M to expand its home equity platform » Continue.
SkyHive raises $40M for its workforce analytics platform » Continue.
With $8M in hand, Pani aims to scale up AI solutions for water treatment facilities » Continue.
Omnisearch raises $562,000 to go after the $10B enterprise search market » Continue.
New Ventures BC Competition reveals winners of $250k in cash and prizes » Continue.
Active Impact Investments secures $5.88M from EDC, caps $60M climate tech fund » Continue.
NOVEMBER
Owl.co secures $37M, plans to increase staff by 20% in Canada and US » Continue.
Spare raises $18M to innovate the global transportation and mobility space » Continue.
After a year in business, $100M TELUS Pollinator Fund has invested $20M into 10 companies » Continue.
Rhino Ventures, ‘the funders we wished we had as founders,’ launch $120M Fund III » Continue.
BC-based cleantech startup Moment Energy’s $3.5M seed round caps off a huge year for co-founder and COO Sumreen Rattan » Continue.
DECEMBER
🦄 LayerZero Labs is Vancouver’s newest crypto unicorn » Continue.
Klue raises a $79M Series B round from Tiger Global and Salesforce Ventures » Continue.
Hubly raises $1.3M seed round for its financial services SaaS product » Continue.
Insider stories from Codex’s NFX-led $5.5M seed round » Continue.
Ryan Holmes and Manny Padda launch new $20M fund for young founders, LOI Venture » Continue.
Burrata raises $7.7M seed round to bring Web2 data to Web3 » Continue.
Damon Motors raises $38M to fuel aggressive growth plans » Continue.
As always, we invite you to share your tips and ideas with us directly via william@vantechjournal.com and to share our newsletter with anyone who you think would find it valuable. Thank you.