Toronto, ON – July 26, 2017
GreenSky Accelerator Fund II – $5M Initial Launch: GreenSky Capital Inc. (“GreenSky”) is pleased to announce the launch of its second affiliated Canadian early-stage venture fund, the GreenSky Accelerator Fund II, LP (“Fund II”).
GreenSky is a registered Ontario Exempt Market Dealer that has been the recipient of several industry awards including the Private Capital Markets Association (“PCMA”)’s 2014 and 2016 Technology Deal of the Year Awards. GreenSky sees over 600 deals per annum and Fund II will leverage this significant deal flow as it makes investments in early stage (Seed Round and Series A) Canadian technologies, with an emphasis on health care, CleanTech and Software as a Service companies.
Fund II has completed an initial close of over CAD$5M from a network of private Canadian and U.S. investors, and will leave Fund II open for further participation from GreenSky EMD’s investor network and members of the GreenSky President’s Club, an affiliated group of active high net-worth angel investors that have previously participated in GreenSky deals.
“We believe that, as an asset class, Canadian early-stage technology has an excellent risk-reward ratio,” said GreenSky President, Greg Stewart. “As the CBRE noted in a recent report, the Greater Toronto Area is the fastest growing tech hub in North America. Fund II will leverage GreenSky Capital’s years of experience in Southern Ontario technology investment and its ability to bring an institutional level of due diligence to early stage investing in this compelling investment forum.”
Fund II Leads $2.25M Series A2 Investment in Cyclica: Fund II is also pleased to announce that it has made its first investment, as lead investor, in the $2.25M Series A2 financing of Cyclica Inc., which is an extension of the $2.4M Series A1 financing round that closed in September 2016. The syndicated investment group was led by Fund II, with co-investment by Epic Capital, Uni-Innovate Group and other new and existing private investors. The capital will enable the company to continue with its global sales expansion, continue to invest in R&D efforts, and expand innovation.
Cyclica has developed a data interaction platform that simulates the interaction of pharmaceuticals with the body’s proteins far more accurately than previous in silico (computer-based) technologies. Michael T.R. List, Principal at GreenSky Capital and member of the Cyclica Board of Directors, said: “We continue to believe in the Cyclica team’s ability to deliver on their strategy and execute on opportunities that are in front of them. GreenSky has been Cyclica’s partner for over 3 years and we are thrilled with the commercial validation that Cyclica is now seeing in the market.”
Naheed Kurji, Cyclica President and CEO added: “In June 2017, we soft- launched our Software-as-a-Service platform at www.ligandexpress.com following requests from our clients and the market. This financing will help us continue, over the next 12 months, to focus on commercializing the platform globally. Critical to our success in achieving our vision of being an integral utility platform in the pharma R&D value chain is a talented and dedicated team, including a renowned group of advisors and board members, and shareholders who we view as partners on our journey to success.”
Early-stage Canadian technology companies interested in working with Fund II are invited to learn more about, and apply to, Fund II at: fundapplication@greenskycapital.com or by visiting the website at http://www.greenskycapital.com/greensky-accelerator-fund/apply-to-the-fund/.
About GreenSky Capital Inc.
GreenSky Capital Inc. is an award-winning Toronto-based firm that provides merchant bank and corporate financial advisory services to small and medium sized technology firms. GreenSky looks for long-term partnerships with high-growth potential companies and dedicated entrepreneurs. GreenSky principals bring a unique combination of experience in technology, law and finance into a real-world context. GreenSky Capital makes investments in early-stage Canadian technology companies through its affiliated venture capital funds, GreenSky Accelerator Fund I, LP and GreenSky Accelerator Fund II, LP. See www.greenskycapital.com.
About the GreenSky President’s Club
The GreenSky President’s Club is an exclusive not-for-profit angel investment group based in Toronto that provides members the opportunity to participate, both financially, and potentially as mentors, in high growth technology companies that are sourced, vetted and managed by GreenSky Capital Inc. For more, see: www.greenskycapital.com/angel-network/.
About Cyclica Inc.
Cyclica Inc. has developed, validated, and patented a structure-based proteome-wide screening platform, Ligand Express™, that currently features PROBEx (proteome-screening), SWITCHx (ligand effect prediction) and DIVEx (systems biology & drug-protein interactomes). Ligand Express™ is unique in that it is a drug-centric platform. For a small molecule ligand, Ligand Express™ automatically generates an intelligent list of ligand-protein interactions by searching through a large proprietary database of all available structurally characterized proteins. The platform provides a panoramic view of a small molecule ligand to better understand on- and off-target interactions, and is valuable in finding novel desirable or undesirable targets. By gaining insights into a ligand’s polypharmacology, Cyclica’s clients can identify unknown targets, prioritize lead candidates, elucidate adverse effects, and understand repurposing opportunities. For more information, please visit www.cyclicarx.com.