By Chuck Black
Anthony ("Tony") Lacavera, the entrepreneur who created Wind Mobile (Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier), once acted as chairman of the board for NewSpace company UrtheCast and currently serves as chairman of Globalive Holdings (a privately held Canadian communications and investment company), is raising money for a new venture capital fund.
As outlined in the January 21st, 2016 Financial Post article, "Wind Mobile founder Tony Lacavera returns to tech investing with $100M venture capital fund," Lacavera made five local investments in the last year into companies such as Kira Talent (an online video talent screening platform), Revlo (a "fan engagement platform" for Twitch users) and ChargeSpot (a wireless charging solution for cellphones and small electronics).
The new fund, being raised through Globalive, is expected to close in 2016 and would be used for follow-on investments to bolster existing stakes, but would also plug a strategic hole in the Canadian start-up landscape, by providing mid-level funding rounds of between $5 - $25Mln CDN.
According to Lacavera, Canada has plenty of support for entrepreneurs just starting out, and once they make it big, U.S. venture firms or investors like Toronto-based OMERS Ventures are there to write checks in the tens of millions of dollars. Between those stages there’s a funding desert, which his new fund intends to exploit.
From 2012 - 2103, Lacavera was also the chairman of the board of Vancouver BC based UrtheCast.
As outlined in the June 10th, 2013 post "UrtheCast Proceeds with Takeover and Funding for ISS Camera's," he resigned as part of the firms reverse-takeover (RTO) of publicly traded Longford Energy Inc. in 2013.
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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.
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| Tony Lacavera. Photo c/o Linked-In. |
As outlined in the January 21st, 2016 Financial Post article, "Wind Mobile founder Tony Lacavera returns to tech investing with $100M venture capital fund," Lacavera made five local investments in the last year into companies such as Kira Talent (an online video talent screening platform), Revlo (a "fan engagement platform" for Twitch users) and ChargeSpot (a wireless charging solution for cellphones and small electronics).
The new fund, being raised through Globalive, is expected to close in 2016 and would be used for follow-on investments to bolster existing stakes, but would also plug a strategic hole in the Canadian start-up landscape, by providing mid-level funding rounds of between $5 - $25Mln CDN.
According to Lacavera, Canada has plenty of support for entrepreneurs just starting out, and once they make it big, U.S. venture firms or investors like Toronto-based OMERS Ventures are there to write checks in the tens of millions of dollars. Between those stages there’s a funding desert, which his new fund intends to exploit.
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| One of Lacavera's recent investments includes the ChargeSpot wireless power charger for cellphones and small electronics. It uses electromagnetic induction principals originally discovered by Michael Faraday and tested by Nicola Tesla, in order to charge cell phones and other electronic instruments without a physical connection to the power source. Graphic c/o ChargeSpot. |
From 2012 - 2103, Lacavera was also the chairman of the board of Vancouver BC based UrtheCast.
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| Chuck Black. |
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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.
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