Exciting things are happening out in Vancouver for start-up companies. A group of well-known angels has paired up with three Canadian VC firms to form a new incubator known as “Growlab”. The first cohort of five startups was announced in August from 300 candidate applications from around Canada and the world. These five lucky companies will receive investment from Growlab as well as eligibility for a parallel investment from BDC Capital, and will undergo an intensive four month mentorship program at Growlab’s decidedly funky Vancouver office facility and in Silicon Valley. LW was happily on the ground floor for this exciting initiative, acting for the VCs in their funding of Growlab, and then moving on to act as a Growlab sponsor and recommended independent legal counsel for the Growlab start up companies. Our involvement with Growlab was announced with a bang at a packed open house on August 16th, which was also sponsored by LW. We’re looking forward to ongoing involvement with the Growlab program, which will see a new cohort of companies selected later this winter. And we hear through the grapevine that there may be other new incubator programs to be established in Canada this year… Stay tuned…
Thursday, September 22, 2011
LW sponsors GrowLab incubator in Vancouver
Posted in LW inSights
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wattpad Raises Series A
Congrats to Wattpad founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen on the completion of a their recent Series A round, with a terrific investment syndicate including New York’s Union Square Ventures and Toronto’s Golden Venture Partners, among others. The guys have become a great story in hosting a community of great storytellers, and beware hitting their site to check them out – guaranteed you’ll get hooked in one of the featured genres and entertain long-lost creative aspirations. LaBarge was thrilled to be involved, and we look forward to even greater things from Allen’s and Ivan’s team in the coming months. 
Posted in Recent Transactions
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Tuesday, September 06, 2011
LW in Van-City @ GROW et al
Our partners Mike Dunleavy and James Smith had the great pleasure in mid-August to attend a week long startup blitz in Vancouver, starting with LW-sponsored events at the GROWLab facility and the pre-GROW conference Bootup’s Launchpad event, and culminating in yet another terrific GROW day pulled together by Dr. Wertz and his crew. Stay tuned for a GROWLab-related announcement, and look for LW’s James Smith at the Banff Venture Forum on October 6 and 7 (in particular, at or fourth annual “Suit-Off” social scheduled on the Thursday night, co-sponsored with Vancouver’s Espresso Capital Partners, details to follow).
Posted in Events
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Tuesday, September 06, 2011
GestureTek Acquired by QualComm
Another in our series of summer deal catch-ups, congrats to Mark Burton, Francis MacDougall and team on acquisition by QualComm.
Posted in Recent Transactions
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Tuesday, September 06, 2011
TribeHR Raises $1M from Matrix Partners
Just catching up on some deal announcements over the course of the summer, including Waterloo-based TribeHR’s completion of its seed round financing with Boston’s Matrix Partners.
Posted in Recent Transactions
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
LaBarge Weinstein is seeking a Legal Assistant.
LaBarge Weinstein, Ottawa’s leading business law firm, is seeking a Legal Assistant.
- Primary Responsibilities (but not limited to):
- Provide administrative and legal support to two senior lawyers and act as back up to other support staff.
- Maintain meeting schedules including travel arrangements.
- Preparation and amendment of corporate/legal documents.
Posted in LW inSights
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