BDC Invests $1.8 million in viDA Therapeutics

viDA Therapeutics l BCBusiness
viDA Therapeutics is developing drugs that will help treat chronic inflammatory and age-related diseases

Three B.C. technology startups have benefited from early stage investments by BDC Venture Capital

viDA Therapeautics Inc., a Vancouver-based biotechnology company, announced it had closed a $1.8 million equity financing round last week led by BDC Venture Capital. vIDA is a developer of first-in-class drugs that help treat chronic inflammatory and age-related diseases but inhibit the granzyme family of serene proteases in patients.

The latest round of financing builds on the $750,000 viDA raised in April, which went toward preclinical research. The financing went to research into the pathology of age-related and inflammatory conditions of the skin, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and neurological systems and the company is now exploring opportunities with big pharma, says Charles Cazabon, Managing Partner of BDC.

A partner with Vancouver’s GrowLabs accelerator, BDC has invested almost $1 billion in technology companies to date including early stage investments in two B.C. companies: BeanEvo, the driving force behind BeanWorks, an SaaS platform that provides companies with accounts payable workflow services, and ViewsIQ, a medical imaging company that digitizes microscopic slides for clinical libraries and academic institutions. ViewsIQ’s product platform, Panptiq, gives clinicians control over the digitization process of patient samples.

BDC makes seed investments in around 40 companies each year, says Senia Rapisarda, vice president of strategic initiatives and investments. 

BDC’s $150,000 loans to graduates of regional accelerators, convertible into equity while the startups are fundraising, have helped companies including food.ee and Cinecoup get a kickstart.