Halifax’s Coloursmith Labs Secures $2 Million Investment
HALIFAX—Halifax startup Coloursmith Labs Inc. has secured $2 million in equity funding, lead by an investment from Atlantic Canadian investment fund Sandpiper Ventures.
Coloursmith, which was founded by Dalhousie University grad Gabrielle Masone, is developing “breakthrough” optical filtering technology that lets it create a wide variety of optical filters for eyeglass and contact lenses.
Specifically valuable are the firms’ products targeting colour enhancement and hazardous light protection.
“Optical filters are ingredients central to new product development in the vision care industry today,” says Morrgan Payne, CTO of Coloursmith. “These filters can be used to create innovative eyeglass and contact lens products that push the boundaries of human sight.”
The company has been generating buzz for a few years, sweeping through a slew of pitch competitions and startup programs throughout 2018.
In 2019, the company raised $600.000 in an oversubscribed, pre-seed round. Since then, it has been operating out of Innovacorp and, according to Sandpiper, has “doubled their intellectual assets, tripled their workforce, and demonstrated their technology on the commercial stage.”
In a news release announcing the latest, $2 million raise, Coloursmith says it will use the funds to “progress the firm’s current products of interest to the global marketplace and grow the Atlantic Canadian team.”
“Sandpiper’s investment is meaningful beyond its purpose to accelerate Coloursmith’s growth into the global market. It marks another of a series of investments in statistically high performing women-led teams,” Masone says.
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“Coloursmith is leading change in an industry by working with global partners and creating technology to meet industry needs and standards,” says Cathy Bennett, co-founder and managing partner of Sandpiper Ventures. “Gabrielle and her team have taken an idea from the lab, turned it into proprietary technology, and are growing a company the world needs for improved eyecare.”
Along with Sandpiper, Coloursmith’s $2 million investment came from support from Brigus Capital Inc., Island Capital Partners LP, and Killick Venture Fund LP.