Investment

An epic $240M venture investment for Ottawa's Fullscript – Ottawa Citizen

Published

3 years ago

November 11, 2021

The online health care firm on Wednesday revealed it had raised US$240 million in equity capital from U.S.-based investors HGGC and Snapdragon Capital Partners.

Author of the article:

James Bagnall

Fullscript CEO and co-founder Kyle Braatz. Photo by Mike Drummond /Handout

You could say that Kyle Braatz and Brad Dyment were do-good dabblers during the first part of their careers.

Braatz, the University of Ottawa business grad, and Dyment, who acquired his web development skills from Algonquin College and Carleton University, launched non-profit entities more than a decade ago that raised money for cancer research and helping children in need. They created a video production firm.

The colleagues discovered they loved building organizations, but, in 2011, Braatz issued the following caveat:

“Whatever we do next has to be something we can do for the rest of our lives,” he told Dyment.

Braatz has found that something. In 2011, he, Dyment and Chris Wise co-founded the online health care firm Fullscript, which on Wednesday revealed it had raised US$240 million in equity capital from a pair of U.S.-based investors, HGGC and Snapdragon Capital Partners.

You have to go all the way back to the 2000 tech boom to find venture investments that approach that size. Direct comparisons are difficult because the cost of money was so much higher two decades ago. Suffice to say this is a very big deal.

Braatz says the company intends to use the fresh investment to hire employees and to expand the company’s software platform, which physicians and other wellness practitioners use to personalize nutrition regimes for patients.

Fullscript currently employs about 500, about half of whom are based in Ottawa. The company’s other big centre of operations is Arizona, the base for Natural Partners, a wholesaler of nutritional supplements. Fullscript and Natural Partners merged in 2018, with the idea of using Fullscript’s online fulfillment technology to get the supplements into patients’ hands along with physicians’ instructions (protocols) on how to use them.

At the time, Fullscript served about 25,000 health practitioners and 450,000 patients. The company was already generating US$40 million per year in annual revenues, but just getting started. Fullscript’s base of practitioners — which also include nurses, chiropractors and nutritionists — recently jumped above 30,000.

In 2019, Los Angeles-based Kayne Partners invested US$25 million in Fullscript to help accelerate the development of its technology platform. Revenues had escalated to US$100 million annually. This year, they are expected to top US$300 million.

“Speed is critical now,” Braatz said, “We’re adding more practitioners and plan to expand into new areas. The sky is the limit for us.”

Well, maybe not the sky. But Braatz clearly sees a large unmet need in the medical system for nutritional supplements aimed at heading off more serious illnesses. Perhaps just as important, there is a desire on the part of patients for a system that allows them to track how well supplements work with what diets and how often they should be used, not to mention a fulfillment platform for delivering them.

They’re getting it from some folks who are no longer dabbling. This firm, now likely valued at nearly US$1 billion, is for real.

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Economy

Energy stocks help lift S&P/TSX composite, U.S. stock markets also up

Published

10 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.

The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX gains almost 100 points, U.S. markets also higher ahead of rate decision

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.

“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.

While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.

Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.

But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.

Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.

“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.

“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.

A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.

It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.

More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.

“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.

In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.

“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.

The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX composite down more than 200 points, U.S. stock markets also fall

Published

2 weeks ago

September 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.

The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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