General Catalyst and HarbourVest led the Series C round for the Toronto-headquartered company. Other investors included Intrepid Growth Partners. Beacon has also hired former Superhuman and Instacart CTO Mark Schaaf as its new chief operating and product officer, and former AngelList CTO Goutham Buchi as its own CTO. (The Logic)

Talking point: Former Instacart executive Nilam Ganenthiran founded Beacon in January 2024 to acquire software firms that sell to specific sectors or niche markets. The holding company then deploys its own engineering and AI staff to help improve the products of the companies it buys, and tries to boost their margins by centralizing accounting, HR and other back-office functions. Beacon has bought more than 30 businesses so far, and is adding about one a week, Ganenthiran said. While he declined to disclose collective revenues, the firm claims earnings have grown more than 50 per cent across its portfolio, thanks in part to its companies adopting AI. Beacon raised a US$250-million Series B last November. Ganenthiran said it sought more financing so soon because it’s picked up its deal pace, and “our ability to grow our businesses post-acquisition is outpacing even our own expectations.”