Hg Capital’s purchase values Benevity—a grant- and donation-management platform—at US$1 billion. Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Benevity closed its last funding round in October 2019, raising $40 million in a deal that valued the company at around US$400 million. The company has about 650 employees and says it generates about $100 million in annual revenue. It’s the second Calgary tech startup to reach unicorn status, after Morgan Stanley bought software startup Solium Capital last year for $1.1 billion. The Globe reported that Benevity attracted about a dozen bids from interested investors before signing a deal with Hg Capital. The interest in the firm follows new attention from the Alberta government on its growing tech sector, which it hopes will play a role in the post-pandemic recovery. In July, the government announced new R&D tax incentives (after cutting existing ones last October) and announced $175 million in new funding for the Alberta Enterprise Corporation to invest in VC funds and local startups.