Globalive Capital Inc. is a Canadian

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

and

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

founded in 1998. It is based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Globalive is best known for its telecommunication businesses like

Freedom Mobile Freedom Mobile (formerly Wind Mobile) is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Québecor. As of November 30, 2022 it is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the country with 2,290,497 subscribers and a 6% market share, prim ...

(formerly known as Wind Mobile), Yak Communications, and OneConnect. The company, Globalive Inc., was founded in 1998, investing in businesses, primarily in technology, media, and telecommunications companies based in Canada and the United States. It holds investments in over 125 private companies including Stackadapt, Zoocasa, and Xanado.

History

1998–2007

Globalive Communications

Anthony Lacavera Anthony Lacavera is a Canadian businessman, venture capitalist, television host, and philanthropist. He is founder, chairman, and former CEO of Globalive, a Toronto-based telecommunications and investment company. He has also founded several othe ...

started Canopco in 1998, a communication company in the hospitality industry. In January 2000, Lacavera also launched InterClear, a billing and collection service. In January 2002, Lacavera launched his third product, Assemble Conferencing. All three businesses were consolidated in January 2003 as Globalive Communications. Enunciate Conferencing Globalive co-founded Enunciate Conferencing in 2000, a fast-growing event conferencing service provider, which was divested to Premiere Global Services. OneConnect Globalive founded OneConnect in 2003, which became one of Canada's largest independent business telecommunications providers, selling to small and medium-sized businesses in the hospitality, retail, franchise, security, real estate and medical industries. Yak logo

Yak Communications In 2006, Globalive acquired Yak Communications Inc. in an all-cash offer of US$67.7 million, and has since grown the company to a leadership position in residential communications services, adding Digital Home Phone and internet service to its established long-distance calling services. Pragmatic Globalive co-founded Pragmatic Solutions in 2007, a conferencing and collaborations company specializing in audio, web, and video conferencing. Pragmatic has grown into one of North America's conferencing providers, with $7.5 million in annual revenue.

2008–present

WIND Mobile Globalive founded

WIND Mobile Freedom Mobile (formerly Wind Mobile) is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Québecor. As of November 30, 2022 it is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the country with 2,290,497 subscribers and a 6% market share, prim ...

in 2008. WIND Mobile made a bid of $442m (CAD) to secure the wireless spectrum required for the launch of the WIND Mobile network in Canada, with the backing of Egypt's

Orascom Telecom Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (GTH; formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) is a holding company based in Amsterdam, and a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications services company VEON. GTH previously owned mobile network operators in multipl ...

. Globalive subsequently made its first purchase in Industry Canadian radio spectrum auction, setting the stage for a new national cell phone network in Canada. WIND Mobile successfully launched wireless phone services in December 2009 in Toronto and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. It launched service in Edmonton and Ottawa soon after, followed by Vancouver in June 2010 In September 2014, Globalive agreed to acquire Vimplecom's majority stake in WIND Mobile for $300 million (CAD). Wind Mobile was sold to

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

in March 2016 for C$1.6 billion and was rebranded to

. However, in March 2022 Globalive has intended to reacquire Freedom/Wind from Shaw in a pending merger with

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

for C$3.75 billion to satisfy regulatory concerns. Later it was announced that after an unresponsive behavior from Rogers, Globalive has directly gone to Shaw making the same offer to acquire the wireless carrier. Globalive/Globalive Capital Inc. In January 2013, Globalive launched Globalive Capital Inc., a

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

company focused on accelerating early stage technology and telecommunications companies. Globalive group has founded, financed, operated, and divested a number of companies on the internet, communications, and technology sectors. In 2015, Lacavera stepped down as chief executive officer of Globalive Capital Inc., staying on as the company's Chairman. Brice Scheschuk, previously chief financial officer, was appointed the new CEO of Globalive Capital Inc. In September 2016, Globalive sold Yak Communications to

Distributel Distributel is a brand of Bell Canada headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, founded in 1988 and offering Canadians long distance phone service. Distributel now offers a wide range of high speed Internet plans in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and ...

, who added the brand to a growing telecommunications portfolio which includes Acanac and Thinktel. Globalive Capital Inc. has invested in over 125 companies. The company has raised over US$1.5 Billion in capital for Globalive businesses and some of its investments include Stackadapt, Zoocasa, and Founding Investor in Xanado.

Globalive Media

Globalive Media was co-founded by Lacavera and consumer technology journalist Michael Bancroft in October 2017 under Globalive. It curates and produces multimedia content focused on business and technology trends. In November 2018, Globalive Media produced and premiered its first television series, ''Beyond Innovation'', a weekly program, which uncovers technologies changing the way people live and do business, airs on

Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by diversified information and media private company Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, re ...

across its global markets. In March 2020, Globalive Media launched the second season of the series ''Beyond Innovation'' with all new episodes of its weekly, half-hour series premiering on Bloomberg Television.

References

{{Canadian mobile phone companies Companies based in Toronto Canadian companies established in 1998 Telecommunications companies established in 1998 Telecommunications companies of Canada 1998 establishments in Ontario Investment companies of Canada Venture capital firms of Canada