Lit review automator Evidence Partners snags C$20m Thomvest-led round

• Evidence Partners will use the funds to accelerate growth and hire additional product, engineering, sales, marketing and customer success talent
• The company has bootstrapped since its 2008 founding
• Thomvest Ventures invests on behalf of the family of Peter Thomson

Evidence Partners, an Ottawa-based provider of artificial intelligence-enabled literature review automation software, has secured C$20 million in financing.

Thomvest Ventures, which invests on behalf of the family of Canada’s Peter Thomson, led the round with participation from Pender Ventures and Export Development Canada.

The company will use the funds to accelerate global growth and hire additional product, engineering, sales, marketing and customer success talent.

Bootstrapped since its formation in 2008, Evidence Partners pioneered the development of AI-enabled literature review software through the development of DistillerSR, which has had double-digit growth since the platform’s launch in 2009.

“This new funding will allow us to further accelerate product innovation, enabling our customers to continue to bring life-changing medical products and research to market faster,” said Peter O’Blenis, CEO of Evidence Partners, in a statement. “As the market leader for AI-enabled literature review software, the company will further invest in go-to-market initiatives to ensure that the global research community is aware of and can access this important technology.”

Thomvest Ventures invests in financial technology and proptech, cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, and sales and marketing technology.

Pender Ventures is the brand of Pender Private Equity Fund Management, the private technology investment arm of PenderFund Capital Management.