TORONTO, Nov. 29, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - To support the development of promising early stage IT companies in Canada, the BDC Venture Capital IT Fund announced intention to invest $100 million worth of new commitments over the coming years. This builds on the $50 million already committed to the sector.
"Canada's IT sector is alive with great entrepreneurs eager to transform ideas into commercial success, jobs and growth," said Robert Simon, Senior Managing Partner of the BDC Venture Capital IT Fund. "With this financing we will be able to provide the needed financial support to new ventures that show the promise of substantial return."
The BDC Venture Capital IT Fund has invested in many successful companies including Radian6 (acquired by Salesforce), Opalis (acquired by Microsoft), Bycast (acquired by NetApp) and Q1 Labs (acquired by IBM). Its current portfolio includes such companies as Beyond the Rack, Layer7, AppNeta and Blueprint with recent investments in BuildDirect, Quickmobile, Datacratic, Privacy Analytics, and LemonStand.
"This is only one example of how today's BDC Venture Capital is responding in a more concerted, more strategic and more focused way to the needs of Canada's entrepreneurs," said Paul Kirkconnell, Executive Vice-President of BDC Venture Capital. "Beginning with the IT Fund and extending to our other dedicated funds of healthcare and energy/cleantech sectors, BDC VC is taking a leadership role in fostering the finest of Canadian ideas and new enterprise."
This latest financing occurs on the heels of a substantial restructuring of BDC Venture Capital in recent years as the organization has worked hard to rejuvenate the ailing health of Canada's venture capital sector.
In the past year alone, the BDC Venture Capital IT Fund has closed 11 new deals, demonstrating exciting opportunities in the IT sector. In addition, BDC Venture Capital has received the prestigious Deal of the Year award from the Canadian Venture Capital Association the last two years for portfolio companies' Radian6 and Q1Labs.
The BDC Venture Capital IT Fund invests in IT companies with passionate entrepreneurs who think big and will disrupt existing industries or create entirely new markets. The IT Fund leads the majority of its investments, which are typically early stage companies focused on enterprise, internet or mobile. Initial financing rounds can vary from $100,000 to $2-4 million with follow on funding dependent on the portfolio company meeting progress and growth milestones.
About BDC Venture Capital
At BDC Venture Capital, we help great ideas become great companies. With more than $1 billion in current and planned investments and over 25 years of experience in venture capital, we focus on innovative IT, health and energy/clean technology companies with high growth potential. We work with entrepreneurs and other investors in the public and private sectors to build outstanding Canadian companies, and are involved at every stage of the development cycle, from seed through expansion to exit. Our goal is to deliver excellent return on our investments, while working to create a sound financial ecosystem for Canadian technology ventures. For more information, visit www.bdc.ca/venturecapital.
SOURCE: BDC VENTURE CAPITAL
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