On December 20, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) Venture Capital committed $10 million to the Atlantic Canada Regional Venture Fund. This new addition from BDC makes the total amount for the fund a healthy $50 million. Located in Halifax, the Atlantic Canada Regional Venture Fund is being created to inject capital into firms that are located in the Maritimes and deal in IT, clean energy and healthcare sectors.
Radian6 and Q1 Labs are two startups that have proven that the region is fertile ground high technology firms. That is why BDC is investing in the region which falls in line with the aggressive strategy it has pursued for the past couple of years.
Vice-president of BDC’s Strategic Investments and Initiatives’, Senia Rapisarda, states that “the creation and growth of tech companies is vital to Canada’s long term economic well-being. We’ve been working hard with partners from coast-to-coast to build up our ecosystems and ensure our most promising entrepreneurs get the backing they need.”
Started in 2010, the Atlantic Canada Regional Venture Fund is privately-managed and is aimed at providing startups with seed funding or early stage investment. The program was started by the governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick who both put $15 million each into the fund. BDC VC is the latest to join the fund and will be accompanied by the two local governments, Prince Edward Island and Technology Venture Corporation.
The fund is expected to provide technology ventures with $1 and $5-million in funding for product development and commercialization. The Atlantic Canada Regional Venture Fund will continue to try and bring investors in and expects to get close to $50 to $60 million.
Source: TechVibes
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