The Financial Post reported on September 7 that the Canada based Wellington Financial LP successfully closed on a $177-million fund. The news should be another win for the Canadian Venture Capital sector which has been able to raise unprecedented funding this year.
Wellington Financial, which is located in Toronto, has had three VC funds in its history. The latest once was started in 2006 with $150 million and the fund grew to $300-million after giving out 52 loans. Wellington Financial is not a direct investor in startups but instead provides loans to companies that have already secured venture capital funding.
Wellington Financial is backed by Canadian institutional investor like pension funds and wealthy individuals. However, the firm has ended up investing a lot of capital in companies that are located in the United States. Reports indicate that the last 20 of 25 loans have been granted to companies I the United States. The US arm of the company is growing so fast that they are looking to establish an office in Palo Alto, California soon to accompany the already running Santa Monica office.
The $177 million Wellington Financial fund will become the latest win for Canada VC industry according to Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Recently the group proudly announced that a total of $1.4-billion in VC fundraising had taken place in the first half of 2012. When compared to the $460-million announced in the first six months of 2011, the current year has produced three times the results for Canadian firms.
Source: Financial Post