Brightspark Capital, a Montreal and Toronto, Canada-based venture capital firm, held the third close of its new Brightspark Canadian Opportunities Fund (BCOF) with commitments of $60m towards an ultimate fund size of $75m.
Investors included the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) managed by BDC Capital for the Canadian Federal Government, BMO Capital Partners, Fondaction, Investissement Québec, RBC, Teralys Capital Fonds Amorçage Québec (TFAQ2019) managed by Teralys Capital, and individual investors and family offices from the Brightspark network.
BCOF is Brightspark’s third traditional institutional VC fund with a standard venture investing structure.
Over its 21-year history, the firm has generated top-quartile returns through two VC funds and a series of direct investments. In 2014, Brightspark began investing in early stage companies with a deal-by-deal structure using a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and capital from a pool of accredited investors. Through this approach, more than $40 has been invested in 16 companies, with investments made by members of its network of more than 5,000 high-net-worth individuals and family offices.
Now, with the addition of BCOF, Brightspark will further capitalize on the investment opportunities it is seeing in the Canadian technology market. With both its BCOF and SPV investment models investing in parallel,
The firm anticipates it will invest an estimated $125m in early-stage companies over the next few years. Across its funds, Brightspark’s investment strategy remains focused on early and Series A investments in entrepreneur-driven technology companies throughout Canada, with a particular focus on those that have the potential to become a category leader. It leads investment rounds when appropriate.
Since BCOF’s first closing in January, Brightspark has invested from this fund in six companies: Potloc, BuyBack Booth, Prevu3D, Elevate Farms, Classcraft, and Potential Motors.
The firm is led by Mark Skapinker, Sophie Forest and Jacques Perreault, as well as recently promoted Eleonore Jarry as Principal.
FinSMEs
08/09/2020