Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund Commits $30 Million to Two Leading Venture Capital Funds

Lead investments in iNovia Capital and Information Venture Partners continue successful program of investing in Canadian high-potential venture funds and companies

TORONTO--()--Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF) today announced it has recently made commitments totalling $30 million to two leading Canadian venture capital funds: iNovia Investment Fund 2015 and Information Venture Partners II. These recent commitments are in addition to the commitments that NVCF has already made to a number of other top Canada-based/focused venture fund managers (including Georgian Partners, XPV Water Partners, Golden Venture Partners, VersionOne Ventures, Versant Ventures and Relay Ventures) and a number of direct co-investments in innovative, high-growth Canadian companies (including Wattpad, Silanis, eSentire, Vision Critical, FreshBooks, Scribble Technologies and Zymeworks).

“We are very pleased to be a lead investor in two of Canada’s best-in-class venture capital funds,” said Ian Carew, Director of Northleaf Capital Partners, the manager of NVCF. “These investments further reflect NVCF’s long-term strategy of constructing a portfolio of high-potential Canada-based venture capital and growth equity funds with the scale and resources to execute their plans, support successful high-growth companies and deliver world-class returns.”

“We are thrilled to have NVCF as a Limited Partner, and are committed to building an enduring and successful relationship,” mentioned Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner of iNovia Capital. “Our association with Northleaf supports iNovia’s mission to seek out companies with outstanding potential such as LightSpeed, AppDirect, Chango, and Allocadia, and to be a founder’s most trusted and accessible partner from idea to exit.”

“We are delighted to welcome NVCF as one of the lead investors in our fund and are grateful for their strong support during the fundraising process,” said David Unsworth, General Partner & Co-Founder of Information Venture Partners. “Their commitment will enable us to continue our successful strategy of investing in leading FinTech companies at a time when the global marketplace is experiencing major changes as new and disruptive technologies make a significant impact on products, services and business models.”

NVCF has now committed more than 75% of fund capital that had been allocated by its investors to support innovative, high-growth companies, and the development of a world-class venture capital ecosystem in Canada. NVCF’s primary objective is to generate attractive, long-term returns for its investors and, by doing so, clearly demonstrate the significant opportunities available through investment in Canadian venture capital and growth equity funds and companies.

About NVCF
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund is a joint initiative between major Canadian institutional investors and the governments of Canada and Ontario to invest primarily in Canada-based venture capital and growth equity funds and direct co-investments that support innovative, high-growth companies. NVCF is structured as a fund of funds with the primary objective of generating attractive returns for its investors. The Fund is managed by Northleaf Capital Partners. For more information on Northleaf, visit www.northleafcapital.com.

About iNovia Capital
iNovia is an early stage venture capital firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build successful technology companies. iNovia’s investment team is comprised of experienced founders, company builders and engineers who are devoted to fostering the growth of category-defining businesses across North America. The firm currently manages approximately $450M across multiple early stage funds that seek to capitalize on outstanding investment opportunities in fast-growing companies bringing the next generation of digital platforms and services to market. For more information on iNovia, visit www.inovia.vc.

About Information Venture Partners
Information Venture Partners is an entrepreneur friendly, early stage venture fund focused on North American financial and enterprise technology companies. Information Venture Partners’ two decades of experience with global financial institutions has provided it with a unique lens on identifying and growing financial technology companies. As pioneer investors in SaaS companies, the team understands the key success factors in building enterprise software, analytics platforms and the social enterprise companies. For more information on Information Venture Partners, visit www.informationvp.com.

Contacts

Northleaf Capital Partners
Jeff Pentland, 416-477-6165
Managing Director
jeff.pentland@northleafcapital.com

Contacts

Northleaf Capital Partners
Jeff Pentland, 416-477-6165
Managing Director
jeff.pentland@northleafcapital.com