Canadian VC Firm Ventures West Closes Eighth Fund With $193M       
By Lisa Lacy  9/15/2004

Ventures West Management Inc., a private venture capital investment group, said it completed the final close of its new fund, Ventures West 8, with C$250 million ($193.4 million).

The firm said this is the largest private venture capital fund ever raised in Canada.

President Robin Louis said the fund will commit to six to eight new companies a year over approximately three years. Ventures West is usually the lead investor, contributing $5 million to $15 million per company over multiple rounds. The firm focuses its investments on early-stage biotechnology, communications, energy technology, and IT sectors. "Fifty percent to 60% of our portfolio companies have zero revenue at the time of our first investment," Louis said.

Ventures West 8 has invested in three companies to date: NeurAxon Inc., a biotech start-up focused on new treatments for pain; Novadaq Technologies Inc., a provider of imaging devices for use in cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, ophthalmology and neurosurgery; and GaleForce Solutions Inc., a company offering customer relationship management software to financial institutions.

After a first close in November 2003 when the firm raised C$158 million, the firm said it had to increase the maximum size of Ventures West 8 to accommodate all the pension funds that wanted to invest.

Investors in the fund include Business Development Bank of Canada, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, EdgeStone Capital Partners, University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. and Teachers' Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Existing investors British Columbia Investment Management Corp., CPP Investment Board and OMERS also contributed to the fund. Ventures West is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and has offices in Toronto and Kanata, Ontario.

Louis said the firm was fundraising for approximately one year and did not want to rush the first close -which he said could have happened as early as last summer - because Ventures West was still investing out of its last fund. Ventures West 7 closed in 2000 with C$235 million.

Since its founding in 1968, Ventures West has formed eight venture capital funds, which total over C$700 million, and has invested in more than 130 companies.