Version One founding partner Boris Wertz, seen here in 2015, said past backers quickly signed on and the fund closed in four weeks – unusually fast for Canada.On the heels of a banner year for Canadian venture capital investing, a new class of funds is set to launch here that will enable startup financiers to double down on their winners.that it has closed its first, $25-million “opportunity fund” backed by funds-of-funds investors Northleaf Capital Partners and HarbourVest Partners, LLC.
Northleaf isn’t stopping there. Mr. Carew has suggested the idea to two other Canadian seed financiers and pledged to fund them if they proceed. He declined to identify them but it’s believed Golden Ventures of Toronto and Waterloo’s Garage Capital are contemplating similar funds. Both declined to comment.
The opportunity fund changes that. It’s a sidecar with a mandate to back the best performers from Version One’s first two funds. Now, it can invest $3-million to $5-million in companies it knows well and believes have the best chance to create value. Version One charges about half its typical fees . Since it invests later in the companies’ lives, it targets a return of two to three times invested capital over four to five years – compared with 10 times over 10 years for its core fund.