Northleaf Capital Partners’ (Northleaf) has held the final closing of the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund II (NVCF II) at its hard cap of USD300 million.
NVCF II is Northleaf’s third Canadian venture capital fund and forms part of the Government of Canada’s Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative.
In addition to initial capital commitments received in December 2018 from BDC Capital, the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Sun Life and TD Bank Group, NVCF II received new commitments from Manulife, BMO Capital Partners, clients of BMO Private Bank Asia and other high net worth and family office investors.
“We are thrilled that our government’s Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative is being recognised not only by Canadian investors, but by international investors as well,” says Minister Mary Ng. “We congratulate Northleaf on achieving its USD300 million hard cap and welcome the opportunity to continue to work with them to strengthen and broaden the Canadian venture capital ecosystem. The Fund will provide innovative Canadian companies with access to late-stage capital ensuring they can compete globally, creating jobs and opportunities across the knowledge economy.”
“We are grateful for the strong support from both new and existing investors and the confidence they have placed in our team and investment program,” says Ian Carew, Director at Northleaf. “We look forward to continuing our proven strategy and long-standing track record of investing in the Canadian venture capital ecosystem, building upon the success of our two prior Canada-focused venture capital funds over the past decade.”
Launched in December 2018, NVCF II has begun to construct an attractive and well-diversified portfolio of investments, having committed to three venture capital fund managers, iNovia Capital, StandUp Ventures and Versant Ventures, to date. Northleaf’s investment team continues to proactively source additional promising opportunities for the Fund.
“NVCF II’s primary objective is to generate attractive, long-term returns for its investors and by doing so, clearly demonstrate the significant earnings potential available to investors in Canadian venture capital and growth equity funds and companies,” says Lauren Harris, Director at Northleaf. “We are excited to continue to support the development and evolution of the Canadian venture capital ecosystem, including our ongoing commitment to the promotion of gender balance, diversity and inclusion in Canada’s venture capital community.”
NVCF II will benefit from Northleaf’s experienced venture capital and private equity investment team and successful long-term track record, as well as from the synergies, deal flow and investment insights produced by the firm’s USD12 billion global private markets platform.
