Teralys Capital has held the final closing of the significantly oversubscribed USD375 million Teralys Capital Innovation Fund (the fund).
Teralys' most recent fund of funds was created under the Government of Canada's Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP) in collaboration with the Government of Québec as well as leading Canadian and International institutional investors.
Teralys Capital Innovation Fund is backed by: (i) leading Canadian and international institutional investors such as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, BDC Capital, Fondaction CSN, Fiera Capital, Lune Rouge, Bpifrance, National Bank of Canada, La Capitale, Desjardins Group and Consensus Business Group; (ii) world-class innovation-focused Canadian public companies including Knight Therapeutics and OpenText Corporation; (iii) successful Montreal entrepreneurs who created thousands of job and billions of dollars in economic development impact locally.
"Teralys Capital's newest investment vehicle builds on the very same guiding principles at the core of our mission: (i) fostering the development of high potential innovative businesses across Canada; (ii) enabling profitable local economic development and job creation; (iii) while generating superior financial returns for all stakeholders", said Éric Legault, Managing Partner at Teralys Capital.
The Fund is the only pan-Canadian investor with in-house technical specialists dedicated to all sectors of the knowledge economy – information technologies, life sciences, and clean or industrial innovations. It covers all investment stages from start-up to expansion and growth, providing innovative businesses the skills and capital required along every step of their development.
Since its initial closing last year, Teralys Capital Innovation Fund has already completed 10 new fund investments and played a leadership role with venture capital managers such as Georgian Partners, iNovia Capital, McRock Capital, Information Venture Partners, White Star Capital, Persistence Capital Partners, Sofinnova Capital, Clarus Lifesciences and OpenText Enterprise Application Fund.
Teralys Capital Innovation Fund is also leveraging its unique domain expertise and made 5 additional direct investments in leading Canadian technology companies including Zymeworks, Lightspeed, eSentire and Luxury Retreats.
"Innovation and support to entrepreneurs drive all our actions at Teralys Capital,” says Jacques Bernier, Managing Partner at Teralys Capital. He adds: "The Fund intends to seek top tier financial returns by structuring investments in private venture capital funds specialised in innovation. On a long-term basis, these investments will support a profitable and globally competitive venture capital industry, and will allow skilled managers to emerge and to attract the funds required to accelerate the growth and success of our best innovation-driven entrepreneurs".
