BDC Capital commits additional C$50m to seed venture fund

• The fund’s expanded mandate will include playing an anchor role for Canadian seed-stage businesses and devoting an increased focus on opportunities in regions
• The new commitment builds on an initiative launched by BDC Capital in 2012 that seeded more 190 Canadian companies
• BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, Canada’s business development bank

BDC Capital has injected an additional C$50 million into its seed venture fund, dedicated to supporting emerging Canadian startups.

The fund will focus primarily on promising pre-seed and seed-stage software companies within enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other software verticals, including digital health and fintech, that are using artificial intelligence to redefine some sectors.

The fund’s expanded mandate will include playing an anchor role for Canadian seed-stage businesses and devoting an increased focus on opportunities in regions which currently face limited access to seed funding.

The new commitment builds on an initiative launched by BDC Capital in 2012 that seeded more 190 Canadian companies, which collectively went on to secure over C$1 billion in funding.

“Getting the right support at the earliest stages of development can have a meaningful impact on start-ups’ ability to scale, drive innovation and by extension, advance economic growth in Canada,” said Jérôme Nycz, executive vice president of BDC Capital, in a statement. “We understand that seed-stage businesses need support from an array of partners to develop a winning model early on and we’re making it a priority to help create the right environment and conditions for them to boost the Canadian technology ecosystem from the ground up.’’

BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, Canada’s business development bank. The Montreal-based firm has more than C$6 billion under management.