Dave McClure-founded 500 Startups officially announced its encroachment into Canada today with the creation of 500 Canada, a fund focused on businesses that can achieve profitability with less than $1 million in total investment.
500 Canada hopes to raise $30 million CAD for the fund, which will be run by Sanjay Singhal, Canadian Venture Partner for 500 Startups. Singhal previously founded Simply Audiobooks, and is a founding board member of Angel One.
500 Startups has already made investments in 37 Canadian startups via Silicon Valley, and 500 Canada hopes to invest $100,000 CAD in 50 companies each year, with approximately one-fifth of those companies expected to receive follow-on funding of $500,000 CAD.
500 Canada says it will have partners or associates in Vancouver, Waterloo, Toronto, Montreal, and Fredericton, and plans to launch 500 Distro Dojo in June, a three-month growth marketing program for pre-Series A startups.