Fredericton-based Energia Ventures, an accelerator offshoot from the University of New Brunswick, has announced it will receive up to $500,000 from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF), a non-profit corporation specializing in venture capital and research investments.
“We believe Energia will be on par with the best-in-class international accelerators in both programming and funding.”
Over the next two years, NBIF will invest $250,000 each year in companies participating in the accelerator. The companies will receive an investment of up to $50,000 from the NBIF, along with non-dilutive funding of $20,000 that is already in place from Energia, bringing the total potential investment amount to $70,000 per company. The investment is part of a collaboration aimed to help strengthen the growth of companies in the energy, smart grid, cleantech, and cybersecurity sectors.
“[Energia] plays a key role in the New Brunswick innovation ecosystem by helping these companies establish relationships and by curating investible companies,” said Ray Fitzpatrick, director of investments at NBIF. “We want to see Energia achieve international recognition as an accelerator with a highly competitive environment from startups to participate in the program.”
The accelerator recently began accepting applications for its third cohort running from September 3 to November 28. The program provides companies access to more than 85,000 University of New Brunswick alumni living around the world.
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“We strive to attract and work with the best companies in our sectors of focus,” said Joe Allen, managing director of Energia Ventures. “This investment will go a long way in attracting these companies in the competitive space of business acceleration.”
NFIB said it has invested over $100 million in New Brunswick companies and has brought in $457 million more from other sources. It stated that its strategic investments have helped launch over 100 companies and funded nearly 500 applied research projects.
Energia Ventures is a member of GAN, an organization that runs more than 100 accelerators in 120 cities across the globe. Although Energia’s program is free for participating companies, the accelerator provides seed funding in exchange for equity. Participants in the program can expect to receive advisement, mentoring, educational programming, business support, and funding to develop their venture.
“Energia has a great reputation for working with companies to help them realize their full potential and getting them to market,” Fitzpatrick said. “NBIF knows that the best accelerators in the world come with equity investments, and by assisting Energia in making this level of commitment, we believe they will be on par with the best-in-class international accelerators in both programming and funding.”
Image courtesy Energia Ventures
