Toronto-based venture firm GreenSky Capital recently announced the first close of its fourth fund, raising $15 million CAD to back more early-stage Canadian tech startups.
Through the GreenSky Accelerator Fund IV, the firm aims to back more early-stage Canadian tech companies, with a particular focus on B2B-focused startups and firms with complex intellectual property (IP) that need support scaling.
GreenSky has backed startups like ProNavigator, Cyclica, and Funnelytics.
“With Fund IV, we were excited to not only double the size of assets under management, but to double the size of our limited partnership investor base,” said Mike List, one of GreenSky’s managing partners.
According to GreenSky, the fund’s limited partners “are composed of a network of private Canadian and United States investors, many of whom have either invested in GreenSky’s previous three funds or were introduced by those who have.”
Founded in 2010, GreenSky has previously invested in companies like Kitchener FinTech startup ProNavigator, Toronto-based biotech company Cyclica, and Toronto digital marketing startup Funnelytics. List told BetaKit GreenSky currently has 17 portfolio companies and has fully deployed its first three funds.
GreenSky plans to deploy Fund IV over the next two years, making seed round and Series A-stage investments of approximately $1 million, with a particular focus on early-stage B2B firms with “high growth potential.” List said the firm aims to invest in 10 to 13 companies through Fund IV.
The firm has already made its first investment through Fund IV in New Brunswick-based cleantech software startup Anessa‘s $1.8 million seed round. Anessa provides software that helps medium-sized biogas plants predict project feasibility and improve production performance.
RELATED: Cyclica secures $23 million as it looks to create “the future biotech pipeline”
According to GreenSky, the startup currently serves clients in 11 countries and “has already demonstrated significant traction.” GreenSky invested in Anessa alongside the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, Concrete Ventures, East Valley Ventures and other angel investors. The investment is GreenSky’s first to date in an Atlantic Canadian company.
With Fund IV, GreenSky joins a group of Canadian VC groups that have recently launched or secured financing for new early-stage investment funds.
Earlier this year, East Coast entrepreneur Michael Brown and Scotiabank executive Jonathan Sobey of the Sobey family founded LongShot Capital, a new firm designed to address the early-stage funding gap. In April, Waterloo-based angel investor network Archangel secured $10 million for its new group of early-stage funds, which Archangel said it launched in response to COVID-19.
UPDATE (06/09/21): This story has been updated to include responses from Mike List.
Photo from GreenSky Capital via Facebook