Ottawa’s $400 mln VC blueprint eyes late-stage ventures, gender disparity
Ottawa has unveiled the details of its $400 million program to shore up venture capital supply in Canada, giving particular focus to backing late-stage tech and righting gender imbalances. The Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, first announced in March's federal Budget 2017, was launched today by the Liberal government to channel $1.5 billion of new money into Canada’s innovation ecosystem. VCCI will do this by leveraging private commitments to VC funds, primarily through market intermediaries. Every $1 VCCI allocates through Business Development Bank of Canada must be matched by $2.25 from private sources, such as corporations, institutional investors and wealthy individuals. The matching formula, a unique feature of current Canadian public policy in the VC space, is based on one already tested in the market by VCCI’s predecessor.
