Le Forum d’anges et d’investisseurs en capital de risque de Boston organisé par Capital innovation les 21 et 22 juin derniers a permis de rassembler un nombre sans précédent d’investisseurs américains et internationaux intéressés à investir dans les entreprises innovantes québécoises parmi les plus prometteuses.

Ce Forum a également consacré le leadership de la région de Montréal comme centre canadien pour les investissements en capital de risque avec le soutien de Teralys Capital, du Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, de la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec et de la Délégation du Québec à Boston. En effet, le Québec a repris le premier rang canadien pour ses nombreux investissements en capital de risque. La réalisation de nombreux investissements dans les entreprises émergentes, les 7 M$ pour les entreprises de Capital innovation 2011 et la création avec Teralys de nouveaux fonds de capital de risque totalisant plus de 500 M$ en capitaux frais pour investissement témoignent du dynamisme entrepreneurial québécois dans ce secteur hautement compétitif.

Les sociétés québécoises qui ont présenté leurs projets au Forum de Boston ont été particulièrement bien accueillies et ont lancé de nombreuses discussions d’investissement avec ces partenaires américains. Parmi ces étoiles montantes de l’entrepreneuriat québécois nous pouvons souligner la présence de :

- Azzimov – déjà reconnue par Red Herring comme une des 100 startups américaines les plus prometteuses
- LITO Green Motion et sa SORA, une moto électrique déjà très populaire
- FORTEM et son système de réalité virtuelle appliqué à la sécurité publique
- Pediapharm, leader canadien de la pharmaceutique pédiatrique
- Medicago, une étoile montante de la production rapide et à grande échelle de vaccins
- Biomomentum qui révolutionne le diagnostic de pathologies des articulations humaines

Le réseau d’investisseurs américains de Capital innovation compte maintenant les plus importants fonds de capital de risque de la nouvelle angleterre du secteur des sciences de la santé, qui représentent ensemble plus de 10 milliards $ sous gestion. Parmi ces fonds participants intéressés à financer les prochains québécois nous pouvons compter :

- Orbimed Pharma
- Flybridge Capital Partners
- MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH)
- Lumira Capital
- Clarus Ventures
- SV Life Sciences (anciennement connu sous le nom de Schroder Ventures)
- Fletcher Spaght Ventures
- Numoda Capital Innovations
- Sanderling Ventures
- Boston Millennia Partners
- VIMAC Ventures
- Nexus NMT Capital
- Perkin Elmer Life Science Technologies
- Morgan Stanley
- Mass Medical Angels

De plus, le Comité de Capital innovation en Nouvelle Angleterre, parrainné par M. Samuel Shafner de Burns & Levinson, compte maintenant sur les plus importants groupes d’anges investisseurs de la région de Boston, totalisant plus de 600 anges investisseurs actifs dans les technologies de point, dont :

- Common Angels
- LaunchPad
- Boston Harbor Angels
- Walnut Ventures
- Cherrystone Angel Group, Rhode Island
- TIE Angels, Massachusetts
- Launch Capital, Massachusetts
- Flybridge Capital Partners, Massachusetts
- Landmark Angels, Connecticut

Ce réseau d’investisseurs s’ajoute aux Comités de Capital innovation en Ontario et au Québec qui constituent aujourd’hui le plus important groupe d’investisseurs en capital de risque au Canada dans ce nouveau “triangle d’or” est-américain formé par le Québec, l’Ontario et la Nouvelle-Angleterre.

Les entrepreneurs désireux de présenter leurs projets à ce réseau élargi d’investisseurs de Capital innovation pourront déposer leur candidature jusqu’au 20 juillet 2012 au programme Capital Accélération.

MONTREAL – Teralys Capital, the government-backed investment fund announced Wednesday the creation of two new venture capital funds that will invest in early stage companies.
Together, the two firms will invest $205 million into promising companies in Quebec in the next few years.

“It’s important to have an ecosystem where there’s money available at every stage of a company’s maturity,” said Jacques Bernier, the managing partner of Teralys Capital. “This will fill an important gap.”

Teralys – which is backed by $700 million from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Solidarity Fund QFL and Investissement Québec – will invest $50 million in Rho Canada II and $25 million in Celtic House Venture Partners IV. That will be part of $100 million raised by Rho Canada II and $105 million by Celtic House.

And the investors are wasting no time in making their first deals. Jeff Grammer, a partner at Rho Canada II, said his fund is actively looking at three companies, with an announcement coming in the next few months. He said over the five-year investing cycle, between 25 and 30 companies will get funding.

The first Rho Canada fund has already completed its investment round, and is now in the growth stage. It boasts an impressive portfolio of companies that includes the fast growing designer shopping club Beyond the Rack, and the technology company Accedian Networks.

Habib Kairouz, the managing partner of the parent Rho Capital Partners based in New York, said Montreal is only now starting to see companies growing to the scale needed to make it worth the initial investment.

“In the first wave of development of this industry in Canada, there were a lot of first-time entrepreneurs who didn’t see that Canada had enough capital to carry their company all the way through,” Kairouz said. “So we had a lot of small investors investing small amounts of capital, and entrepreneurs who were very happy with a $20 million exit. Unfortunately that doesn’t work. If you want to cover ideas that don’t make it, you need a $100 million or a $200 million exit (for the successful companies).”

Bernier said his goal is to continue to fill in what he calls the holes in the ecosystem to allow companies to grow to a healthy size. He said despite all the investment, Montreal will probably never rival California’s Silicon Valley as a place to start a tech company, as a result, companies will continue to move south to attract investors and customers.

“We’ll never be able to (stop) this, but as the ecosystem gets built, this will happen less and less,” he said. “And it’s already starting to happen the other way. Some companies from California are coming here to grow their businesses.”

Read more on the Montreal Gazette 

On May 15 at 4 p.m., at the Centre CDP Capital, four panellists from Alberta and Quebec will gather for an hour-long discussion about potential opportunities as well as each province’s situation in terms of innovation andtechnology. This is a unique opportunity for 75 Quebec guests—leaders in their respective fields—and the 50 members of the Alberta delegation to develop new business relationships and build collaborative ventures. A cocktail reception will follow the meeting on the Parquet of the CDP Centre.

The panellists are Ian Jeffrey (Quebec), general manager at FounderFuel, Martin Duchaine (Quebec), CEO of Capital Innovation, Andrew Exner (Alberta), Director of Commercialization Programs at Tecterra Inc. andChris Lumb (Alberta), CEO of TEC Edmonton. The Alberta–Quebec Innovation Forum is an excellent opportunity to meet potential investors, prestigious delegates and possible partners, as well as to discover new markets with the key players of Alberta, a province known for its continually expanding economic growth.

Montreal is renowned for its innovation and for the strength of its technology hub, while Alberta also boasts a strong tech industry over and above its booming energy sector. AEG is a non-profit organization committed to promoting Alberta’s economic development. It represents companies which collectively employ more than 50,000 people and generate billions in economic activity each year.

To register, please visit this website: http://foruminnovation.newad.com/en

• June 21, 2012
  • 4:00 pm - 7:00 pmNetworking Cocktail and Introduction to the New England Investors Committee
• June 22, 2012
  • 9:00 am - 9:45 amRegistration, Continental Breakfast and Networking
  • 9:45 am - 10:00 amOpening Remarks
  • 10:00 am - 11:15 amAngel panel from Ontario, Quebec and New England
  • 11:15 am - 11:45 amNetworking Break
  • 11:45 am - 1:15 pmInnovative Entrepreneur Presentations
  • 1:15 pm - 2:45 pmLuncheon Panel of Canada and US Panel with Michel Brûlé, John Ruffolo and Bill McPhee
  • 2:45 pm - 3:00 pmClosing Remarks

Boston Angel Forum 2012 – Speakers

• 

  Michel Brûlé Board MemberInvestissement Québec

  Mr. Brûlé obtained both his Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. For close to 20 years, he has concurrently pursued careers in both academia and business. In both cases, this has involved the development and management of R&D projects with high commercial potential. Along his academic track, Mr. Brûlé has held positions of full professor, Acting Research Dean and Research Laboratory Director at the École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) of the University of Québec. In the business sector Mr. Brûlé has been invol...

  Continue reading 

• 

  John Ruffolo Chief Executive OfficerOMERS Ventures

  In addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer of OMERS Ventures, John Ruffolo also serves as Senior Vice President and Head of Knowledge Investing, OMERS Strategic Investments, where he leads the build-out of OMERS Strategic Investments’ world-class Knowledge Investing management team. Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, John was a Partner at Deloitte, as well as the Global Thought Leader, the Global Tax Leader and the Canadian Industry Leader for Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice. He was also a member of the firm’s Tax and TMT Global Leadership teams and ...

  Continue reading 

• 

  Ben Littauer Angel InvestorBoston Harbor Angels

  Ben Littauer is a business and technology management consultant with expertise in Internet and communications technologies, as well as healthcare IT.  Currently he spends his time as an active angel investor, member of Boston Harbor Angels, Walnut Venture Associates, and Launchpad Venture Group. He is a mentor for Mass Challenge and The Capital Network, and is on the advisory board at TCN. Recently Mr. Littauer is a judge for Mass Challenge, MITX Innovation Awards, and various academic competitions. Mr. Littauer was Technology Strategist for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, w...

  Continue reading 

• 

  Bill McPhee Angel InvestorBoston Harbor Angels

  William D. McPhee (Bill) is the Founder and Managing Director of Praxis Advisors LLC, a partnership of senior executives that helps early stage medtech businesses develop and execute the strategies and tactics needed to reach commercialization and exit. Mr. McPhee has 30 years of experience in strategy and operations consulting, fund raising, transactions and venture capital. He has worked with the senior management teams of a wide range of organizations in the healthcare, consumer products, information services, manufacturing and retail sectors. Prior to starting Praxis, Mr. McPhee created...

  Continue reading 

• 

  Jessica McLear Angel InvestorLaunchpad Venture Group

  Jess is an angel investor and member of Launchpad Venture Group.  Her family has been investing in and mentoring start up companies for over 20 years in both Canada and the US.  Her portfolio companies fall into many sectors including manufacturing, IT, medical devices and consumer goods.  She is an observer or serves on the board for various non-profits as well as portfolio companies.  She has served as an investor and mentor for several companies throughout the New England area.  Jess earned a BA from Williams College and MEd from Harvard University.

  Continue reading 

• 

  Robert L. Douglas PresidentGolden Triangle Angelnet

  A founding member and President of the Golden Triangle Angelnet, a not-for-profit corporation created to bring together angel investors and high potential companies in the Guelph/Waterloo region of southwestern Ontario. A chartered accountant by profession, Rob is distinguished by his strong entrepreneurial spirit and his wealth of experience in owning and managing private businesses. Rob’s business career spans more than three decades, with employment experience ranging from investment counselling with a major Canadian brokerage to senior financial management with a large, multi-plant manu...

  Continue reading 

• 

  Laurie Davis Angel InvestorPurple Angel / Capital Angel Network

  Laurie graduated from the University of Alberta with a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation, he joined Bell-Northern Research (BNR), where he specialized in the development and introduction of new products. He held increasingly more senior positions within BNR, and later Nortel Networks, ultimately becoming Vice-President responsible for the development of a number of new products. Laurie was initially involved in the development of voice switching products. In the early 90's he took a leadership role in Nortel's entry into the optical networking business, holding posit...

  Continue reading 

• 

  George Simmons PartnerLaunchpad Venture Group / Cherrystone Angels

  George’s broad background in sales, finance, operations, organization, and Mergers and Acquisitions planning has allowed him to assist entrepreneurs and senior executives solve the most difficult business problems in a wide variety of industries.  With deep core experience in finance, analytics and in sales operations, George provides strategic planning processes for both our tech and non-tech customers. Prior to joining Derby Management¸ George’s experience included positions as CFO of Zoom Telephonics  when they grew profitably from $12M to $65M in three years.  George also served as the ...

  Continue reading 

• 

  Rainer L.C. Frost DirectorMirus Growth Capital

  Rainer Frost brings over 25 years of fund-raising and transactional experience as an entrepreneur, businessman and lawyer, working with companies, entrepreneurs, angels, venture capital firms and strategic industry partners. In 2000 Rainer founded Clarity Consulting Group of Seattle, WA to provide funding, strategy and management advice to early-stage and growth-stage companies, and opened the Boston office in 2003. Clarity worked closely with clients to prepare the management teams and their business plans for presentation to, and introduced them to, potential investors, including angel, v...

  Continue reading 

Interviews

April 11, 2012 – Article on the Montreal Venture Forum on DirectionInformatique.com

April 9, 2012 – Emovi gets $250,000

March 30, 2012 - Montreal International Venture Forum 2012 attracts investors responsible for more than $10 billion in venture capital

March 26, 2012 – Pierre Paffenhoff, Montreal’s Golden Triangle on The Frank Peters Show

March 22, 2012 – The Forum on the front page of the newspaper Les Affaires

March 22, 2012 – Venture Capital: Montreal hosts its first International Venture Forum

March 20, 2012 - The Forum welcomes two important leaders for the economic development in Quebec

March 10, 2012 - Taleo and Gemin-X, two of the most successful investment successes in Quebec

March 29, 2012 – Day 1 + Networking Cocktail at Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec