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500 Startups Announces $30 Million Canada Fund - Plans to Make 150+ Investments Into Early-Stage Startups
Monday, April 4, 2016
Vancouver, BC, April 4, 2016--(T-Net)--500 Startups announced that it is expanding into Canada in a big way. The company is launching a $30M regional fund for Canadian based startups that will be headquartered in Ontario, but will invest nationally across Canada.
"Canada is huge, and not just in geography; it has many thriving entrepreneurial communities across its 3,000 miles of mostly-populated tundra, as well as some of the most talented engineers and lowest operating costs of any developed country" stated the company in a blog release.
With the creation of 500 Canada (#500CAN), startups across the country will be able to leverage the 500 Startups brand and extensive network of mentors, founders, and partners that come from over 1,500 portfolio companies around the world, according to the company.
500 Startups has already made 37 Canadian investments out of its Silicon Valley main funds including Breather, Lagoa, Unbounce, Cleanify and more.
500 Canada reported that it plans to make 150+ investments into early-stage startups in Canada over the next few years.
500 Canada will focus investments on capital-efficient businesses that can achieve profitability with less than $1M in total investment. The fund will be truly national in scope, with partners or associates in each major innovation centre, including Vancouver, Waterloo, Toronto, Montreal, and Fredericton.
Why Canada?
"The weather is cold, but the market is hot* with Canada already producing several impressive heavy-hitters like Shopify, Hootsuite, Kik, and Justin Bieber" stated the company in its tongue in cheek blog announcement.
Historically, some of Canada's largest challenges have been in access to later-stage capital as well as liquidity opportunities, both of which 500 Startups will be assisting with through a global outlook from day one.
What's 500 Startups role going to be?
500 will bring Silicon Valley's best practices to the region through our massive network, resources and growth marketing programs, according to the company. The company's main focus will be helping companies "internationalize" faster and get access to venture capital and mentorship from Silicon Valley.
In June, the company is also starting with its growth marketing program dubbed “500 Distro Dojo”, which is a 3-month growth intensive program for Pre-Series A companies. This will be followed by additional events and programs for founder and investor education.
Get Involved
Reach out here if you're interested in getting involved!
About Sanjay Singhal
Sanjay Singhal is the Canadian Venture Partner for 500 Startups. Sanjay has personally started five businesses, and has been an angel investor in over 30 others. Joining the world of early-stage venture capital, he hopes to help other Canadian entrepreneurs achieve their own dreams of success.
Sanjay's largest entrepreneurial win has been as founder of Simply Audiobooks, aka Audiobooks.com. Sanjay is a founding board member of Angel One, one of Canada's most prolific Angel investment groups, and also serves on the boards of a number of companies in which he is an investor. Sanjay has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from UNB and UBC respectively, and an MBA from Cornell University.
About 500 Startups
500 Startups is a new kind of seed fund and startup accelerator. We believe successful internet startups are born from usable design, customer-focused metrics, and online distribution.
Starting a company is not for the faint of heart. Founders must be audacious, innovative, and disruptive. At 500 Startups, we challenge ourselves to also embody those qualities in how we help startups through both our seed fund and our startup accelerator program. In no particular order, that means:
- Building best-in-class resources for usable design, customer-focused metrics, and online distribution
- Creating a diverse network of experienced and operationally-focused mentors.
- Partnering with key platform companies and services that will help our startups.
- Pushing the envelope on how we do investments.
We provide funding ranging from $25K to $250K to early stage startups, but we also aim to be innovative in our investment model. Check out Moneyball for Startups, the inspiration for our investment thesis.
We're based in Mountain View, California but our companies, mentors, and advisers come from all around the world. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and check out our blog for the latest updates.
No, we're not your ordinary VC.