Years ago, Vancouver’s PenderFund Capital Management launched Pender Ventures, a group to accelerate its private investments into disruptive technology companies across Canada.
Portfolio companies of Pender’s original fund included MedEd management platform One45—which was acquired by Toronto’s Altus Assessments in 2021.
This year, the company announced the first close of Pender Technology Inflection Fund II.
The $50 million second fund from Pender Ventures will be dedicated to investing in “B2B software and health tech at the inflection point between commercialization and scale,” according to a statement from the company.
“The strong performance of PTIF I has validated our strategy while demonstrating our ability to find and support enduring companies with best-in-class technology solutions, built by diverse management teams, that positively impact their stakeholders,” Pender stated this week.
According to the investment firm, PTIF II represents a continuation and scale-up of the strategy from PTIF I.
“While public markets and private valuations are down dramatically, as long-term investors we remain excited about the vast majority of Fund I portfolio companies and the strategy behind those investments,” Pender affirms. “We are especially excited to further pursue our B2B health tech thesis, as we see an urgent need for greater investment and go-to-market support in this area.”
The fund’s largest area of focus will be health tech—specifically, B2B software companies that improve healthcare delivery, also known as health IT.
“Under this umbrella, we will invest in areas like clinical decision support, software for drug development and patient data management,” the company says.
Another key area of focus for Fund II will be vertical SaaS companies, “especially ones that address a well-defined problem and customer set, operate in markets that are less competitive, and have clear paths to profitability and exit.”
Pender’s strategy remains consistent but “ambitions and scale have increased,” the team says. With more available capital, “we can better support our companies.”
“As we expand our investment activity across the country, we plan to make larger contributions to Canada’s burgeoning innovation ecosystems,” the company stated.
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