One of Vancouver’s iconic investment firms has closed another venture capital fund.
Yaletown Partners announced this week the close of Innovation Growth Fund III.
At $100M on first close, and a goal of $250M in total, the third Innovation Fund is Yaletown’s largest yet.
“We brought IGF III together in record time,” says managing partner Salil Munjal, “amidst one of the more complex funding environments in the last decade.”
Powered by a mix of returning and new institutional investors, IGF III intends to continue Yaletown’s “Intelligent Industry” thesis, investing in what it describes as the “enablement layer,” which includes digital infrastructure technologies such as advanced analytics, edge computing, networking, and physical AI—technologies that are “foundational to the digital transformation of real-world sectors,” according to Yaletown.
Hanz Gin, Managing Director for BMO Capital Partners, says Yaletown boasts a “track record of identifying and scaling companies at the forefront of industrial and technological transformation.”
“We believe Yaletown’s approach to Intelligent Industry investing presents a compelling opportunity to generate strong returns while supporting Canada’s industrial transformation,” remarked Gin.
Lissa Bjerkelund, Vice-President of Investments and Mid-Market Lending at Export Development Canada (an investor in the fund), agrees, adding that Yaletown has a “continued focus on scaling Canadian technology companies with strong export potential.”
Another investor in the fund is InBC, a strategic investment fund established by the Province of British Columbia.
“InBC is pleased to support Yaletown again through our investment in IGF III,” commented Heather Tanaka, who added that the transaction marks the organization’s “first subsequent commitment in a venture fund.”
“We are deeply grateful to our IGF III investors for their confidence in our platform,” said Munjal. “Our conviction has never been stronger that investing in technologies enabling the digital transformation of asset heavy industries is the most scalable lever for accelerating industrial competitiveness and also positioned to deliver excellent returns.”
Yaletown Partners was established in 2002. The firm launched its first Innovation Growth Fund in 2018, followed by a second fund launch in 2021.
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