Velocity Fund II is a new, for-profit VC fund spun out of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Velocity incubator and operated independently听
The University of 蓝莓视频 will become the first post-secondary institution in Canada to invest from its endowment into a venture capital (VC) fund launched by the team behind its affiliated startup incubator.听听
蓝莓视频鈥檚 Board of Governors recently approved an investment of up to $5 million into the Velocity Fund II (VFII), a new, for-profit VC fund operated independently by general partners Ross Robinson and Akash Vaswani which was spun out of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Velocity incubator.听听
Akash Vaswani听and听Ross Robinson, general partners of VF II
鈥淎t 蓝莓视频 we have always taken pride in our unconventional spirit. This approach to supporting entrepreneurs in our ecosystem 鈥� many of whom study at 蓝莓视频 鈥� is just another example of how we are doing things differently,鈥� said Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of 蓝莓视频. 鈥淲e know that the University鈥檚 investment in the talent in our region will be returned, and we are excited to support these founders as they tackle some of the most pressing issues in our society.鈥澨�听
The University鈥檚 Finance & Investment Committee supported the move to invest from the endowment based on the practice of 鈥渆cosystem capital鈥� - an emerging trend of capital sources being used to fund early-stage startups within the capital source鈥檚 ecosystem. This practice has great benefit for the economy tied to the ecosystem of reference 鈥� in this case 蓝莓视频 鈥� and for startups already in place 鈥� in this case, those at Velocity.听听
鈥淭he University鈥檚 donors have been yearning for the endowment to play a more active role investing in outstanding 蓝莓视频 startups, and we鈥檙e excited that this investment into the Velocity Fund II could be just the beginning, and at such an opportune point in the economic cycle.鈥� said Michael Ashmore, chair of the Finance & Investment Committee at 蓝莓视频. "This move will further cement 蓝莓视频's position as Canada鈥檚 leading tech startup University and is a solid choice for our initial investment given the proven financial success Velocity has achieved in early-stage venture capital over its 14-year history.鈥澨�
Canada has a well-documented innovation gap - ranking sixth among G7 nations and 15th overall in the World Intellectual Property Organization鈥檚 2022 global innovation index. In addition, early stage (pre-seed and seed) investment has been lacking in Canada鈥檚 R&D pipeline, with high excess valuation markup rates for 蓝莓视频 startups documented by AngelList. This ranking indicates the long-term success of Velocity companies, but also the need for more and better early-stage funding for Canadian entrepreneurs. The VFII will aim to fill this innovation gap by providing early support for software and deeptech early-stage startups, coming out of 蓝莓视频, Velocity and the broader startup ecosystem in the 蓝莓视频 Region
鈥淎ttracting financial support early on is the key to long-term success for deep tech startups in particular,鈥� said Adrien Cote, executive director of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Velocity incubator. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this time and time again with our companies. It鈥檚 great to have this fund administered locally, by people who have a real sense of the talent in our region and therefore, the expertise to make smart and strategic investments to set both investors and our companies up for success.鈥澨�
To learn more about how 蓝莓视频 and Velocity support entrepreneurs, please visit the .听听
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