Montr\u00e9al firm backed by Qu\u00e9bec government, Desjardins Capital, and nearly 50 individual LPs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Amiral Ventures has raised $40 million CAD from the Qu\u00e9bec government, Desjardins Capital, and dozens of tech entrepreneurs for its first fund that aims to lead early-stage deals amid a domestic downturn for venture capital (VC).<\/p>\n
The venture firm, founded by repeat entrepreneurs and investors Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastien, Dominic Becotte, and Nectarios Economakis, held its first close of a targeted $75-million fund on Monday after nearly three years of fundraising. The provincial government anchored the fund through Investissement Qu\u00e9bec, Desjardins Capital wrote the first cheque, and nearly 50 investors and entrepreneurs joined as limited partners (LPs), including the co-founders of Qu\u00e9bec startups BrainBox AI and Workleap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time leadership is ceded abroad, Canada loses ownership of its most successful businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amiral manifesto<\/p>\n
The firm plans to back 15 tech companies between the seed and Series A stages, with annual revenues typically between $750,000 and $1 million, managing partner Bastien told BetaKit in an interview yesterday. The fund focuses on sectors such as enterprise artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, supply-chain technology, manufacturing, and startups that \u201cboost enterprise productivity, resilience, and sustainability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amiral has already backed enterprise software startup Maxa<\/a> and AI-powered architecture platform Maket<\/a>. The fund is led by Bastien and co-managing partner Becotte, as well as partner Economakis. Julie Lacasse, an LP in the fund and a board member of several Qu\u00e9bec tech organizations, is joining as a venture partner. The meaning behind \u201cAmiral\u201d is twofold: it evokes a flagship (vaisseau amiral in French) and refers to the white admiral butterfly, Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s proposed official insect (Economakis got a butterfly tattooed<\/a> when the fund held its first close).\u00a0<\/p>\n A two-time founder and angel investor, Bastien said he was consistently \u201cdisappointed by the lack of leadership in the VC ecosystem in Canada.\u201d When fundraising for his second startup\u2019s Series B, he ended up going to the US, getting a term sheet in San Francisco, and coming back to find many Canadian VCs interested in filling out the round. Bastien\u2019s concerns have been privately echoed<\/a> by Canadian VCs, some of whom argued at the CIX Summit in April that there were \u201cmore price-takers than price-setters\u201d in the country\u2019s early-stage VC ecosystem.<\/p>\n Amiral aims to fill that leadership gap by almost exclusively leading rounds, Bastien said, which fits with the firm\u2019s ethos. \u201cEvery time leadership is ceded abroad, Canada loses ownership of its most successful businesses,\u201d Amiral\u2019s manifesto reads. \u201cAn ecosystem of \u201cfollower investors\u201d produces an economy of subsidiaries, when what we need are global leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that US investors shouldn\u2019t participate in Canadian deals, Bastien clarified. But letting them lead constantly is the \u201csurest way you\u2019ll get small acquisitions and subsidiaries of Amazon instead of building more Shopifys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n RELATED: Seed-stage rebound a bright spot in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s gloomy VC landscape: report<\/a><\/p>\n With the Qu\u00e9bec government as its anchor investor, Amiral will have to devote three quarters of its first $40 million to backing Qu\u00e9bec-based startups. Bastien said that Amiral will be courting LPs outside of Qu\u00e9bec for the rest of its $75-million fund. That means that when it holds a final close, the fund will be expected to deploy just 50 percent of its total capital within Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n Amiral is stepping into Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s VC scene at a particularly dismal time<\/a> for investment activity. Though pre-seed and seed-stage investments saw a modest uptick over the summer, R\u00e9seau Capital CEO Olivier Quenneville told BetaKit in August that \u201coverall deal flows remain relatively weak compared to historical levels.\u201d Fundraising for VCs has also been difficult, particularly for emerging managers, as middling returns and a lack of exits<\/a> have led institutional investors to back funds more cautiously.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a first-time fund manager, Amiral was no exception. Bastien described the three years he\u2019s been fundraising as \u201cthe hardest in a decade\u201d to raise a fund. He said the team could have held a first close of $15 to $20 million a year and a half ago, but decided to stay firm with its $40-million target to ensure it could lead all of its deals. \u201cYou cannot do that with a $250,000 cheque,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s early-stage ecosystem, largely supported by the provincial government, now counts a few new entrants. Spinoff fund Telegraph Ventures se<\/a>c<\/a>ured $35 million<\/a> for pre-seed AI startups in September; a month later, Investissement Qu\u00e9bec relaunched a popular early-stage funding program as a $200-million VC fund<\/a>. In the new year, local firm Boreal Ventures plans to raise a second fund, and heavy-hitter Inovia Capital is planning two new funds<\/a> to back startups and VCs.<\/p>\n Feature image courtesy Amiral Ventures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montr\u00e9al firm backed by Qu\u00e9bec government, Desjardins Capital, and nearly 50 individual LPs.
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