Solidarity Fund QFL invest $2,000,000 in Montreal Start Up who in turn invests in four new startups
Montreal, Quebec, November 27, 2008 - Montreal Start Up, a venture investor dedicated to supporting Montreal based entrepreneurs in their quest to create and build successful companies, today announced the closing of a $2 million investment in its venture capital fund by the Solidarity Fund QFL, bringing to $5M the amount of assets under management.
The Solidarity Fund QFL joins Investissement Québec, la Conférence Régionale des Élus de Montréal and twenty of Montreal’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors who have partnered with Montreal Start Up to address the need for more early stage capital and mentoring in the technology sector.
"The Solidarity Fund QFL has played a decisive role, along with its partners, in structuring Québec’s venture capital industry. In fact, over the years, the Fund has invested more than $1 billion either directly or indirectly in IT and telecom firms, as well as in industrial innovations, to make sure their needs are met at all stages of their development” , said Janie Béïque, Senior Vice-President, New Economy. "In some cases, recent technology shifts allow some companies to do with $200,000 what used to require $2,000,000 in the ICT space and we recognized that Montreal Start Up was well structured to take advantage of this shift", added Mrs Béique.
"We have met with hundreds of entrepreneurs since our launch and the quality and creativity of the ideas we are seeing is constantly improving", commented John Stokes, Managing Partner, Montreal Start Up. "We were having to turn down good deals because of the limited amounts of capital available to us. The support of the Solidarity Fund QFL will allow us to support more of Montreal’s best startup companies".
An early stage funding gap, the result of a limited availability of funding and mentoring for seed stage companies, leads to a drought of venture ready companies. Montreal Start Up launched its investment fund in March 2008 with the intent of filling this funding gap and plans to announce additional investment partners in the future.
Montreal Start Up today also announced new investments in four Montréal based companies, Mobilize Central, KeenKong, The Book Oven and Oneeko: these investments are in addition to it’s previously announced investments in Standout Jobs and Akoha.
As part of its mandate, Montreal Start Up works to encourage and support angel investment activity and would like to acknowledge the support of Neotech Capital, Réseau Anges Québec and other Angel investors in its most recent investments.
About the Solidarity Fund QFL
With net assets of $7.3 billion as at May 31, 2008, the Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital company that through its RRSP channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and to further Québec's economic growth. The Fund is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in 1,881 companies. It currently has more than 575,000 shareholders and has helped, on its own or with other financial partners, to create, maintain and protect over 126,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com.
About Montreal Start Up
Founded in 2007, Montreal Start Up is a venture investor committed to supporting Montreal based entrepreneurs and their companies during their start-up phase, with the investment focus being on companies developing innovative software based services in the Internet, wireless and multi-media sectors.
For more information, visit www.montrealstartup.com or contact:
John Stokes
Phone: (514) 513-1814
Email: john@montrealstartup.com