Vanedge Capital receives $10 million InBC investment

InBC, the province’s strategic investment fund, has announced a $10 million investment into Vanedge Capital‘s Fund IV, a Vancouver-based venture fund focused on early-stage hard tech, AI, and analytics companies.

The money is intended to foster investment activity in B.C. and leverage Vanedge’s expertise, with the goal of supporting early-stage hard tech companies in the province.

“We appreciate InBC’s investment in Vanedge Capital’s Fund IV and are proud to be part of B.C.’s thriving technology ecosystem,” said Paul Lee, managing director of Vanedge Capital. “Over the years, we have backed successful B.C. companies such as Canalyst, Bonsai Micro, Wurldtech, Axine, Recon Instruments, Autozen, Dyspatch, and Vodasafe, among many others. Additionally, our team has played key roles in the growth of companies like Bycast, D-Wave, ALI Technologies, and Electronic Arts. We look forward to working with InBC to continue fostering innovation and supporting B.C.’s entrepreneurial talent.”

With $390 million under management, Vanedge focuses on burgeoning companies and opportunities in major technology trends, such as next-generation analytics and disruptive hardtech platforms. It selects businesses that have what the fund calls a “long-term sustainable advantage,” which have the potential to become market leaders. 

Vanedge aims to invest in outfits before they hit major growth milestones, so it can help those companies build their organizational structure. The fund’s notable recent investments include Raxium, which was sold to Google 12 months after Vanedge invested.

Local focus

Created by the provincial government in 2020, InBC is under a mandate to “invest in high-growth potential businesses in B.C., to leverage investment from the private and public sectors to help businesses grow.”

With its triple-bottom-line requirement to value people, planet and profit, the fund is investing to generate financial returns alongside measurable economic, social, and environmental impacts for the province. In practice, that means the firm must select organizations that innovate for the future, drive climate action, advance reconciliation, and elevate inclusive communities in B.C.

It’s been a busy month for InBC. Two weeks ago, the organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the Innovation Asset Collective (IAC), a non-profit funded by the Government of Canada, to help equip the companies in InBC’s investment portfolio with intellectual property knowledge and strategy: a move that suggests that, in the future, the fund will place more focus on companies that hold IP or have the potential to do so.

Last week, InBC also announced an investment into Novarc, a full-stack AI robotics company specializing in automated welding, which raised a $50 million Series B funding round. At a time of pro-Canada sentiment, a variety of national funders banded together to make the round happen alongside InBC, including Export Development Canada (the country’s export credit agency), and Seaspan (one of Canada’s leading shipbuilders).

To date, InBC has contributed $165 million in cumulative capital to 30 B.C. companies and funds. By its own stats, that equates to the support of 1,569 B.C. employees.

With files from Kate Wilson.

[Editors note: this story initially stated that the amount invested into Vanedge Capital was undisclosed. It has been updated to reflect the $10 million investment.]

Don’t miss a story in your backyard. Subscribe to the Vancouver Tech Journal now.