Businessnewshubb
Advertisement
  • Home
  • World
  • Business News
  • Markets
  • Startup
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Business News
  • Markets
  • Startup
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Businessnewshubb
No Result
View All Result
Home Startup

Innovobot holds initial close of targeted $40 million fund to invest in “deep tech for good”

December 13, 2022


The fund has secured $14 million from entrepreneurs and family offices.

Innovobot has secured $14 million CAD in an initial close of its seed-stage fund focused on investing in deep tech from an environmental and social-conscious lens.

The Montréal-based firm is targeting a total fund size of $40 million (all numbers CAD) for Innovobot Resonance Ventures, its first fund since the firm was created in 2018.

Innovobot is investing in an increasingly popular deep tech sector that it feels is lacking in highly-knowledgeable investor support, but doing that by putting ‘tech for good’ first.

“We only invest in companies that have a positive impact on society or the environment.”

“We only invest in companies that have a positive impact on society or the environment,” said managing partner Zoya Shchupak. “We believe that those are the companies that are going to outperform financially as well: companies that focus on the greater good, they are the ones that are going to have outsized returns.”

Innovobot’s initial close for the fund comes from a group of family offices and entrepreneurs. In addition to Innovobot’s partners, investors include Nadine Martel, an angel investor through various groups including Capital Angel Network; Jean-Michel Lemieux, former CTO at Shopify; Peter Nicholson from family office Tiger 21; Flinks CEO Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf; and the founders of Heyday, one of Innovobot’s pre-fund investments.

Innovobot is now looking to secure some institutional investors to round out the rest of its fund. Having been fundraising since mid-2020, the Innovobot team expects institutional investors will be more inclined to invest now that the federal government’s Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) funding has been allocated.

“Of course, the markets have been tough, but the fact that VCCI was approved but not deployed before just recently … some of the more institutional LPs told us, ‘you should come back next year,’ when we met them last year,” said Innovobot general partner and tech for good lead, Sylvain Carle.

While Innovobot only recently closed on its deep tech fund, the firm made a handful of pre-fund investments (from its balance sheet), to some success. Its investments include Heyday, which was bought by Hootsuite last year for $60 million, and CarbiCrete, which is recognized for having created the first carbon-negative concrete. CarbiCrete is being rolled into the fund as Innovobot’s “first portfolio company.”

RELATED: Backed by Shopify co-founder Scott Lake, RiSC Capital launches new early-stage fund focused on deep tech

Innovobot is now ready to deploy capital from its venture fund with a focus on seed-stage companies. The firm plans to take a hands-on approach with its portfolio companies by providing services through Innovobot Labs, its “R&D and Innovation Design House.”

With the lab focused on human-machine interface, robotics, AI, advanced materials, and IoT, Innovobot plans to provide its portfolio companies with expertise to help with everything from prototypes to commercialization.

“Because these companies are more complex, you really need to help them address the challenges, and productize, and industrialize, and scale,” said Shchupak.

“There’s a huge need for funds that will lead these [deep tech for good] seed rounds in Canada,” added Carle, who joined Innovobot in March after departing Real Ventures with the goal to focus on climate change and social impact.

“When we talk about the deep tech whitespace, we really think that the funds leading seed rounds for these kinds of companies in Canada, there is certainly not enough and we hear that from investors that are downstream,” he said, acknowledging BDC Capital, which has both cleantech and deep tech venture funds.

With a targeted $40 million, Innovobot plans to make 16 initial investments with half reserved for follow-on at the Series A stage. Shchupak noted that Innovobot may look to increase its target size to $75 million, at which point it would look to make 20 initial investments with follow-on at the Series A and B stages. Initial cheque sizes will be between $500,000 to $2 million.

The Innovobot Resonance Ventures is led by Shchupak in addition to Innovobot founding partners Mario Venditti and Danny Grant, with support from Carle.

“The world is facing real challenges. For all its promise, software alone is not the solution,” said Shchupak. “We believe that solving humanity’s pressing problems requires the development and deployment of complex systems that combine the physical and digital worlds.”





Source link

Previous Post

AVAX Hits 1-Week High, as LTC Also Climbs Following US Inflation Data – Market Updates Bitcoin News

Next Post

Uber’s food delivery platform agrees to pay severance to couriers let go ahead of Spain’s Riders Law • TechCrunch

Next Post

Uber's food delivery platform agrees to pay severance to couriers let go ahead of Spain's Riders Law • TechCrunch

SOL Hits 3-Week High, as ADA Consolidates Ahead of FOMC Meeting – Bitcoin News

Ferme d’Hiver raises $46 million CAD to replace 10 percent of Canada’s strawberry imports

Why the SPAC route makes sense for Getaround • TechCrunch

Biggest Movers: DOGE, LTC Near 3-Week Lows on Thursday – Market Updates Bitcoin News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Can 4 activist investors play nice in the Salesforce sandbox? • TechCrunch

by admin
February 3, 2023

Salesforce finds itself in a rather unusual situation, with four activist investors operating inside the company at the same time:...

Shopify invests in US-based e-commerce analytics aggregator Triple Whale

by admin
February 3, 2023

Triple Whale helps Shopify merchants unify business metrics into one dashboard. Shopify has made an investment into United States-based Triple...

DOJ-Appointed US Trustee Objects to Subpoena Request in FTX Bankruptcy Case – Bitcoin News

by admin
February 3, 2023

Following a request from FTX lawyers to subpoena FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and members of his family, the U.S....

Apple, Google and Amazon post disappointing results as tech giants face gloomy economic outlook

by admin
February 3, 2023

Apple, Amazon and Alphabet all posted disappointing quarterly results this week, while Facebook parent Meta bucked the gloomy trend in...

business-news-hubb-white

© 2022 Business News Hubb All rights reserved.

Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement unless specified. By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Categories

  • Home
  • World
  • Business News
  • Markets
  • Startup
  • Contact Us

Newsletter Sign Up.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Business News
  • Markets
  • Startup
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Business News Hubb All rights reserved.