MontrealStartup – A new $3m fund for Montreal startups

monteral_star_up_logo_small.jpgWe spoke with John Stokes from MontrealStartup last week about an announcement they will be making today. They are announcing a new $3 million fund to invest in early stage startups on the Island of Montreal.

MontrealStartup is a unique type of VC, they are a consortium of 20 partners, mainly entrepreneurs, based in Montreal who want to do what is best for Montreal. The investors in the fund include John Stokes, Daniel Drouet, JS Cournoyer, Alan MacIntosh, Austin Hill and Mathieu Duffar.

At $3 million, it is also the smallest fund I am aware of, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing however. Having a small fund is going to force Montreal Startup to act and behave just like a startup. They are going to know exactly what you are going through, because they will be dealing with many similar bumps themselves. It will also force them to learn to adapt quickly in a way that other VCs may not feel the pressure to do.

This new fund, which is composed of $2 million from The Ministry of Economic Development and a further $1 million directly from MontrealStartup, will be managed completely by MontrealStartup.

The fund will look at investments between $50,000 and $400,000 to be made in startups who are focused on the Web, Wireless and New Media. MontrealStartup most recently invested in StandoutJobs, and will start investing through this new fund immediately. They are looking for startups who have solid ideas with some market potential but they aren’t necessarily looking for complete business plans. What I like about Montreal Startup, from what I have seen so far, is that they are focused both on providing capital to startups, and using their well established networks through their investors, who are all successful entrepreneurs.

Due to the size of the fund, there is practically no management fee and the only opportunity for Montreal Startup to profit is to find the best deals that exist in Montreal and then to work hard to make sure that those startups are successful.

This is good news for Montreal. I am looking forward to hearing about some deals getting done. If successful, Montreal Startup will be one of a new type of VCs in Canada who are far more engaged with local startup communities than ever before. The future success of these funds depends heavily on the amount of local startup activity, and it is in their interest to foster that in a more direct way than the typical VC has done so far.

Comments

14 responses to “MontrealStartup – A new $3m fund for Montreal startups”

  1. […] Hat tip to Jevon at StartUpNorth Related Posts: […]

  2. […] Hat tip to Jevon at StartUpNorth Related Posts: […]

  3. […] startup fund for Montreal Both Jevon at Startup North and Rob at TechVibes have covered the launch of Montreal Start Up, a fund specifically targeted at […]

  4. […] startup fund for Montreal Both Jevon at Startup North and Rob at TechVibes have covered the launch of Montreal Start Up, a fund specifically targeted at […]

  5. […] Jevon points out on StartupNorth, a $3 million dollar fund isn’t a large fund for Canada but with our focus on seed style […]

  6. […] Jevon points out on StartupNorth, a $3 million dollar fund isn’t a large fund for Canada but with our focus on seed style […]

  7. delorisrhoyle Avatar
    delorisrhoyle

    Thank you for sharing this information.
    Fidelity 401k

  8. […] the Canadian startup scene and started talking about his new fund Montreal Start-up. In March 2008 they raised a small initial fund which they quickly deployed in to some nice deals in Montreal including Status.net and […]

  9. […] the Canadian startup scene and started talking about his new fund Montreal Start-up. In March 2008 they raised a small initial fund which they quickly deployed in to some nice deals in Montreal including Status.net and […]

  10. Jason Morehouse Avatar

    Would be great to see something like this in BC.

  11. Jason Morehouse Avatar

    Would be great to see something like this in BC.

    1. davidcrow Avatar

      There are similar (not identical) with things like WMediaVentures http://wmediaventures.com/ and BootupLabs http://bootuplabs.com/ and WaveFront http://www.wavefrontac.com/ that provide similar services and funding.

      Also check out BCRF http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2009STED0018-000686.htm and http://www.bcrcf.ca/BCRCF/FundManagers/Pages/Default.aspx

      Cheers,
      David

  12. davidcrow Avatar

    There are similar (not identical) with things like WMediaVentures http://wmediaventures.com/ and BootupLabs http://bootuplabs.com/ and WaveFront http://www.wavefrontac.com/ that provide similar services and funding.

    Also check out BCRF http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2… and http://www.bcrcf.ca/BCRCF/FundManagers/Pages/De

    Cheers,
    David

  13. davidcrow Avatar

    There are similar (not identical) with things like WMediaVentures http://wmediaventures.com/ and BootupLabs http://bootuplabs.com/ and WaveFront http://www.wavefrontac.com/ that provide similar services and funding. nnAlso check out BCRF http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2009STED0018-000686.htm and http://www.bcrcf.ca/BCRCF/FundManagers/Pages/Default.aspxnnCheers,nDavid

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