Discover the process when investing in Quebec technological know-how at the seed capital level!
Supported by Centech, this $35M fund finances the growth of deeptech companies and aims to build bridges with local and international investors to become a partner of choice in the Canadian ecosystem.
With privileged access to Centech companies, Boréal Ventures sees the opportunity to play a leading role in the financing and support of innovative companies. By supporting businesses from the start, the fund fills the gap in the financing chain and participates in the creation of a prosperous ecosystem that will have an effect at both the technological and human level.
“Saying it’s the team is super cliché. Still, it is the most striking element, especially at the stage where we invest. In terms of venture capital, we invest in startups. Often, it is a team of 2 to 15 people, which generally has a business that generates less than a million a year. It is an evolving company that is in the process of identifying its product market. So, there are few robust elements to rely on. In these cases, what we are trying to understand is the extent of market appetite and how this team is better equipped than another to solve this problem.
Often, this will manifest itself in terms of the experience they have. For example, someone who has worked for 25 years in the field, who has experienced the problem for themselves, someone who has sold companies before starting another one, an operator who has shown that they are able to grow businesses. These are elements that prove the founders’ ability to propel a business.
There is also the complementarity of the team. We often think of the classic founder in technology and their founder in business. In deeptech, it is not as simple as that. Obviously, you will need an engineering, business, technological, scientific or even medical profile. These are elements that we want to see, and which will prove the adoption of the technology. We don’t only look at the team on its own, but also in the synergistic sense of the term.
In addition, there is the market appetite. We could have an interesting technology and we could suspect it is relevant for client XYZ. However, it can be a challenge to identify what these customers are looking for. This is called a market pull versus a tech push.
In a tech push, we have a solution that is looking for its market. Often, it lacks buy-in on the client side. What better market validation than a customer who has an appetite for a solution? At times like these, investors want to pay for the solution.
On the other hand, a market pull is when customers ask for a solution that is adapted to the market but, still, there is a certain difficulty in meeting customer demand. In those cases, it’s the type of indicator and signals we look for when investing in a business. We focus on the best-equipped team and the business model that seems to be the most scalable. “
