Provincial and federal governments in Canada launch new CAN$100m venture fund.

The Ontario Venture Capital Fund’s (OVCF) successor has been announced and is due to be launched with $100m backing, according to the premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne.

The Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, supported by the Canadian government on both national and a local level, will follow in the footsteps of the OVCF. The OVCF, launched in 2008, has attracted $872m in private sector capital and helped create and retain over 1,500 jobs.

The new fund will be aimed at early-stage investments in startups, potentially including university spin-outs. Wynne said: “I know that if we want even more entrepreneurs in Ontario to take their ideas to the next level […] we need to do everything we can to help our province’s up-and-coming businesses.”

She added: “We partnered with the federal government as well as corporate and institutional investors to launch the new Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund […] which could ultimately leverage up to $300 million in investments.”