Axelys and Investissement Québec will collaborate to deliver a new commercialisation fund called Eurêka.
The government of Québec committed C$100m ($78m) to a new fund that will look to support the commercialisation of and provide pre-seed financing to innovations based on public research in the Canadian province.
The money is being supplied through its investment company, Investissement Québec, which will manage the fund called Eurêka. The vehicle will have a 20-year horizon and primarily operate as a fund-of-funds, but will also seek out co-investment agreements in the form of management mandates with select partners.
Investissement Québec will collaborate with regional tech transfer organisation Axelys, which will source high-potential projects and support the fund’s activities through its expertise in business development, tech transfer and intellectual property management.
Specifically, Eurêka will look to stimulate the creation of spinouts based on public research, support a new generation of entrepreneurs, attract private pre-seed funding for its portfolio and promote increased networking between spinouts, venture capital funds and other relevant organisations.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, minister of the economy and innovation and minister responsible for regional economic development, commented: “Innovation is the key to Quebec’s economic growth. We must take advantage of our research talent to generate more new technology companies.
“By investing in these companies at the early stages and attracting private investors, the Eurêka fund will allow us to accompany our innovations from the lab to the market. We will contribute to the emergence of more innovative startups and to the dissemination of our products and know-how around the world.”
Paule De Blois, president and chief executive of Axelys, added: “The creation of the Eurêka fund will make it possible to increase support for Quebec-based early-stage scientific companies in the critical pre-seed phase.
“At this stage, the risk of technological development is still very high, since the technology needs to be scaled up and industrialised. Through the Eurêka fund, the government will give scientific entrepreneurs confidence in the future and provide them with the means to manage this risk and accelerate the transition to the commercialisation stage.
“With strong science-based companies, the whole of Quebec will win by being at the forefront of tomorrow’s economy. I am looking forward to launching and supporting ambitious projects of scientific companies to help maximise the benefits of public research.”
– Both comments were translated from the original French by Global University Venturing.
