Teralys Capital Injects $50 Million in Rho Canada Venture Fund II to Invest in Tech Startups

Teralys Capital has announced a $50 million investment in Rho Canada Venture Fund II, concurrent with its initial closing of $100 million.

Rho Canada, based in Montréal, will build continue to make early stage investments in new media, mobile applications, wireless infrastructure, semiconductors and software. The fund will be managed in partnership with Rho Capital Partners and Teralys Capital is also partnering with Canadian institutional investors including BDC Venture Capital, Ontario Venture Capital Fund and Fondaction.

“Rho Canada plays a pivotal role with our entrepreneurs in Québec by providing them access to an international network of strategic partners, customers and co-investors,” said Jacques Bernier, Managing Partner of Teralys Capital. “Rho Capital and Rho Canada have a significant history of deal making in Québec, having financed several companies in the province over the past 5 years and attracted over $200 million in direct and foreign investments. Recent investments in Accedian Networks, Beyond the Rack and Enerkem clearly illustrate how Rho Capital’s network and expertise can accelerate their growth.”

“The closing of this second fund will enable Rho Canada to continue to add value to Québec entrepreneurs while delivering strong returns to our investors,” said Jeff Grammer, Partner with Rho Canada. “The continuous support of our institutional investors has enabled us to back technology companies that will have a strong impact on Canada’s economy and we look forward to continue to deliver on this strategy with our second fund.”

The announcement was held in Montreal earlier today during DemoDay and AccelerateMTL 2012.

“The Québec startup ecosystem has been going through a renaissance over the past few years which was fueled in great part by Teralys Capital,” said Jean-Sébastien Cournoyer, co-founder of FounderFuel. Entrepreneurs with a vision to build great companies need a complete funding ecosystem to succeed. We’re happy to have Rho Canada as a partner and co-investor. “The ability to build real cross-border relationships and provide mentoring to promising startups is key”, added Chris Arsenault, C100 Charter Member and Board Member. “With this new fund, Rho Canada joins a select group of early stage investors that can help local entrepreneurs scale their businesses internationally.”

Teralys Capital is a fund of funds created to finance private venture capital funds focused on investing in life sciences, information technology and cleantech companies. The fund has over $700 million in capital commitments from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Solidarity Fund QFL and Investissement Québec.

Rho Canada is a division of Rho Capital Partners focusing on early-stage investing in Canada’s most innovative technology companies. Rho Canada has $200 million under management across two early stage funds.