Whitecap Venture Partners Launches Third Fund with $70 Million

Toronto’s Whitecap Venture Partners announced today Whitecap III, the venture capital firm’s third fund and first to bring in investments from limited partners (LPs).

In its first close, Whitecap has raised $70 million ($20 million more than its initial $50 million target) towards an ultimate fund size of $80 to $100 million.

LPs in the new fund include Kensington Venture Fund, Bank of Montreal (BMO), and several high net-worth families.

As a diversified early stage fund focused on industry sectors where Whitecap has built domain knowledge and has demonstrated success, Whitecap III will invest in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Med Tech and Food Tech sectors.

“Having invested in emerging growth companies for more than 20 years, we are pleased to have made a significant difference in fostering innovation in Canada,” says Carey Diamond, Partner, Whitecap III.

“In opening the doors to outside investors in our venture fund for the first time, we believe we can now have an even greater impact on driving early-stage company development in key tech sectors thanks to our ability to fund bigger deals and meaningfully participate in follow-on investments. Our LPs believe this too, as they committed 70 percent of our targeted funds within just 90 days, establishing great momentum to launch our next platform.”

The Whitecap Venture Partners leadership team brings a wealth of experience to the new fund, and includes Carey Diamond, Blaine Hobson, and Joe Catalfamo.

The Fund has assembled an impressive advisory board of exceptional entrepreneurs and business leaders from the formative ventures Whitecap’s partners have previously backed, including Marcel LeBrun, former co-founder and CEO of Radian6; Jason Smith, CEO of Real Matters; Wael Mohamed, COO and director of Trend Micro and former co-founder and CEO of Third Brigade; Bob Courteau, CEO of Altus Group and former president, North America, of SAP AG.