TORONTO – Portag3 Ventures (“Portag3”) today announced the final closing of Portag3 Ventures II LP (“Fund II”), its second venture fund focused on early stage investments in the global financial technology sector, with commitments totaling C$427M.
New institutional and strategic investors committing funds to this round were: Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Aviva France, BDC Capital, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, CNP Assurances, The Co-operators, Eldridge Industries, Green Shield Canada, Harel Insurance & Finance, iA Financial Group (TSX: IAG), Laurentian Bank (TSX: LB), NSV Wolf Capital, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and Western & Southern Financial Group.
These LPs join National Bank of Canada (TSX: NA), Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC), Guardian Capital Group (TSX: GCG), Equitable Bank (TSX: EQB), La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services and SSQ Insurance, all of whom invested at the time of the $198M first close in October 2018. Power Financial Corporation (TSX: PWF), IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) and Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO) remain anchor investors following their investment in Portag3 Ventures’ first fund, launched in 2016.
Together, this investor group represents a unique combination of Canadian and global financial institutions, institutional allocators and other major investors, whose partnership will help to drive the Portag3 Ventures ecosystem through the life of the fund and beyond.
“Portag3 Ventures has become the largest fintech-focused VC fund in Canada and one of the leading Series A/B fintech-focused funds globally,” said Paul Desmarais III, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Portag3 Ventures and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sagard Holdings. “Portag3 has a distinctive investment focus and the investment and operational capabilities to deliver both strong financial and strategic returns to our LPs to drive continued change and disruption in financial services. Portag3 has become a key pillar in the larger Sagard Holdings ecosystem, evolving from an internally funded venture platform into a multi-investor fund with a broad array of strategic LPs from around the globe. We are very excited to welcome our new investors and look forward to collaborating.”
Portag3 invests in fintech companies globally, with an emphasis on Canada, the U.S., Europe and key markets in Asia-Pacific. Key verticals include digital wealth management, insurance, personal and small business finance as well as applications of enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence in a financial services context.
Portag3 also recently announced the creation of a group of senior advisors to work with its portfolio companies. Members include the President and CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management, Gregory J. Fleming; Implementation Trustee for the Open Banking Implementation Entity in the United Kingdom, Imran Gulamhuseinwala; and the former President and CEO of AIG, Peter Hancock.
“We will continue working hard to build a portfolio of investments in highly attractive fintech companies on a global basis,” said Adam Felesky, Co-Founder and CEO of Portag3 Ventures. “Our commitment goes far beyond simply capital. We provide access to vertical experts, senior advisors, a broad ecosystem at Sagard Holdings as well as opportunities for partnerships with our diverse international investor base.”
To date, Fund II has made investments in 17 companies – among them KOHO, Clark, Integrate.ai and Diagram Ventures, the venture-builder that co-founds companies in the financial and insurance sectors, which Portag3 has backed from inception.
About Portage Ventures
Portage Ventures, the venture capital arm of multi-asset class alternative investment firm Sagard, is an early-stage investor dedicated to supporting financial technology companies. Its team has deep entrepreneurial and industry experience and provides its portfolio company founders with privileged access to its partners, in-house experts, and a broader global ecosystem. Portage Ventures has a presence in Montreal, Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Paris.
For more information, contact: Adam Daifallah, 514-316-7089, [email protected].