Edmonton, Alberta – May 3rd, 2022
Western Canada-based Sprout.vc announces the 1st close of its new Seed fund – Sprout Fund II. Sprout Fund now has over $10m under management and will continue to raise additional capital from family offices, strategic investors, and other funds. The launch of Fund II allows the firm to continue its successful model of investing in some of the most promising B2B software startups in Western Canada.
The genesis of Sprout Fund
Sprout Fund I was launched in 2019 to test the market for a Seed fund built by B2B entrepreneurs with decades of operating and growth experience in Canada and the US. “We believed that providing mentor capital, in addition to financial capital, at the early stage, would dramatically accelerate the growth of the startups we invest in. Our portfolio companies have experienced valuation lifts of 3x to 10x, in less than three years, demonstrating the effectiveness of our model,” said Kristina Milke, Sprout.vc Partner.
Building the ecosystem
“We are active contributors to the ecosystem in Western Canada providing mentorship to a wide range of early-stage startups. Our ‘pay it forward’ approach resonates with founders and co-investors and provides us access to the best early-stage B2B startups in the region. We’re excited to back great founders with more capital and mentorship,” said Mark Benning, Sprout Fund Partner.
“Sprout Fund was our first institutional investor and their team was instrumental in helping us understand how to focus our limited resources to position us for our follow-on round. This helped 10x the valuation of our company in eighteen months,” stated Matthew Smith, founder of fintech startup, MazumaGo, a Sprout.vc portfolio company.
A region poised to grow
While the region has broken investment records over the last few years with growing US venture interest, there is still a major gap at the Seed stage, according to the Canadian Venture Capital Association. “With the recent launch of world class accelerators in the region, such as 500 Global, Plug & Play, Alchemist, and Catalyzer, we will see growth in both the quality and quantity of hyper-growth startups over the next few years. We expect that we will continue to generate outsized returns given the combination of our unique model and these exciting developments in our ecosystem,” said Shaheel Hooda, Sprout Fund Partner.
Laura Kilcrease, CEO of Alberta Innovates, added that “Western Canada and, Alberta particularly, is poised for an explosion of startup opportunities where new wealth is being created from technology and innovation. Sprout Fund is well positioned to knowledgeably accelerate selected investments with both mentorship and capital.”
About Sprout Fund
Seed stage venture and mentor capital to accelerate the growth of Western Canadian B2B software startups… that’s what we provide. We recognize that the most successful founding teams, building the most globally relevant companies, demonstrate a unique blend of hustle and diversity. In addition to our active mentorship, our additional value-add comes from the diversity of our investor pool who are successful entrepreneurs in industries from crypto to real estate and from ed-tech to energy.
Sprout Fund has completed the first closing of Fund II and is raising additional capital from family offices and institutional investors. Great founders and interested accredited investors can reach us at: info@sproutfund.vc.