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VENTURE FUND TO LINK BOSTON-TORONTO-MONTREAL IN LIFE SCIENCES PARTNERSHIP
The fund is focused on finding, funding, and pursuing new life science opportunities from world-class institutions along the Eastern seaboard of the U.S., and into Ontario, and Quebec. These regions represent some of the fastest growing geographic clusters for life sciences in North America. “This joint venture helps to address the need for more vehicles to foster and encourage new entries into the sector while giving firms access to much needed capital that will help them commercialize their innovations,” said Gordon M. Nixon, president and CEO, RBC Financial Group. “The presence of institutional investors in this sector is very important to its development and future strength.” Joining the co-sponsors are a number of institutional investors including The Solidarity Fund QFL, a major institutional fund headquartered in Montreal with more than C$4.6 billion in assets, and Innovatech Montréal, Quebec’s leading high-tech venture capital investor. The fund’s managers have each spent over 20 years in the life sciences industry and the complementary capabilities of their co-sponsors create a unique value proposition for life science investing. The fund managers are: Dr. Dana Ono, who brings extensive entrepreneurial experience in the biotechnology arena, having founded and operated several companies; Mr. David Marcus, who brings senior corporate and new venture experience in the life sciences, having founded and served as CEO of several companies; and The broad investment and operating experience of the fund managers, in both the U.S. and Canada, has resulted in an extensive cross-border network of investors, entrepreneurs, and advisors. This network provides VMM with preferential access to emerging technologies and proprietary deal flow from world-class institutions spread across Boston, Montreal and Toronto. In turn, this enables the fund to maximize cross-border synergies and generate superior returns. Commenting on the investment, Anthony V. Lando, BTG’s chief operating officer said: “We’re pleased to participate in this fund, which has complementary goals to our early stage technology investment activities, and to gain access to high quality life sciences opportunities in this important region.” “We are very enthusiastic about this new fund within VIMAC and the commitment of partners such as RBC and BTG,” said Robert Roeper, the managing director of VIMAC Ventures LLC. “Our goal is for the VMM Fund to become a major force in the funding of entrepreneurial life science opportunities in North America.”
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