Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Desjardins Group have formed an investment fund dedicated solely to the financial technology (FinTech) sector and to artificial intelligence applied to finance.
CDPQ and Desjardins will each contribute $25 million. The fund is expected to raise additional $25 million from other institutional investors by the end of the year.
Established in Montréal, this venture capital fund’s purpose is to support the growth and development of new FinTech companies in Québec and Canada.
This fund, created under CDPQ’s initiative and built in partnership with Desjardins, will operate independently.
An experienced manager with the skills to seize the best business opportunities in the Canadian FinTech and finance-related artificial intelligence market will be appointed by the two sponsors soon. A technology advisory committee made up of information technology and finance sector leaders will be created to support the fund’s activities and companies in its portfolio.
“With its high concentration of talent in information technology and the robustness of its financial industry, all the pieces are in place for Québec to see the emergence of a first-rate FinTech industry. We strongly believe that this new fund will foster the development of new technology solutions that will significantly improve business processes and operational efficiency,” said Pierre Miron, Chief Operations and IT Officer at la Caisse.
“This new fund is very timely. Not even two weeks ago, the Brookfield Institute ranked Montréal in first place in Canada for its concentration of jobs in the high-tech sector. This support for FinTech will enable our financial sector companies to be world-class pioneers, particularly with regard to customer experience and competitiveness with the giants that are moving into our industry,” explained Guy Cormier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group.
This fund, which has yet to be named by its sponsors, will make share capital investments. It will target companies that develop technology affecting investments, payments, client acquisition and retention, data analysis, deposits and loans, security or insurance. Companies will need to demonstrate that they possess: experienced entrepreneurs; an adaptable business model; a competitive product that is already generating interest and targets large markets.
The creation of this fund was announced during the Canada FinTech Forum, organized by Finance Montréal to identify and facilitate the development of business opportunities in the financial services and information technology industries.
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