CPE Media News – pcJournal (10/28/2018) – Portag3 Ventures, a company indirectly owned by Power Corporation of Canada (TSX: POW), has held an initial closing of Portag3 Ventures II LP, with $198 million capital commitments.
Anchored by Power Corporation of Canada’s three (3) subsidiaries, Power Financial Corporation (TSX: PWF), IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) and Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO), the second fintech company secured outside commitments first time from 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 Group and SSQ Insurance.
Portage3 Ventures expects to held subsequent closings to bring Fund II commitments to at least $300 million, with a target significantly in excess of that amount.
photo credit: Portag3 Ventures
News Release
Portag3 Ventures announces initial $198M closing of its second fintech fund
– Leading strategic investors join Power Financial entities to back ambitious, creative entrepreneurs –
TORONTO, Oct. 30, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ – Portag3 Ventures today announced the initial closing of Portag3 Ventures II LP (“Fund II”), its second fintech venture fund focused on early stage investments in the global financial technology sector.
Major institutional and strategic investors in the initial closing of the $198M new fund include 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 Group and SSQ Insurance. In addition, Power Financial Corporation (TSX: PWF), IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) and Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO) return as anchor investors following their investment in Portag3 Ventures’ first fund, launched in 2016. Subsequent closings are expected to bring Fund II commitments to at least $300M, with a target significantly in excess of that amount.
“Portag3 Ventures is uniquely positioned as one of the few platforms dedicated exclusively to fintech on a global scale, combining the people, capital and strategic reach of our LPs to create and support compelling investment opportunities,” said Paul Desmarais III, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman. “The early success of our first fund has allowed us to broaden our investor base to include highly strategic capital providers from outside the Power Financial group of companies, which will only strengthen our ability to support ambitious and creative fintech entrepreneurs.”
Portag3 Ventures’ core investment thesis – investing in global technology-focused companies by leveraging the Fund’s ecosystem, reach and insights to accelerate growth in its portfolio companies – has enabled it to become one of the leading fintech funds in Canada, managing over $400M in seven geographies across more than 30 different investments. The Portag3 model of matching proprietary opportunities with talent, capital, and Portag3’s network provides a winning formula for entrepreneurs and investors.
Fund II looks to take larger stakes in its investments, targeting 10-20% ownership of investee companies. Most recently, Fund II led a Series-A investment in Toronto-based Integrate.ai, a cloud-based machine learning platform that helps businesses harness consumer intelligence and engage customers without compromising privacy.
“We’re honoured outside investors of this caliber have chosen to partner with us,” said Adam Felesky, Co-Founder and CEO. “We aim to build on our early success from investments in companies such as Wealthsimple, alan and Albert and leverage key learnings from the first fund.”
About Portag3 Ventures
Portag3 Ventures is an early-stage investor dedicated to backing the next generation of innovative, global financial services companies working to benefit all consumers. With its longer-term commitments combined with its industry intelligence and operational expertise, Portag3 is the ideal partner for the bold and ambitious entrepreneur. Initially formed in 2016 as part of the Power Financial Corporation ecosystem in affiliation with Great-West Lifeco Inc. and IGM Financial Inc., Portag3 has since welcomed external investors to establish a leading, interconnected fintech ecosystem that successfully scales portfolio companies, shares key market insights, and leverages collective distribution power to drive financial services innovation across the globe. In addition to venture investing, Portag3 also seeks to help found global champions in financial services in partnership with fintech incubator Diagram Ventures. Portag3 today operates from Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Singapore. To learn more about Portag3 Ventures, visit http://p3vc.com.
SOURCE Portag3 Ventures
For further information:
Adam Daifallah, 514-316-7089, adaifallah@hatleystrategies.com.