Sail Capital stopped fundraising for a new cleantech venture fund it planned to launch in Toronto, blaming its joint venture partner, NY-based investment bank Stifel Financial, for not coming through with $100 million in capital it had committed to the project, says the Wall Street Journal. In August, Stifel said it plans to close down its Canadian operations, citing a downturn in Canada’s mining and energy industries. The two firms previously announced in early 2012 that they had plans to launch a new early stage cleantech venture fund based in Toronto.
EnerTech Capital recently raised $120 million for a new Canadian cleantech venture fund that will invest in early stage cleantech, oil and gas innovation, and water efficiency companies in the U.S. and Canada. The firm’s existing presence in Canada did not just help attract investors but it’s likely to give them access to good deals, particularly in places like Alberta and Quebec, the firm’s CEO Wally Hunter told the WSJ.
The venture industry in Canada is growing rapidly, partly to do with the fact that its institutional investors there were less impacted by the 2008 financial crisis. Canadian venture funds were able to raise capital at a much faster rate than U.S. venture funds in 2012, with funds raised growing by 73% to $1.8 billion, although from a substantially smaller base, according to data cited by the WSJ.
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