Canada's beleaguered venture capital community is getting a shot in the arm from Electronic Arts, as the video game titan is expected to back a $200-million Vancouver-based fund.
A tip of the hat to web site peHub for picking up on news that EA is one of six founding partners behind VanEdge Capital, a fund that will focus a gaming and digital media-related investments. The initial round of fundraising is focused on pulling in $100-million, with a long-term goal of being twice that size. An offical launch is expected by the end of the month.
B.C.'s biggest money managers are also said to be backing VanEdge Capital, which will be led by EA veterans. The British Columbia Investment Management Corp., BC Renaissance Capital Fund and federal Business Development Bank are expected to step up, according to peHub.
This is the second large Canadian venture capital fund launched by corporate backers in the past year: Research in Motion and Thomson Reuters put $150-million behind the BlackBerry Partners Fund last May. There has been very little other new insitutional capital committed to this space, and a number of large domestic investors have curtailed allocations to the sector.