ID Capital Management Inc., a venture capital management firm investing in Quebec-based innovative start-up enterprises, today announced the launch of its first two investment funds, ID Fund L.P. and FIER ID s.e.c. These two funds now have investment capital totalling more than $40 million and are looking to reach $55 million in the near future.

ID Capital is seeking dynamic entrepreneurs with business plans that meet specific criteria. The target enterprises are in the start-up phase and must have developed a new and innovative product or technology that can be patent protected and also presents excellent market potential. Investments by ID Capital serve mainly to support their initial marketing activities. Since ID Capital works closely with the companies it funds, most of its investments will be made in the greater Montreal area.

ID Capital was created by Telesystem Ltd., a Canadian private company founded in 1984 by Charles Sirois, which has been successfully investing in numerous start-up companies for the past 20 years. The investors in the ID Capital funds, in addition to Telesystem, are Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, the Quebec government, which is the main investor in FIER ID, and local business persons.

ID Capital is based in Montreal and is headed by three partners who have been members of the Telesystem family for more than 10 years, David Bernardi, Daniel Cyr and Jean-Paul Tardif. Louis Saint-Jacques completes the team as a principal.

Sirois, who is Chairman at ID Capital and chairman/CEO at Telesystem, said he is very pleased with the launch of ID Capital, which has the mission to support innovative entrepreneurs and help them to develop companies with global reach in a variety of industries. “ID Capital and entrepreneurs will benefit from the support of all members of the Telesystem network,” he added.