Another fund of funds that was created under a federal government program designed to rejuvenate the Canadian venture capital (VC) market has closed its third round of funding.
The Kensington Venture Fund has had a third closing, which includes new commitments from institutional and individual investors and family offices, which increases total investor commitments to $237 million.
The fund was launched in November 2014 with $160 million in initial investments, including a lead investment from the federal government’s Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP). It has since made investments in seven Canadian VC funds and direct investments in four companies. The fund of funds targets other VC funds and companies in the IT, telecom, energy, cleantech, and digital media sectors.
Last week, it was announced that another of the funds of funds that was seeded under the VCAP program, the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, had closed after reaching its maximum size of $300 million. The Kensington Venture Fund remains open to new accredited and institutional investors until it reaches its maximum size of $300 million.
“We are pleased to see the increased investor attention to the Kensington Venture Fund,” said Rick Nathan, managing director of the fund’s manager, Kensington Capital Partners. “As our portfolio takes shape, we can see the entire Canadian venture capital sector getting a strong boost from the Venture Capital Action Plan.”