iNovia Capital, a manager of seed and early stage venture capital funds, announced today that it has established Alberta operations in partnership with key local institutions in order to provide entrepreneurial capital and help build successful technology companies in Western Canada.

Following its recent announcement of the $107 million iNovia Investment Fund II, L.P. (iNovia II), iNovia Capital has begun identifying promising early stage opportunities and working with some of Western Canada’s most outstanding entrepreneurs and local partners. iNovia II expects to invest in a broad range of companies over the course of the next four years. The fund typically invests between $500,000 and $2 million initially, and up to $7 million over the life of a company.

Establishing local partnerships to foster growth in its portfolio companies is an important part of iNovia Capital’s strategy of providing entrepreneurs and early stage investee companies with unparalleled access to intellectual property, industry expertise and research facilities.

iNovia Capital is the first major seed and early stage private venture capital fund to establish operations in Alberta, thanks to the leadership of Alberta-based investors including AVAC Ltd, the University of Alberta, and a number of strategic local angel investors and successful entrepreneurs.

“Our investment in iNovia II as a limited partner under our recently launched IVAC Early Stage Venture Fund initiative represents a key step in building Alberta’s access to capital for promising early stage companies,” said Ross Bricker, president and CEO of AVAC Ltd. “In light of iNovia Capital’s proven track record, we are firm believers in their early stage investment strategy and unique partnership model.”

“Alberta offers some of the most promising technology investment opportunities anywhere, a growing number of repeat entrepreneurs and an active angel community,” says Shawn Abbott, newly appointed Partner at iNovia Capital. “The community of talent we are building with these relationships is central to developing world class technology companies.”

iNovia Capital has entered into a series of strategic relationships with key technology commercialization partners representing nearly a billion dollars per year of research and development activity in Alberta, providing iNovia Capital with deep industry knowledge and insight.

“Through our strategic partnership with iNovia Capital, TEC Edmonton connects to a vital link for business development and investment capital,” says David Cox, CEO of TEC Edmonton. “Access to seed funding is critical for our local spin-off and start-up companies to grow viable corporations and this relationship improves that access.”

“iNovia’s capability, which includes a team of more than a dozen investment professionals, is the ideal next step for our IGNITE companies,” says Paul Cataford, president and CEO of University Technologies Inc..

“This amount of capital will not only help entrepreneurs commercialize their innovations and bring new and exciting products to market, but it will further help to build a more vibrant diversified economy in Alberta,” says John Masters, president and CEO, Calgary Technologies Inc.

John McDougall, president and CEO of the Alberta Research Council says, “Our cooperation agreement with iNovia Capital is already presenting additional commercialization options for Alberta’s foremost applied research and development.”