Is Yaletown actively seeking new investment opportunities?

Yes. 

Where does Yaletown’s capital come from?

Sophisticated institutional and private investors in Canada and the United States are Yaletown’s major investors.  These investors include major pension funds, funds-of-funds, financial institutions, and professionally managed family offices.  The balance of Yaletown’s capital comes from the Yaletown team and from an extensive network of the most accomplished technology entrepreneurs, executives, and angel investors in our market.  Yaletown's initial fund completed its first closing in mid-2003.  Yaletown’s second fund completed its first closing in October 2008.

What is Yaletown's investment focus?

We are an early-stage equity investor focused by stage of company development, by sector, and by geographic location.  We enter all of our deals early and only invest in private companies.  We invest in cleantech deals in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.  We invest in Information Technology deals Western Canada. 

How does Yaletown identify potential investments?

Our doors are always open to visionary entrepreneurs – whether they find us or we find them.  Most opportunities are referred to Yaletown through an active network  in our local market.  Our network includes an extensive and diverse group of technology angels, entrepreneurs, executives, researchers, and service providers who know the Yaletown team.  More often than not, Yaletown is the first call – the place where entrepreneurs are introduced to collaborate on their plans as they take shape.

Will Yaletown lead my deal?

We originate and lead the formation of the investor syndicate in almost all of our deals.  We typically partner with other quality venture capital firms and we also partner with experienced technology angel investors.

Why should I believe the Yaletown team will work hard for me?

When Yaletown invests in a company, every member of Yaletown’s investment team is a material investor alongside the institutional and individual investors in our funds.   This aligns our interests with investors and entrepreneurs - we make money only if you make money.  This is why every member of the Yaletown team contributes his unique skills and perspective behind the scenes to support the lead partner on each of our portfolio companies.   We are a team, not a collection of individuals.

How much does Yaletown typically invest?

Our initial investment is typically $1 million to $2.5 million. We continue to invest in our companies across follow-on financing rounds as an active participant. 

Does Yaletown ever invest alone?

We are never the sole investor in our companies.  We do however occasionally enter extraordinary seed opportunities as the only venture capital fund alongside proven technology angel investors and founder teams as a partner in launching a concept-stage business.  In these cases, Yaletown takes the lead role in syndicating the first venture capital financing as the business takes shape.  We typically partner with other quality venture capital firms at the Series A and later rounds. 

What other venture funds does Yaletown collaborate with?

We have co-invested and collaborated with many quality venture capital fund partners in the United States, Canada, and from overseas. Yaletown places a priority on building strong syndication relationships through the sharing of dealflow, market intelligence, contacts, and perspective. A few examples of venture funds we have invested with recently are: In the US Northwest- OVP and Madrona. In the Silicon Valley – Granite and Nth Power. From Israel – Vertex.  From Europe – Good Energies. From Asia – Itochu and the venture investment group of a major Japanese automaker. In Canada – large national firms such as Growthworks, Ventures West, and BDC.

Why does Yaletown actively co-invest with angels?

Yaletown has co-invested with more than 40 angel investors who have impressive track records of building value in technology companies as entrepreneurs, executives, technologists, and venture investors.  We believe that the wealth of experience these individual investors bring builds better companies. While the majority of the future capital may come from Yaletown and other venture fund co-investors, it is our experience that the value of angels’ contributions go far beyond their cheques.

When does Yaletown seek to exit its investments?

We are a patient investor focused on optimizing the returns potential of every business in which we become a partner.  Our goal is to realize gains in five to eight years.   We believe it is good discipline to discuss exit objectives up front, and to review those objectives regularly with our entrepreneur partners.

How much does “luck” play into early-stage technology investing?

Funny thing about luck - the harder you work, the more deliberate about the opportunities you pursue, the more luck you just might have.   Luck can be a great outcome, but it’s not a great plan.