Dave Chan, National Post Ken Wigglesworth, left, and Conrad Lewis, co-founders of Eagle One Ventures, at their unfinished office in Kanata, Ont.

OTTAWA - Canadian technology companies looking for that elusive round of financing get a new potential source today when venture capital firm Eagle One Ventures officially opens its doors.

The companies in which Eagle One invests will get more than just money. Co-founders Ken Wigglesworth and Conrad Lewis, former executives at Newbridge Networks Corp., say they will offer mentoring and advice to speed up the growth rates of early stage telecom and networking infrastructure companies.

Eagle One has established a formal relationship with Newbury Ventures, a huge Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that will rely on Eagle One to scout out potential investments in Canada. Newbury recently closed a US$250-million fund, its third, and is looking for companies in which to invest that money.

"Canada is our space as far as Newbury Ventures is concerned," Mr. Lewis said.

Mr. Lewis and Mr. Wigglesworth are on the board of Venture Coaches, a local venture capital firm that focuses on seed investing in idea-stage companies. They will help Venture Coaches select investees for its own $50-million fund. The two partners also use their own money for angel investing.

The focus of Eagle One is on making early-stage investments in Canadian telecommunications, networking and telecom infrastructure sectors. The partners already have forged relationships with more than 20 early stage companies: investing, helping them find other investors, giving strategic advice and offering access to industry contacts.

It is a process they call "mentor capitalism" -- usually through a seat on the board of directors or on an advisory board.

"In the current market conditions, people are spending so much time just trying to line up financing. Meanwhile, there's a business to be run," Mr. Lewis said.

"We can help streamline the growth of these companies, speed up the process and help them move from one stage to the next more quickly," Mr. Wigglesworth added.

They already have been engaged as advisors by companies such as MetroPhotonics Inc., Tropic Networks Inc., Northwood Technologies Inc., Sybridge Technologies Inc. and Waterfall Networks.

The two worked together at Newbridge, Mr. Wigglesworth as chief financial officer, and Mr. Lewis as executive vice-president of broadband access and network management. They both left shortly after Newbridge was purchased by Alcatel SA last year. Both have been angel investors in Ottawa technology companies but wanted to add some structure to their advisory work with these startup firms.

They have set up shop in Kanata, close to their investee companies. For the first few weeks, they used office furniture borrowed from Alcatel while they waited for their own to be delivered.

The company is called Eagle One in honour of top air force pilots, "who represent the ultimate in high-tech performance," Mr. Lewis said. Mr. Lewis's father, the late Ken Lewis, was Canada's first air force chief to retire with his full high-performance pilot rating.

"He was responsible for selecting Canada's air force fighter," Mr. Lewis said. "And he insisted on personally taking each [candidate] plane through its test flight."

Mr. Lewis and Mr. Wigglesworth each took a stake in Waterfall in its seed round of financing earlier this year. They have also offered finance and operational advice and participated in product strategy and R&D decisions.

"The one thing those two guys have going for them in spades is that they are real operators, not just career VCs," said Craig Betts, Waterfall's CEO. "They participate in management meetings, they'll answer the phone, go over spreadsheets, look at presentations for investors ... they take a real active role."