SKYPOINT CAPITAL AND
VENTURE COACHES ANNOUNCE MERGER
Deal creates dominant early stage venture capital firm
OTTAWA, ON, December 2, 2003 - Skypoint Capital and Venture Coaches, two of Canada's leading venture capital firms, today announced a merger of their operations under the Skypoint Capital name. The combined operational and business experience of the new team will be of tremendous benefit for seed and early stage technology companies in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Both existing and future portfolio companies will be able to leverage the extensive strategic network as well as the team's entrepreneurial expertise.
Together, the firm now has US$185 million under management and over the past five years has funded 34 companies primarily in Canada, but also the US, Israel and the UK. The members of the newly merged venture capital team have participated in more than 75 technology start-ups in the Ottawa and Montreal region.
"The financial opportunity to invest in early stage technology companies is more compelling than ever. Skypoint continues to see many new opportunities in the Ottawa and Montreal region for disruptive technological innovation. The merger allows us to expand our management talent and create a team with unmatched operational, financial, technical and business development expertise", said Leo Lax, General Partner and co-Founder, Skypoint Capital.
"By joining forces we are combining a group of entrepreneurial venture
capital firms that have excellent reputations, extensive networks, and share
similar investment strategies", added Claude Haw, Managing Partner and
co-Founder, Venture Coaches. "The Partners of Skypoint and Venture Coaches
have long-standing business relationships both as
co-investors and from previous experience at Newbridge Networks and Mitel
Corporation. We look forward to working together and providing continued value
for our current portfolio companies and new investments."
Venture Coaches has joined Skypoint Capital in their recently expanded offices in Ottawa and Montreal. Claude Haw, Founder and Managing Partner of Venture Coaches will join Skypoint as General Partner alongside Leo Lax, Andrew Katz, Peter Charbonneau and Louis Desmarais to form the senior management team. Also joining Skypoint will be Larry Perron as Partner and Jaswinder Kaur as Senior Associate and Director of Marketing. The new Skypoint organization has a total of 17 professionals and staff working in the Ottawa and Montreal offices.
"This combination of early stage investment talent coupled with a solid base of capital is good news for emerging technology companies in the region." commented Mary Macdonald, President and CEO of Macdonald & Associates, Canada's venture experts. "It's a forward looking move at a time when the market itself is starting to look ahead again."
About Skypoint Capital (www.skypointcorp.com):
Skypoint Capital Corporation forms and manages venture capital funds that
stimulate and leverage the ever-changing telecommunications and information
technology sector. Its funds provide early-stage equity capital to new or
growing businesses with the potential to become major enterprises. The expertise
and dedicated management of its Partners and staff help maximize the likelihood
of success.
About Venture Coaches (www.venturecoaches.com):
Venture Coaches was founded in 2000 as an Ottawa based early-stage investor
committed to building the next wave of communications and information technology
companies. The Partners use their extensive operational knowledge and experience
to mentor portfolio companies in technology development, corporate governance
and business development.
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Contacts:
Ottawa office: Montreal office:
Andrew Katz or Claude Haw Louis Desmarais
555 Legget Drive 1501 McGill College Ave.
Tower B, Suite 830 Suite 2240
Ottawa, Ontario K2K 2X3 Montreal, Quebec H3B 3N2
Tel: (613) 271-1500 Tel: (514) 878-1400
akatz@skypointcorp.com ldesmarais@skypointcorp.com
chaw@skypointcorp.com
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