Back in January we broke the news that Brightspark, previously one of the most visible VC firms in Canada, was changing how they did business. Instead of looking for deals to invest in, which they complained were too few and far between, they would instead create web-based businesses themselves, or they would partner with other entrepreneurs to start businesses. Which BrightSpark would have an operational role in.
Tomorrow Toronto based Brightspark 3.0 will be announcing their first new business, Collectionbuddy.com, which is described like this:
Collectionbuddy?s ambition is to be the world?s largest living, user generated catalog of collectible items – The definitive encyclopedia of collectibles.
It is a tool for researching any collection or collectible, from McDonald?s toys, Airport Postcards to Delftware pottery.
The site?s content is user generated in much the same way as Wikipedia. The categories of collectibles are very similar to that of eBay?s.
Brightspark is also announcing that they are able to help build web-apps for your startup.
I have to admit, it is a little bewildering to see one of the most aggressive and interesting VCs in Canada turn in to a web consulting shop in the last 8 months. I am not sure why they didn’t just drop the Brightspark name completely and start fresh.
When I spoke to Mark Skapinker in January, he lamented that they literally just could not find enough good deals here in Canada and that was the primary reason they had for heading down this path.
In the last year we have seen this re-creation of Brightspark, turmoil at Celtic House, a gutting at VenturesWest (read the comments for some interesting analysis), and rumors are swirling about several other firms. This is a time of change, and we have to work hard to make sure that it is good that comes from it. You can’t blame Brightspark for not getting creative at least.
In the coming days I plan to chat with the BrightSpark team to find out how this transition has been going, and if it has been worth it.
Hey Jevon,
Correction: We had two primary reasons for going down this path: 1) We could not find enough deals that fit the traditional VC model. As you often write about, the market has changed and traditional VC models don’t always make a lot of sense in this environment. 2) We are pumped and excited about web 2.0, social networking and the new generation of Internet and mobile businesses, so much so that we have refocused Brightspark to start and run these businesses ourselves. Collectionbuddy is our first with more underway. Collectionbuddy has been a real exciting ride, and response so far is excellent.
As for our web-apps services, don’t knock us for running a real revenue creation business – we have a lot of domain expertise and are responding to high demand.
This is all part of the “re-emergence” of the technology sector in Canada reinventing itself. Because when the market wakes up to the fact that Canada cannot rely purely on a resource based economy, we will all find ourselves in the right place at the right time.
Look forward to speaking to you.
Regards
Mark
Hey Jevon,
Correction: We had two primary reasons for going down this path: 1) We could not find enough deals that fit the traditional VC model. As you often write about, the market has changed and traditional VC models don't always make a lot of sense in this environment. 2) We are pumped and excited about web 2.0, social networking and the new generation of Internet and mobile businesses, so much so that we have refocused Brightspark to start and run these businesses ourselves. Collectionbuddy is our first with more underway. Collectionbuddy has been a real exciting ride, and response so far is excellent.
As for our web-apps services, don't knock us for running a real revenue creation business – we have a lot of domain expertise and are responding to high demand.
This is all part of the “re-emergence” of the technology sector in Canada reinventing itself. Because when the market wakes up to the fact that Canada cannot rely purely on a resource based economy, we will all find ourselves in the right place at the right time.
Look forward to speaking to you.
Regards
Mark
I’m excited to see this. Brightspark was an investor in my last startup. They are very operational and technical – so this should not be a stretch for them. A few challenges I see though:
1.) You can’t be a little bit pregnant – at some point, you need full time committed and incented management at each company they start.
2.) Do they have some conflicts of interest? i.e. I would hesitate in outsourcing dev to an organization with the capital and talent to turn around and build something competitive and kick my ass. Also, they’re wearing several hats – they are still a traditional VC, now they’re an incubator and also a service provider.
To Mark’s comment – this is still great for the Canadian tech scene. Bring it on!
Mark
I'm excited to see this. Brightspark was an investor in my last startup. They are very operational and technical – so this should not be a stretch for them. A few challenges I see though:
1.) You can't be a little bit pregnant – at some point, you need full time committed and incented management at each company they start.
2.) Do they have some conflicts of interest? i.e. I would hesitate in outsourcing dev to an organization with the capital and talent to turn around and build something competitive and kick my ass. Also, they're wearing several hats – they are still a traditional VC, now they're an incubator and also a service provider.
To Mark's comment – this is still great for the Canadian tech scene. Bring it on!
Mark
Funny, Brightspark was created by Mark to do just what they are doing now; incubating new business ventures…
Funny, Brightspark was created by Mark to do just what they are doing now; incubating new business ventures…