I first met John Stokes a few years ago when he landed on to the Canadian startup scene and started talking about his new fund Montreal Start-up. In March 2008 they raised a small initial fund which they quickly deployed in to some nice deals in Montreal including Status.net and Whatsnexx.
John and the team, which includes Austin Hill, announced today that they will be taking commitments from the Quebec Government (through Investissement Quebec) at $50 milion, Solidarity Fund QFL, which is investing $33 million, and by FIER Partners, which plans to invest $17 million.
The fund still needs to raise over $8million directly from LPs, which Investissement Quebec seems to think will be a snap and done in 4 months, but I am not so sure. I hope I am proven wrong.
In case any potential LPs are reading this right now, here is my advice: Do this one. Do it because this team is going to do more than just pass the time humming over deals — you will get hustle, an aggressive attitude and a group that understands that Canada needs more hustle and less of the same old.
John and the team are connected and tuned in to the community. Early stage entrepreneurs trust this team and they are the kind of guys who can get your money in to some great opportunities.
Congrats and good luck.
Good job guys! Great team effort from MSU and its founding Investors to get this new fund going. Founder fuel has a key role to play in the early stage startup community. going from $5M fund I to a $50M fund II is no easy task!
Alan, JS, John, Congrat's!
“Do this one.” – here here
Just do it. Congrat guys!
Good job guys! Great team effort from MSU and its founding Investors to get this new fund going. Founder fuel has a key role to play in the early stage startup community. going from $5M fund I to a $50M fund II is no easy task!
Alan, JS, John, Congrat’s!
“Do this one.” – here here
Thanks Jevon for the nice piece and vote of confidence, greatly appreciated. If you don't mind, I would like to clarify the numbers. Investissement Quebec and FIER Partenaire, which includes FTQ will commit $34M to the fund. We have to bring in $8.25M in commitments from the private sector to close at a minimum of $42.25M. Our target is to reach $50m and beyond. So far the reception has been good and we are confident that with the support of the community we can have a first close inside 4 months, although using your words, it certainly won't “be a snap”. Cheers
Just do it. Congrats guys!
Thanks Jevon for the nice piece and vote of confidence, greatly appreciated. If you don’t mind, I would like to clarify the numbers. Investissement Quebec and FIER Partenaire, which includes FTQ will commit $34M to the fund. We have to bring in $8.25M in commitments from the private sector to close at a minimum of $42.25M. Our target is to reach $50m and beyond. So far the reception has been good and we are confident that with the support of the community we can have a first close inside 4 months, although using your words, it certainly won’t “be a snap”. Cheers
Thanks everyone for your comments of support. We are excited & grateful to have this opportunity to help serve the Canadian technology community.
Thanks everyone for your comments of support. We are excited & grateful to have this opportunity to help serve the Canadian technology community.
Thanks Jevon !
We have some busy weeks ahead of us as we close the fund … and then it will get busier !
We have always though of ourselves as a start-up; working out of cafe's, low burn operations, constantly iterating on our investment model. We seem to have got some traction – so now it's time to see if we can scale!
Thanks for the kind words Jevon. We're looking forward to scaling up what we've been doing with Montreal Start Up. Cheers!
Thanks Jevon !
We have some busy weeks ahead of us as we close the fund … and then it will get busier !
We have always though of ourselves as a start-up; working out of cafe’s, low burn operations, constantly iterating on our investment model. We seem to have got some traction – so now it’s time to see if we can scale!
John, Daniel, Alan, JS, Austin,
Great work guys – very impressive but also very much deserved. You guys are making a difference in the market place, and that is what matters. You're deploying capital, actively engaged in the sector and adding value to your entrepreneurs!
Congratulations.
Shahir
Thanks for the kind words Jevon. We’re looking forward to scaling up what we’ve been doing with Montreal Start Up. Cheers!
John, Daniel, Alan, JS, Austin,
Great work guys – very impressive but also very much deserved. You guys are making a difference in the market place, and that is what matters. You’re deploying capital, actively engaged in the sector and adding value to your entrepreneurs!
Congratulations.
Shahir
Great website, thanks a lot !
Great website, thanks a lot !