About the Ontario Venture Capital Fund

Overview

The Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF) is a joint initiative between the Government of Ontario and leading institutional investors to invest primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds that support innovative, high growth companies.

OVCF is structured as a fund of funds with the primary objective of generating attractive returns for its investors. The fund closed in June 2008 with $205 million in capital commitments, of which $90 million came from the Government of Ontario. Northleaf manages the Fund on behalf of the investors, which include the Government of Ontario, TD Bank, RBC, the Business Development Bank of Canada, and Manulife Financial.

OVCF is fully committed and performing well.

Portfolio Guidelines

Through a disciplined focus on generating attractive returns for its Lead Investors and fostering the development of high-quality fund managers, OVCF will serve as a new and important catalyst in ongoing efforts to create a profitable, globally competitive and self-sustaining venture capital industry in Ontario.

The OVCF portfolio will consist principally of Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth-oriented funds and direct co-investments.
A minimum of 80% of the capital will be committed to Ontario-based and Ontario-focused funds.
Ontario-focused funds include funds that may be based outside of Ontario but have a demonstrated history of sourcing and evaluating potential investments in Ontario-based companies.
Up to 20% of the capital may be invested in other North American venture capital funds as a means of generating enhanced returns and fostering the transfer of best practices.

Select Institutional Investors

Manager

Northleaf was selected to manage OVCF following a rigorous review process that included an evaluation of several of the world’s leading private equity fund of funds managers. As a fully discretionary mandate, Northleaf makes all investment decisions on behalf of the Fund.

Northleaf also manages Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF I) and Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund II (NVCF II). NVCF I which was launched in 2014, is fully committed and performing well. For more information on NVCF I, click here. NVCF II was launched in 2018 and is currently actively investing. For more information on NVCF II click here.