Category: News

Vancouver, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 – Cycle Capital, Canada’s largest clean technology venture capital investment platform, is proud to be one of the recipients of Stream 3 Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (“VCCI”), announced today by the Honourable Mary Ng, federal Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion in Vancouver.

The Government of Canada, through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), has committed to support funds with a primary focus on clean technology firms under Stream 3 of VCCI. This initiative also focuses on enhancing diversity and increasing women’s participation across the venture capital ecosystem.

“Through VCCI, our government is partnering with talented venture capital fund managers to increase their support of Canada’s clean technology companies,” said the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion. “We are proud to invest in Cycle Capital as it supports promising entrepreneurs in this sector, allowing them to create jobs in Canada and compete on a global scale.”

“We are pleased to welcome the VCCI program as a new Limited Partner”, said Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital. “Cycle Capital shares the federal government’s belief that venture capital can help build and grow competitive innovative cleantech companies that will disrupt their industries, create large scale market value, drive solid financial returns while helping Canada attains its goals in terms of GHG emissions reductions. Claude Vachet, Managing Partner and I look forward to collaborating in the growth of Canadian cleantech flagships.”

As one of the few gender-balanced women-founded VC funds, Cycle Capital is convinced that diversity and inclusion drive better performance and believes that its strategy focused on yielding successful investments while supporting diverse and inclusive management teams contributed to its selection in the VCCI process.

The Canadian Government’s contribution through VCCI to Cycle Capital Fund IV, L.P. will enable Cycle Capital to deploy more capital in innovative cleantech companies, in key technology sectors such as energy storage and efficiency, green chemistry, clean transportation and smart city technologies, Green IoT, Big Data & AI and agtech.

Cycle Capital announced the first closing of Cycle Capital Fund IV at $109M last February and has already carried out a first investment.

Cycle Capital’s platform regroups several institutional and industrial investors as well as impact investors, family offices and high net worth individuals as limited partners.

Cycle Capital Management

Cycle Capital Management (CCM) is an impact investor and Canada’s largest cleantech venture capital investment platform with AUM (assets under management) close to  $0.5B. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao – in continental China – and a presence in New York and Seattle, CCM invests in companies at the development and growth stages that commercialize clean technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimize resource use and improve process efficiency throughout North America and China. CCM is also the Founder of the Ecofuel Accelerator and the Co-Founder of the Ecofuel Fund.

Cycle Capital brings together seasoned investment professionals, strategic advisors and industrial partners with in-depth knowledge of the sector. The firm has a number of industrials including Suez, Rio Tinto, Hydro-Québec, Brookfield, Innergex Renewable Energy, Énergir, Cascades, Lonza, Aluminerie Alouette, Qingdao City Construction Investment Group and impact investors such as Vancity Credit Union, McConnell Foundation and Trottier Family Foundation, as strategic partners. For more information on Cycle Capital, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .

Info
Catherine Bérubé
Vice President, Sustainability, Investor Relations and Public Affairs
[email protected]
+1 514 629-1022

Six Canadian venture funds have already pledged
as part of the global campaign to mobilize $1B

Wednesday, February 20th, 2019 (Toronto and Montreal) – Cycle Capital, Canada’s largest clean technology venture capital investment platform, announced the first close of its new Fund, Cycle Capital Fund IV, LP. The announcement was made by Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital, alongside Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s Minister of Economy and Innovation and the fund’s sponsors.

The Billion Dollar Fund For Women launches its Canadian campaign to mobilize a consortium of Canadian venture funds to pledge to increase their investment in women-founded companies. While the gender pay gap is well documented in Canada, what is not is the gender funding gap of venture capital in companies. To address this, The Billion Dollar Fund for Women (“TBDF”) was established to tackle the gender funding gap. A founding group of Canadian venture capital funds are proud to bring the TBDF to the country and to receive an initial set of pledges from Canadian venture capital firms as part of a global $650M pledged toward a $1B goal.

“The Billion Dollar Fund for Women is a simple and elegant way for venture capital firms to show their support for female-founded companies.  If you say that you support female entrepreneurs, you make a pledge and join the consortium. We are mobilizing existing funds to work together towards a common global goal, to empower female entrepreneurs. We are thrilled with the support and commitment given by the first set of Canadian funds and we look forward to continuing the conversation with other funds to support this initiative and meet our $1B global goal,” said Lally Rementilla, Canada Lead of TBDF and President of Qantius Inc.

The fund was inspired by a desire to mobilize and connect these venture funds with institutional and other investors to create larger pools of capital for venture investments into women founded companies. TBDF’s Co-Founders are eager to expand their global reach of venture funds. As importantly, they hope to inspire larger investors to see these funds as a key opportunity to gender diversify their portfolios and to meet the growing push for ESG (environment/social/governance) requirements.

“We are thrilled to welcome our Canadian partners pledged to increasing their investments in women. Nothing has excited us more than our partnership with some of Canada’s leading venture funds. And no country has shown more commitment to its female founders than Canada. It is clear that Canada is on the threshold of major breakthroughs in innovation led by some of its great women entrepreneurs.  With Canada’s goal of doubling the number of women entrepreneurs by 2025, the investments made by our partner funds will be more important than ever to ensure the success of these early-stage ventures,” said Shelly Porges, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of TBDF.

According to Pitchbook, women-founded companies have received just 2% of the total of venture capital investment last year[1]. Beyond this, venture funds committed to investing in women founded companies often struggle to expand their capital base and to increase their capacity to invest. Yet, research shows that companies with women founders bring in 20% more revenue with 50% less invested. [2]

For venture funds that make a pledge, TBDF provides greater exposure to institutional funders, sovereign funds, wealth managers, family offices and high net worth investors. While more city leads will be announced soon, the current city Leads of TBDF Canada are Cycle Capital (Montreal) and Marigold Capital (Toronto). 

Interested individuals who would like to learn more about The Billion Dollar Fund for Women are welcome to head to http://thebilliondollarfund.org/ for participation opportunities.

The Billion Dollar Fund For Women™/Canada

Canada Lead: Lally Rementilla, President, Quantius Inc.

[email protected] 

Montreal Lead: Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner, Cycle Capital Management

[email protected]

Toronto Lead:

Jonathan Hera, Founder and Managing Partner, Marigold Capital

[email protected]

List of TBDF’s Canadian Supporters:

Cycle Capital

Ecofuel Fund

Marigold Capital

Pique Ventures

Quantius

StandUp Ventures 0 4d73

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[1] https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/04/female-founders-have-brought-in-just-2-2-of-us-vc-this-year-yes-again/

[2] https://hbr.org/2012/12/a-wave-of-angel-investing-orga

Junior Partner Pascal Drouin and VP Finance & Administration Natalya Novikov become partners, while the head of Communications and Public relations Catherine Bérubé becomes VP

Montreal, December 17th, 2018 – Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital Management – Canada’s most important cleantech venture capital investment platform – is pleased to announce the appointment of Junior Partner Pascal Drouin as partner, of Vice President Finance & Administration Natalya Novikov as CFO and partner and of the Head of Communications and Public Relations Catherine Bérubé as Vice President, Sustainability, Investor Relations and Public Affairs.

“Claude and I are proud to announce these new appointments which demonstrate the vitality, development and future of our firm. They reward the thorough expertise of Pascal, Natalya and Catherine – already valuable assets to our team. Claude joins me in congratulating them for these well-deserved promotions,” said Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner.

Pascal Drouin originally joined Cycle Capital in 2013 and became Junior Partner earlier this year. He has over ten years of experience in various roles, including portfolio and risk management. Before joining Cycle Capital, Pascal worked at Multiple Capital and GE Capital. Pascal graduated from HEC Montreal with a bachelor’s in business administration and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in management.

Natalya joined Cycle Capital in 2013 and is responsible for accounting, compliance, production and disclosure of financial information and administrative procedures for a total of 4 funds as well as the Ecofuel Accelerator. In addition, she lectures levels I, II and III of the CFA curriculum and is a member on the CVCA CFO Task Force. She previously worked at the Canada Revenue Agency, Statistics Canada and MNP. Natalya holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA), is a Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA, New Hampshire).

As for Catherine, she joined Cycle Capital in 2014 as Head of Communications and Public Relations. She he is responsible for Cycle Capital’s “impact investing” reporting. Catherine is the Vice Chair of Écotech Québec and Co-Chair of SWITCH Alliance and has over ten years of experience in public and governmental relations.

Cycle Capital Management
Cycle Capital Management (CCM) is an impact investor and Canada’s most active cleantech venture capital firm. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, in continental China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, CCM has more than $350M in AUM (assets under management) and invests in companies at the development and growth stages that commercializes clean technologies striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimizing resource use and improving process efficiency throughout North America. CCM is also the Founder of the Ecofuel Accelerator and the Co-Founder of the Ecofuel Fund.

CCM regroups seasoned investment professionals, strategic advisors and industrial partners with in-depth knowledge of the sector. The firm has a special relationship with its strategic partners, notably Brookfield Renewable Energy, Rio Tinto, Cascades, Group M3, Lonza, Gaz Métro, Systemex Énergies, Aluminerie Alouette and Hydro-Québec. For more information on Cycle Capital Management, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .

Info
Catherine Bérubé
Vice President, Sustainability, Investor Relations and Public Affairs
[email protected]
+1 514 629-1022

Ottawa, November 21, 2018 – Cycle Capital, Canada’s most active cleantech venture capital firm, welcomes the federal government’s decision to increase its financial support to innovative clean technology companies, under the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI), announced today by the finance Minister in the Fall economic statement 2018. With this $50M new investment into top-performing fund managers, the administration recognizes the importance of venture capital to help innovative companies grow and scale-up.

“This funding will stimulate new investments in innovative clean technology companies, attract new investors in the Canadian market, increase Canadian ownership in the companies and At the same time help forge a performing green economy in Canada,” said Cycle Capital’s Founder and Managing Partner Andrée-Lise Méthot.

This VCCI’s new stream will include a strong focus on gender balance and diversity, as the first stream did. While women represents only 12% of venture capital partners and 1% of managing partners, this key requirement will help attract more women in the sector.

Cycle Capital Management
Cycle Capital Management (CCM) is an impact investor and Canada’s most active cleantech venture capital firm. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, in continental China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, CCM has more than $350M in AUM (assets under management) and invests in companies at the development and growth stages that commercializes clean technologies striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimizing resource use and improving process efficiency throughout North America.

CCM regroups seasoned investment professionals, strategic advisors and industrial partners with in-depth knowledge of the sector. The firm has a special relationship with its strategic partners, notably Brookfield Renewable Energy, Rio Tinto, Cascades, Group M3, Lonza, Gaz Métro, Systemex Énergies, Aluminerie Alouette and Hydro-Québec. For more information on Cycle Capital Management, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .

Info
Catherine Bérubé
Head of communications and public relations
[email protected]
+1 514 629-1022

Montreal, March 22, 2018 – Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital Management, Canada’s most active cleantech venture capital investment platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Shirley Speakman to the position of Senior Partner.

“In combination with her almost 20 years of corporate finance and venture capital experience Shirley’s ability to get behind the numbers, find the best entrepreneurs and most compelling companies in the market, represents a key asset for Cycle Capital,” said Andrée-Lise Méthot. “Her nomination consolidates the gender parity of our partnership.”

“I am truly honoured to be able to contribute to the development of Cycle Capital’s investment platform and to continue helping entrepreneurs benefit from our expertise in helping to build great companies in the cleantech sector,” stated Shirley Speakman.

Before joining Cycle Capital Management in 2014, Shirley worked in corporate finance advising mid to large enterprises. During this time, she participated in corporate finance transactions with a cumulative value of over $100 million at Ernst & Young Corporate Finance. She supported the creation by RBC Ventures of an early stage seed fund which raised $40 million on its first close (VIMAC/MMC) and advised RBC Ventures’ seed investment funds in structuring and negotiating investments. As a director for the Investment Accelerator Fund, a $40 million seed and early stage investment fund focused on investing in high potential technology-based companies in Ontario managed by MaRS, she was responsible for sourcing, vetting and managing investments.

Shirley holds a MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Bachelor of Economics and Management Studies from the University of Waterloo and an ICD.d from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business.

About Cycle Capital Management
Cycle Capital Management (CCM) is an impact investor and Canada’s most active cleantech venture capital firm. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, in continental China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, CCM has more than $350M in AUM (assets under management) and invests in companies at the development and growth stages that commercializes clean technologies striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimizing resource use and improving process efficiency throughout North America.

CCM regroups seasoned investment professionals, strategic advisors and industrial partners with in-depth knowledge of the sector. The firm has a special relationship with its strategic partners, notably Brookfield Renewable Energy, Rio Tinto, Cascades, Group M3, Lonza, Gaz Métro, Systemex Énergies, Aluminerie Alouette and Hydro-Québec. For more information on Cycle Capital Management, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .

Info
Catherine Bérubé
Head of communications and public relations
[email protected]
+1 514 629-1022

Montreal and Paris, February 13, 2018 – Cycle Capital and Demeter have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at reinforcing their sectoral expertise and understanding of the global issues at stake in the ecological and energy transition markets. This agreement constitutes an additional asset for their investors and entrepreneurs.

For Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner at Cycle Capital: “The transition to clean energies is driving the development of new technologies, on international markets. This cooperation agreement will enable our investors and portfolio companies to benefit from an even wider network of strategic international professionals and our organizations to fully leverage our respective strengths.”

For Stéphane Villecroze, Managing Partner at Demeter: “We are delighted with this cooperation agreement between our two management companies which share a common vision and culture. Our primary objective is to enable the emergence of the future champions of the ecological and energy transition markets which are entering a new operational dimension.”

This cooperation agreement will share expertise in the energy transition sector, performance goals, a culture of responsibility and commitment as investors as well as proven experience in actively supporting entrepreneurs. Demeter and Cycle Capital are looking forward to growing asset value, sharing human capital and eventual co-investment opportunities.

Demeter has just been selected by the City of Paris to set up and manage the Paris Green Fund, a territorial growth investment fund financing innovative and fast-growing SMEs for sustainable cities.

About Cycle Capital Management
Cycle Capital Management (www.www.cyclecapital.com ) is an impact investor and the most active cleantech venture capital investment platform in Canada. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, in mainland China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, Cycle Capital holds more than $350M under management and invests across North America and China in mid-market companies that have developed technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and optimize resource use and processes.

About Demeter
Demeter (www.demeter-im.com) is a major European player in private equity for ecological and energy transition. Its funds invest from €500K to €30M to support companies in this sector at all stages of their development: innovative startups, fast-growing SMEs and midcaps companies as well as infrastructure projects. Demeter’s team, which includes 33 people based in Paris, Grenoble, Metz and Madrid, manages €1B and has completed 120 investments in 12 years.

 

Catherine Bérubé
Head of communications and public relations, Cycle Capital Management
[email protected]
+1 514 629-1022

Sandra Markovic Da Rocha
Demeter
+33 1 43 12 53 44
[email protected]