New Indigenous Venture Capital Fund
Vancouver, B.C. – A new Indigenous-led venture capital fund will provide capital and support to Indigenous social enterprises across the country. “We’re an Indigenous intermediary working with Indigenous businesses, bridging the space between non-Indigenous private capital and the Indigenous businesses,” says Jeffrey Cyr, a managing partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners.
Cyr and managing partner Paul Lacerte say their Vancouver-based firm’s new Raven Indigenous Impact Fund is the first of its kind in Canada. Through impact investing, the partners aim to improve outcomes in Indigenous communities and generate returns for investors. The initial closing of Raven’s fund involves seven investors that have committed $1.75 million: Community Foundations Canada, Inspirit Foundation, Lawson Foundation, Lochmaddy Foundation, Ottawa Community Foundation, Swift Foundation and Vancity. An additional $500,000 from these investors will be included in the fund later this year.
Raven aims to raise $5 million by the pilot fund’s final closing in October. The fund’s investments will range from $250,000 to $1-million, and the company is targeting returns to investors of six to eight per cent, net of fees. Both Cyr, who is Métis from Manitoba, and Lacerte, who is a member of the Nadleh Whut’en Band and belongs to the Carrier First Nation in northern British Columbia, have extensive experience working with Indigenous communities. They are joined by Raven’s chief investment officer Stephen Nairne, who is non-Indigenous and has worked in impact investing in Africa.
