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How, Why and When to Raise Venture Capital John Ruffolo June 5, 2013
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How why and when to raise venture capital norcat hot topics series

May 06, 2015

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Page 1: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

How, Why and When

to Raise Venture Capital

John Ruffolo June 5, 2013

Page 2: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Globally, how will the current and emerging economic, geopolitical and competitive forces shape Canada’s (Ontario’s) industrial future?

• What industries should help support, if not define, Canada’s (Ontario’s) future in the 21st Century? • A century ago, Canada’s economy was based on natural resources and agriculture; we shifted to a

manufacturing base in the post WWII period, and then shifted again to a service & technology focused economy in 80’s/90’s.

• Should we turn back time and revert to a solely-resource focused economy again? Should the extraction and selling of these resources to foreigners be the solitary focus of our industrial strategy for the 21st century and beyond?

• While some Canadian sectors are doing well, the headlines from our knowledge based industry sector are mainly concerning:

• large anchor companies are vanishing, through acquisition or bankruptcy; • mid size companies are not stepping in to take their place; • smaller companies continue to be starved of venture capital; • our R&D spending, at 1% of GDP is declining, and leaves us ranked 14th in the OECD; and • a recent Conference Board of Canada report gave us a “D” on innovation, and ranked us 14th out of 17

peer countries.

The Current State for Canada (Ontario)

Page 3: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Our natural resources are not Canada’s only competitive advantage: we also have: • a well-educated workforce • multicultural diversity • technological infrastructure • world-class research capabilities, and • proximity to the largest consumer market in the world.

• So why have we not leveraged these world class advantages? Perhaps for too many years Canada has

enjoyed a comfortable standard of living fueled largely by our neighbours to the south of us.

• We can no longer afford to be complacent and be all things to all people; otherwise, we risk impairing the standard of living for our children and our children’s children.

• I am concerned Canada is squandering a unique opportunity for our future – a future based on innovation and a knowledge-based economy.

Our Competitive Advantage

Page 4: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• We need a progressive, comprehensive, cohesive and sustainable innovation-friendly industrial strategy to propel Ontario ahead in the 21st century.

• We need to make strategic decisions and focus.

• We need an effective strategy with both private and public sector collaboration around such areas as: – education and re-training, – immigration, – productivity, – culture of entrepreneurship, and – financing, amongst others

• Strategies in each of these areas need to be identified & linked together to form an ecosystem that

extends from the germination of an idea right through to the development of thriving, globally competitive companies. We need to determine if each part of the ecosystem is working as intended and if not, we must actively fix it in order for the other parts of the ecosystem to function properly.

The Opportunity for Ontario

Page 5: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• We have some tremendous pluses on the education front.

• In particular, Ontario possesses some of the leading engineering schools in the world, with the University of Waterloo leading the charge.

• I am not concerned with the level of technical engineering education being conducted in Ontario.

• But, until recently “entrepreneurship” has not been taught consistently as a profession in our leading schools across Ontario; and where it is, it is taught in some universities and it is only recent.

• How can we make “entrepreneurship” as attractive as say law, medicine, or other professions?

Education and Re-training

Page 6: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Cultural diversity is a huge asset for Ontario while the US is seemingly going in on the opposite direction.

• Immigrants, particularly in the technology sector, disproportionately create new companies.

• Canada should take an aggressive approach to welcoming immigrants in the country and it is evidenced by the great work that the Federal government is leading in establishing the Start-Up Visa Initiative and the Immigrant Investor Program

Immigration

Page 7: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• The productivity issue in Ontario is not a technology industry problem per se.

• Productivity and innovation are related but not the same thing.

• We know the story that Ontario has a productivity issue. There are many studies and reports out there to support the conclusion. (Productivity is the amount of value created per hour of labour time).

• But Ontario’s lack of productivity is not a result of the lack of innovation in our technology industry in Ontario but rather an indicator in the lack of innovation in our manufacturing, processing, refining, distribution, and retail industries – industries that require significant capital investment.

• Our technology companies in Ontario are trying to sell their technology solutions to such companies in Canada but most end up being far more successful selling their innovation to customers outside of Canada.

Productivity

Page 8: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Very controversial!

• I do not believe Canada suffers from a lack of “risk-takers”.

• Calgary oil-patch example.

• Countless Canadian executives with significant roles in technology companies in the US.

• Wear failure as a badge of honour when you look at Silicon Valley

Culture of Entrepreneurship

Page 9: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Over the past 10 years, the one component of the ecosystem hit the hardest is financing. In virtually each growth stage of financing, we see enormous challenges.

• But things have been improving over the last 2 years or so.

• Over the past 10 years, between 2000 and 2010, venture capital invested in Canada decreased over 80% from approximately $5.9B to $1.1B, with the number of companies receiving venture capital decreasing over 64% from 1007 to only 357 during that same period.

• BUT, 2011 has witnessed a reversal and the emergence of new sources of capital from angels to super angels to incubators to accelerators to micro-VCs to early growth and to later stage VCs.

• Is it perfect? No, and there is still a way to go.

Financing – Overview

Page 10: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• So, what has really happened? The number of potential funders for these sources of capital has seriously dwindled.

• Financial institutions – the banks and insurance companies used to be major players but due largely to lack of returns and expensive cost of capital (Basle 3), the FI’s have largely abandoned the sector and there are few signs it might return in the short term.

• Pension Funds – pension funds have largely abandoned the sector due largely to the lack of returns and the deployment of capital to more predictable asset classes like real estate and infrastructure; sitting on the sidelines with the exception of OMERS.

• Corporates – have not really been a player unlike the US.

• Foreign Investors – Section 116 has been great but most countries are facing similar pressures and thus focusing on their home countries.

• Individuals / Family offices – always been around.

• Government – Teralys, OVCF, BDC, EDC – really the only ones left standing.

The Players

Page 11: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

The Canadian financing ecosystem

Illustrative Start-up Financing Lifecycle

Breakeven Valley of

Death

Friends & Family

Up to $500K

Angels $500K - $2MM

VC Round B $5MM - $10MM

VC Round C $10MM - $30MM

IPO $30MM +

OMERS Ventures Target Stages

VC Round A $2M - $5MM

Early Stage

Year 2

Later Stage

Years 3 - 8

Liquidity Event

Year 8+

Seed Financing

Year 1

Start-up

The Canadian financing ecosystem

Page 12: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

• Most expensive form of financing

• Consider only when the requisite level of capital is critical and cannot be satisfied through other alternatives

• Build a relationship when you are NOT looking for $

• Assess the value add

• Think of it as a marriage

• Aligned economically with similar value principals

Venture Capital Financing – Is it Right for You?

Page 13: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

How OMERS Ventures is trying to differentiate

Known worldwide for our:

Long-term patient support

Deep industry insight

Adding value

How OMERS Ventures is trying to differentiate

Entrepreneurial culture

Page 14: How why and when to raise venture capital   norcat hot topics series

Questions?

Thank you!