SOURCE: Yaletown Venture Partners

October 28, 2008 06:00 ET

Yaletown Venture Partners Launches $100 Million Second Fund With $65 Million Initial Closing

Vancouver-Based Yaletown Will Continue Investing in Early-Stage Clean-Tech & IT Companies in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwire - October 28, 2008) - Early-stage venture capital firm Yaletown Venture Partners, an established Vancouver-based team investing in clean energy technology and information technology companies in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, today announced a $65 million initial closing on Yaletown Ventures II Limited Partnership.

This new fund will continue Yaletown's focus on leading the most promising clean-tech and IT investment opportunities in Western Canada and pursuing select clean-tech investments in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and the rest of Canada.

Yaletown announced the fund closing today in conjunction with the opening of the North American Venture Capital Summit in Quebec City, which attracts hundreds of venture capital fund managers and limited partners from Canada, the United States and other countries to build cross-border venture capital investment relationships.

The new Yaletown fund follows up on the firm's debut $42 million fund, also raised in challenging market conditions in 2003.

Yaletown has built an attractive venture capital investment portfolio. Yaletown's investments are well-syndicated with a growing list of strong co-investors that have forged relationships with the firm -- many of which have been attracted to Yaletown-originated opportunities from the United States and other markets around the world. Representative Yaletown portfolio companies include clean-tech companies such as NxtGen Emission Controls, 6N Silicon, Microstaq, and Redlen Technologies, and IT companies such as Zeugma Systems, GenoLogics, and Mixpo.

As with its previous fund, the capital for Yaletown's second fund comes from institutional and private investors in Canada and the U.S., including major pension funds, fund of funds, financial institutions, and professionally managed family offices. The Yaletown investment team and its extensive network of technology entrepreneurs and executives are also significant investors in Yaletown funds.

"The support that Yaletown has earned for its first two funds in extremely challenging market conditions, from institutional and technology industry insiders alike, is a strong endorsement of this team and its investment strategy," said Haig Farris, retired co-founder of Ventures West and one of Canada's most respected angel investors. "This is the team that investors, entrepreneurs, and quality venture funds choose to partner with to gain access to the best investment opportunities emerging in this part of the world."

"Yaletown believes that early-stage venture capital investing is fundamentally a local business," said Steve Hnatiuk, general partner and one of Yaletown's four founders. "Clean-tech and IT investment opportunities in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest continue to grow and we are expanding our partnership's resources to take advantage of the very best opportunities.

"This new fund puts us in an excellent position to support the right entrepreneurs and partner with other quality venture capital firms targeting investment opportunities in our market."

Yaletown Ventures II is a $100 million fund and will remain open to new investors for up to 12 months, Hnatiuk said.

About Yaletown Venture Partners

Yaletown Venture Partners is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and is backed by leading institutional investors in Canada and the United States, and by a network of successful technology entrepreneurs, executives, and angel investors. Yaletown leverages an extensive on-the-ground network to seek out the most promising early-stage clean-tech and information technology deals in Western Canada and select clean-tech investments in the US Pacific Northwest and the rest of Canada. Founded in 2002, Yaletown is led by a team of four founding General Partners that bring together an extensive network of industry relationships and more than 80 years collective experience building and financing emerging technology companies.

For information, please see www.yaletown.com.