Spring Impact Capital closes $14-million fund to grow Canada’s climate and healthtech ecosystem
The Vancouver impact fund has already invested $2 million across eight Canadian startups.
Vancouver-based Spring Impact Capital has secured $14 million CAD in commitments for its first impact-focused venture capital (VC) fund, following its final close late last month.
Spring Impact Capital was launched in 2023 by leaders from Vancouver impact investing incubator and accelerator Spring Activator (Spring) to back more early-stage Canadian startups developing scalable climate and health technology solutions.
“As we progressed, we fine-tuned our budget and decided that we are able to achieve what we wanted with this fund size.”
Olivia Hornby,
Spring Impact Capital
Co-founder and managing partner Keith Ippel told BetaKit at the time the goal was to take advantage of Spring’s deal flow and network, meet growing demand for impact investing, and help fill a gap in Canada’s pre-seed and seed market.
While the emerging manager ultimately fell $6 million short of the $20-million target it shared that year amid a continually tough VC fundraising market, Spring Impact Capital co-founder and managing partner Olivia Hornby told BetaKit the firm is still proud of the result.
“As we progressed, we fine-tuned our budget and decided that we are able to achieve what we wanted with this fund size,” Hornby said.
Hornby claimed that Spring Impact Capital initially set out to raise $15 million, before upping its goal after speaking with some larger investors who typically cut bigger cheques.
She said Spring Impact Capital now has “a robust list” of prospective limited partners (LPs) who may be interested in supporting its future funds at a later date.
In total, Spring Impact Capital met with hundreds of Canadian entrepreneurs and investors over the past two years, amassing over 40 institutional and individual LPs.
The fund’s LPs include Social Finance Fund-backed Boann as well as Realize Capital Partners, the United Church of Canada Foundation, First West Credit Union, Rally Assets, the University of Victoria, and the Peter Gilgan Foundation. There are also undisclosed individuals and family offices.
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Spring Impact Capital plans to back as many as 25 cleantech and healthtech startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm intends to issue cheques between $250,000 and $400,000, with the ability to lead rounds and room for follow-on investments.
Spring Impact Capital has deployed just over $2 million to date across eight startups, three of which previously participated in Spring programming. This group includes Sherbrooke-based water quality monitoring tech startup BioAlert Solutions, Calgary portable eye-care device maker RetinaLogik, Vancouver-based health and wellness software provider Ginger Desk, and Vancouver lightning prevention startup Skyward Wildfire.
Hornby acknowledged that both the United States’ pullback from clean energy and the Sustainable Development Technology Canada fallout have created some hesitation when it comes to investing in climate and impact.
“As investors, it’s afforded us the ability to take our time in diligence and be careful about valuations,” Hornby said. “Overall, we have always been hesitant to invest in companies that rely on government policy and subsidies, but we remain bullish about climate technologies, which solve real pain points in a more sustainable and financially viable way.”
Feature image courtesy Spring Impact Capital.
