World IP Day: BDC Capital’s IP-Backed Financing Fund celebrates a busy year helping Canadian companies grow

Montreal, April 26, 2022 – BDC Capital’s IP-Backed Financing Fund (IPBF) today highlighted its commitment to helping Canadian IP-rich companies grow, announcing it has added eight companies to its portfolio and has committed more than $30M dollars since signing its first deal in February 2021. The $160M fund, with its initial investment of $2.6M in growth capital to Novarc Technologies, has, over the last year, gained significant momentum despite challenging times for the country and its entrepreneurs. This positive news comes on the heels of World Intellectual Property Day, which emphasizes the role intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity.

“Since announcing our first deal and speaking with more than 500 companies, we have established this fund to be one of the most diverse and flexible solutions for IP-rich companies in the market,” says Lally Rementilla, Managing Partner, Intellectual Property-Backed Financing, at BDC Capital. “We are delighted to have invested in companies in five provinces, representing a variety of industries. We have had the pleasure of backing underrepresented entrepreneurs and founders and have shown flexibility in the financing by tailoring to each need.”

The only fund of its kind in Canada, the IPBF now supports a geographically diverse group of Canadian companies across many sectors, with a variety of leadership styles. With its focus on Canadian hardware-oriented companies with strong IP portfolios, the IPBF supports the resiliency and innovation of a community of businesses which have displayed creativity and the ability to pivot as they struggle with COVID-related challenges.

One such business was the fund’s first investment opportunity: Vancouver-based Novarc Technologies, a robotics company specializing in the design and commercialization of collaborative robots (cobots) for industrial applications. With their focus on AI and robotics, the company recognized the importance of protecting their IP early on.

"BDC’s IPBF program has been critically important to Novarc's success and growth in the last 12 months,” says Soroush Karimzadeh, CEO of Novarc. “The IPBF team believed in Novarc's vision and supported its progress during some of the toughest periods, namely the global pandemic and supply chain disruption era. We have been very fortunate to have BDC Capital’s IPBF team work with us as a true partner to see us through these difficult times.”

Over the course of the last year, the IPBF has evaluated companies across all industries, both private and public. Since investing in Novarc, BDC Capital has added the following eight companies to its portfolio:

Adaptiv Networks – Gatineau, Quebec
Provides cloud-managed network connectivity solutions for health care, restaurants, manufacturing, retail and hospitality.

Baanto – Mississauga, Ontario
Baanto International Ltd. is a leading developer of innovative, high performance, and scalable touch solutions.

E-Smart Control – Saint-Laurent, Quebec
E-Smart Control has created a system for the trucking industry that can determine vehicle location in real time to actively manage the maximum speed that the asset can attain in the respective posted speed zone.

Exciton Technologies – Edmonton, Alberta
An advanced materials research and development company focused on the creation of technologies for preventing and controlling infection.

Innovere Medical – Markham, Ontario
Innovere Medical is a Canadian start-up company that has developed the world’s first wireless TV that operates inside an MRI scanner; helping improve patient comfort during MRI exams.

Morgan Solar – Toronto, Ontario
Morgan Solar is a Toronto-based solar technology innovator in light management solutions whose mission is to make sunlight the most widely used and accessible energy source in the world.

Sportlogiq – Montreal, Quebec
Sportlogiq is an AI-powered sports analytics company with advanced analytics software designed to track the location and actions of players using standard game footage.

Thorasys – Montreal, QC
Thorasys is a Montreal-based company looking to improve the lives of individuals with pulmonary diseases with innovative technology for pulmonary assessment.

IPBF and World IP Day

The IPBF is a proud supporter of World Intellectual Property Day (WIPO), which takes place April 26, 2022. This year’s theme, IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future, will allow participants to explore how innovative, energetic and creative minds are driving positive change.

According to a 2021 Statistics Canada report looking at the period between 2017-2019, more than half the companies in Canada owning IP credited it with helping improve business. Since its inception, the IPBF has been at the forefront of IP awareness and education efforts, collaborating with both private and public sectors across Canada, reminding entrepreneurs that a business’ IP strategy makes good financial sense. To find out more about BDC Capital’s IPBF, visit: https://www.bdc.ca/en/bdc-capital/intellectual-property-backed-financing.

About BDC Capital

BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. With over $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country’s most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. Visit bdc.ca/capital.

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