Financial services firm Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has launched a corporate innovation and venturing program and hired Michelle Scarborough as managing director for strategic investments and its Women in Tech fund.
BDC said the scheme would “help corporate management teams define their needs and guide them to appropriate options across the ecosystem”.
The initiative will include startup-to-corporate “collision days”, access to accelerator-run corporate programs, VC fund-to-corporate interactions and best practice training in managing a corporate venture fund, BDC added.
The strategy was launched at Canada’s first ever Corporate Innovation Summit last week, which was presented by the state-owned bank’s investment unit, BDC Capital, and Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) in collaboration with Business Council of Canada, a non-profit for corporate CEOs.
Michael Denham, president and CEO of BDC, said: “Canada has all the elements to be an innovation nation.
“It has one of the healthiest concentrations of high-quality research in the world and a very active national network of incubators, accelerators and startups.
“Despite these competitive advantages, corporate R&D spending in Canada is less than half the average rate of other OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries and too little Canadian innovation is finding its path to market.”
In addition, corporate venturing activity was less than its proportionate share of global economic activity, according to GCV Analytics, even though it has been attracting inward investment from multinationals.
Elyse Allan, Canadian Corporate Innovation Summit co-chair and president, and CEO of GE Canada, part of industrial product conglomerate General Electric, said: “GE Canada has contributed to and benefits from Canada’s innovation culture.
“We value Canada’s strong and growing innovator network and encourage companies of all sizes to engage with the robust innovation ecosystem across the country.”
Tom Jenkins, chair of enterprise software provider OpenText and the other co-chair of the Canadian Corporate Innovation Summit, added: “Large companies just have to step outside their doors to find and benefit from it. But they have to decide to take that first step, and that’s what we need to see more of.”
BDC Capital has separately hired Scarborough to help its impact on the local ecosystem. As a crown corporation, BDC has a social mandate as well as a fiduciary duty to target financial returns, and having previously tried to blend both duties in its investments BDC now uses strategic investments to target its impact work while the majority of its money looks for the best returns, an insider said.
Scarborough joins on April 17 and will lead the origination and execution of strategic investments initiatives led by BDC Capital to support the innovation ecosystem across Canada.
Scarborough will also be responsible for managing BDC’s C$50m ($37.5m) investment in women-led technology startups, which was announced in November 2016, and other initiatives to support women in tech and venture capital.
Prior to joining BDC, Scarborough worked at Canada-based alternative asset management firm Kensington Capital Partners. She was senior vice-president responsible for the management of Kensington’s fund of funds and direct investment activity in western Canada, including VC, private equity and infrastructure as well as their energy technology investments.
Jérôme Nycz, executive vice-president of BDC Capital, said: “She brings very impressive credentials to the position. She is a highly experienced Canadian venture capitalist and a widely recognised leader in the investment community, with an outstanding track record in the energy and technology sectors.”
BDC Capital has also confirmed Karl Reckziegel as its vice-president of funds and co-investments. He had previously been vice-president of operations and strategy at the unit.