Cross-Border Impact Ventures (CBIV), a Canada-based venture capital firm, has raised $30m in the initial close of its Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund.
The fund will primarily invest in medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies based in North America, Europe, and Israel. Its secondary focus is on commercial stage companies in emerging markets with global technology transfer potential.
CBIV is targeting more than $100m for the fund, which has an undisclosed strategic healthcare as a limited partner (LP).
Its disclosed LPs include Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Global Health Investment Corporation (with the financial support of the German government through its KfW Development Bank), Grand Challenges Canada, Hamilton Community Foundation, Rally Total Impact Fund, RockCreek, and Sida – the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which provides a guarantee to investors in the fund to encourage private sector participation in the firm’s impact investing strategy.
The fund will use a gender lens to invest and will work with portfolio companies to improve their diversity and ensure products meet the needs of more users of diverse backgrounds.
In addition, CBIV has set impact target across its portfolio companies of 500,000 lives saved and improvements in the lives of 10 million underserved women and children in emerging markets.
Annie Thériault, co-managing partner at CBIV and former chief investment officer at one of its LPs, Grand Challenges Canada, said: “Our firm will play an important role in the health technology market by investing in companies that are creating innovations that have the potential to save lives or transform healthcare in North America, Europe, emerging markets, and underserved populations.”
“Over the next decade, we expect trillions of dollars to be allocated to impact investing given its potential to drive tangible change,” added Donna Parr, co-managing partner at CBIV and former VC at GrowthWorks Canadian Fund and Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund.
CBIV was incubated in partnership with Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), which will remain an adviser to CBIV and is one of the Canada’s largest impact-first investors.
Jocelyn Mackie, co-CEO of GCC, said: “We have learned from our anchor investment in the Global Health Investment Fund and now incubated a fund more aligned with Canada’s strategic priorities: women’s and children’s health and gender equality.
