Canada-based VC firm Information Venture Partners (IVP) achieved a $96m second close of its latest fund on Friday, with contributions from investors including financial conglomerate Power Financial Corporation.
Financial services firm Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), state-owned export credit agency Export Development Canada and BDC Capital, the investment arm of government-owned Business Development Bank of Canada, also supplied cash.
Fintech provider D+H backed the fund’s $72.5m first close in January 2016 alongside Venture Catalyst Fund, Teralys Capital Innovation Fund, Permal Capital and funds affiliated with private equity fund-of-funds HarbourVest Partners.
Founded in 2001, IVP was originally known as RBC Venture Partners and invested as a venture capital affiliate of the bank. Robert Antoniades and David Unsworth led a management buyout in 2014.
Information Venture Partners Fund II has a target size of $100m and is expected to reach its final close later this year. It invests in fintech and enterprise software startups, leading or co-leading rounds at series A stage or later.
The fund has already begun investing and its deals so far include a $19.2m funding round for cybersecurity services provider eSentire which was also backed by networking equipment manufacturer Cisco’s corporate venturing unit, Cisco Investments, in February 2016.