entrepreneurship@UBC announced today that its seed fund has made nine investments, each ranging between $25,000 and $200,000, in several different venture teams, who have subsequently raised an additional $11 million of outside funding. The e@UBC Seed Fund investments include: Aspect Biosystems Ltd., Clinicbook, ELIX Wireless, Encepta Corp., Kairama Inc., Target Tape Inc., and Terramera Inc.
Created through generous charitable contributions from BCIC, UBC alumni and others, the e@UBC Seed Fund is available to startups founded by UBC students, alumni, faculty and staff. This initial capital is a key differentiator of UBC’s entrepreneurship programs and can pay off in terms of maximizing the success rate among businesses
from the UBC community and ultimately stimulating economic growth in BC.
The seed fund provides a tax-efficient vehicle for donations from BC residents and corporations. Donors purchase e@UBC seed fund shares and then donate the shares to the UBC Foundation. The donor receives a 30% BC tax credit in respect of the purchase of the e@UBC VCC shares and then receives a charitable gift tax receipt in respect of the donation of those shares to the UBC Foundation.
“Securing early stage funding is a major milestone for young ventures,” says Todd Farrell, chief acceleration officer at the University of British Columbia. “By accurately identifying UBC ventures that have key elements for success, we can provide a small amount of initial capital in order to accelerate their development and maximize the chance that a venture will reach its next stage of growth.”
Target Tape was the first company to receive funding through the e@UBC Seed Fund.
“In our early days, we knew we had a great technology, but we needed to put building blocks in place for business success,” says Target Tape co-founder Nick Seto. “UBC not only provided very early investment, but also invaluable assistance in terms of connections and resources.”
via entrepreneurship@UBC Seed Fund Advances University Startups Success.
