Village Gamer

Round 13 Capital is excited to announce the launch of Canada’s first founders-driven fund that will provide growth capital to fast-growing startups looking to scale and compete globally. Round 13 will be financed by successful entrepreneurs who have started, operated and sold companies. The founders’ concept has generated superior returns in the U.S., and Round 13 is excited to bring it to Canada. Round 13’s founders have generated approximately $2.5 billion of wealth.

Round 13 was founded by Bruce Croxon, a judge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den television show and co-founder of LavaLife, and John Eckert, a veteran technology financier and co-founder of McLean Watson. Joining them is Scott Pelton, who until recently headed the Commercialization Fund for GrowthWorks.

Croxon said Round 13 is focused on providing mentorship from people who have been in the trenches.

“This not only makes us different, but it gives entrepreneurs a better chance of being successful,” he said. “What’s unique about Round 13 is it’s more than just money; we are focused on providing companies with operational expertise to help them realize their potential.”

Croxon said there is a growing number of exciting technology opportunities but major challenges facing Canadian companies must still be addressed.

“While there is solid support for early-stage, pre-revenue start-ups through incubators and accelerators, there’s a troubling gap in the market between fast-growing startups and investors willing to help them accelerate growth,” he said.

“This gap is forcing many startups to go south of the border for capital, sell to larger players based mostly in the U.S, or, worse, their growth stalls and their potential withers on the vine”.

With major support from key investor groups, including high net worth investors and institutions, Round 13 is looking to raise at least $100 million. The focus will be growth companies with proven technology and the potential to become global leaders in the content, mobile, social media and networking enterprise sectors. Round 13 will also provide financing in subsequent rounds, right through until a company has achieved global success.

“Our vision is straightforward,” Croxon said. “We want to become the leading technology financier in Canada and be the investor of choice for entrepreneurs.”

The founders involved with Round 13 include:

• Mike Alkier – Co-Founder, OmniLogic – sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers; Co-founder MapleMusic, Ideaca
• Christopher Barnard – Co-Founder, Points.com – IPO trading on NASDAQ
• Dave Chamandy – Founder, Darwin Dimensions – sold to AutoDesk; Co-Founder, Lavalife – sold to MemberWorks for $176 million
• Paul Chen – Founder, FloNetwork – sold to DoubleClick for $80 million and Founder, Fortiva – sold to Proofpoint
• Randall Howard – Co-Founder, MKS – sold to Parametric for $304 million
• Nick Koudas, Nilesh Bansal – Co-founders, Sysomos – sold to Marketwire
• Daniel Langlois – Founder, Softimage – sold to Microsoft for $200 million
• Haroon Mirza, Shahzad Malik, Faizal Javer – Co-Founders – CognoVision, sold to Intel
• Ray Reddy – Founder, PushLife – sold to Google
• Mike Serbinis – Co-Founder, DocSpace – sold to Critical Path for $580 million, co-founder, Kobo – sold to Rakuten for $315 million
• Michel Vulpe – Founder, i4i – awarded US Supreme Court judgment for $300 million