Tue, Mar 19, 2024
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Private Equity Strategies

VC Spotlight: Canadian Venture Debt Firm Wellington Capital Closes Fund V on $900 million

Friday, October 09, 2015

Canadian venture debt firm Wellington Financial has closed its fifth fund on $900 million, and is on track to reach its hard cap of an additional $300 million in re-circulating equity commitments.

Based in Toronto, Wellington Financial provides bridge financing and venture debt to small and medium sized businesses in Canada and the US. Typical investments range from $2 - 10 million. Notably, Wellington will advance funds for periods as short as three months or for as long as three years, according to the firm’s website.

“Fund five positions our firm to provide entrepreneurs with anywhere from $2 million to $40 million of growth capital per company,” said Mark McQueen, Wellington Financial's President and Chief Executive Officer in an interview with Private Equity Strategies. He adds that they will be targeting 10-12 investments initially, in companies with a minimum of $5 million in trailing revenue.

The larger funding size will also allow Wellington to continue on with companies as they pass key growth milestones and evolve into $50 - 100 million businesses where capital needs become much more significant. The firm may also pursue opportunistic private equity style investments through Fund V.

Wellington’s investor base is largely from Canadian institutions interested in venture exposure. “The nature of venture debt allows us to provide financing that is largely uncorrelated to the bubblier part of venture. We have been able to show consistent performance in this area,” McQueen adds.

The previous fund - Wellington Financial Fund IV - has committed more than $225 million through 28 investments since it closed in 2012.

Wellington has also brought on Ash Vaidya as a partner in its Silicon Valley office. He will join Paul McKinlay in Silicon Valley and Eric Speer in Santa Monica, California to focus on US investments.

On Wednesday, the firm announced it invested in a $10 million financing round with Studio City-based FilmTrack. It marks the first investment in a Studio City-based company for Wellington. FilmTrack provides content and rights management for the worldwide media and entertainment industry. FilmTrack is backed by venture capital investors Insight Venture Partners and the Sandberg-Goldberg Trust.

 
This article was published in Opalesque's Private Equity Strategies our monthly research update on the global private equity landscape including all sectors and market caps.
Private Equity Strategies
Private Equity Strategies
Private Equity Strategies


Today's Exclusives
Today's Other Voices
More Exclusives
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
More Other Voices
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing


  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. KKR raises $6.4bn for the largest pan-Asia infrastructure fund[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The New York-based global investment firm KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its second Asia-focused infrastructure fund, underlining investors' continued appetite for private markets. According to a media release from the alternative assets manager, the figure top

  2. Bucking the trend, top hedge fund makes plans for a second SPAC[more]

    From Institutional Investor: SPACs aren't dead. At least not to the folks at Cormorant Asset Management. The life sciences firm, whose hedge fund topped its peers in 2023, is confident it will match the success of its first blank-check company. Last week, the life sciences and biopharma speciali

  3. Benefit Street Partners closes fifth fund on $4.7 billion[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Benefit Street Partners has closed its fifth flagship direct lending vehicle, BSP Debt Fund V, with $4.7 billion of investable capital across the strategy. Benefit Street invests primarily in privately originated, floating rate, senior secured loans. The fun

  4. 4 hedge fund themes that are working in 2024[more]

    From The Street: A poor earnings report from Tesla (TSLA) has not hurt the indexes on Thursday. The decline in Tesla stock, which is losing its position in the Magnificent Seven pantheon, is more than offset by strong earnings from IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) . In addition, the much higher-t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: A global macro fund eyes opportunities in bonds[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers: Munich-based ThirdYear Capital rebounded in 2023, following a tough year for global macro. The firm's flagship ART Global Macro strategy finished the year up 1