•  
• Tweet
•  
•  
• 

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.