The BDC has issued $6 million in convertible notes to graduates of FounderFuel over two years:
- 40 startups will get $150K each upon successful completion of the FounderFuel program
- At the end of the 12 weeks, FounderFuel and the BDC will determine which startups are “venture-ready”, those who are will get the $150K note at Demo Day
FounderFuel teams have a net advantage over graduates of other accelerators:
- This vote of confidence from the BDC and additional support is proof of to the impact of the FounderFuel program
- The note puts FounderFuel teams in a strong position to raise follow-on capital after Demo Day
Less than 6 months after graduation, the Fall 2011 Cohort (1st FounderFuel graduates) has raised $2.5 million, including: Playerize, OOHLALA, Wavo and Seevibes.
“Too many promising companies have not made it to the next stage of financing for lack of operating capital,” explains Senia Rapisarda, Vice President, Strategic Investments and Initiatives at BDC Venture Capital. “Canadian tech entrepreneurs should be confident they can compete with the best in the world, but they need a strong, supportive ‘ecosystem’ to get the edge. Our convertible notes program, which is one of the means we use to bolster the Canadian venture ecosystem, is bridging a financing gap that few institutional and private investors can assume.”
“Our current cohort is very excited about this development,” says Ian Jeffrey, General Manager of FounderFuel. “The potential to obtain substantial financing right off the bat is giving them an additional incentive to make as much progress with their businesses as they can during the build-up to Demo Day.” Demo Days are the accelerators’ popular public graduation ceremonies. They are attended by hundreds, including venture capitalists and angels from all over the world who come to discover the best and the brightest.
Application for the Fall 2012 FounderFuel Cohort are open: http://founderfuel.com/en/apply
Demo Day for the Spring 2012 Cohort is May 23rd 2012: http://founderfuelspring2012demoday.eventbrite.ca
