VICTORIA, BC, Oct. 20, 2022 /CNW/ - Emend Vision Fund (Emend) announced today that Fund I will be led by TELUS Ventures with a commitment of up to 10 percent of Emend's overall capital. Emend will focus on investments in technologies that help transform traditional industries, protect critical infrastructure, and maintain food and water security for communities - aligning with TELUS Venture's overall investment thesis.

Emend is an early-stage fund that is working to raise $70M in capital. Emend is being formed by Alacrity Canada, a not-for-profit established in 2009 with a mandate to support tech entrepreneurship in British Columbia, particularly cleantech. Alacrity will also be committing up to 10 percent of the initial capital closing. The fund will invest in impact technology companies, including some from the Alacrity Canada accelerator which already has strong governmental and academic partnerships.

"We're delighted to have TELUS Ventures as our anchor investor. Demonstrating their leadership to supporting funds and companies that are introducing technologies that have a positive impact for the environment," said Owen Matthews, Managing Partner of Emend Vision Fund and Board Chair at Alacrity Canada. "We look forward to supporting these companies who have such a a positive impact for our communities. We have successfully scaled cleantech companies globally with Alacrity Canada already and we want to build on this success story to grow the impact investing ecosystem through the Emend Vision Fund."

"With Alacrity Canada's demonstrated success in supporting technology based startups, we are excited and looking forward to seeing the growth of the Emend Vision Fund," said Mario Mele, Vice-president, TELUS Ventures. "Emend supports organizations leveraging technology for a more sustainable future which aligns perfectly with our investment thesis at TELUS Ventures."

Led by Owen Matthews, Richard Egli and Todd Tessier, Emend has already garnered interest from corporate, institutional, and family offices. Emend  aims to invest in early-stage cleantech companies that can provide game-changing sustainability solutions at a global scale which at the same time can protect the environment while delivering value for investors.

"Our work with the Alacrity Cleantech Program helped many early-stage cleantech companies commercialize their business overseas and helped them to get support from private and government funding programs," said Richard Egli, Managing Partner of Emend Vision Fund. "We were inspired to use this experience to build the Emend Vision Fund to help early-stage impact companies and we are looking forward to the future growth that is to come."

Emend Vision Fund is an impact fund dedicated to transforming industry, protecting critical infrastructure and maintaining the safety of our food and water supplies. The Emend Vision Fund seeks to empower the tech ecosystem by funding clean technology companies. Investing in technology companies and aligning their focus with a positive impact, the Fund's vision is to export global solutions for climate action that generate above-market returns for our investors.

www.emendfund.com 

As the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation (TSX: T) (NYSE: TU), TELUS Ventures is one of Canada's most active corporate venture capital funds. TELUS Ventures invests globally in companies from Seed to Pre-IPO with a focus on innovative technologies such as AgTech, HealthTech, Connected Consumer, IoT, AI, and Security to actively drive new solutions across the TELUS ecosystem. Led by a team of experienced operators, investors and executives, the Ventures team is passionate about creating positive social impact through financial tools and has invested in more than 90 companies since inception.

For more information please visit: ventures.telus.com 

SOURCE Emend Vision Fund

For further information: Media contacts: Todd Tessier, Emend General Partner, 778-990-4510, todd@emendfund.com; Tatianna Goldsney, TELUS Media Relations, 587-897-7430, tatianna.goldsney@telus.com