NowPublic Blog

A lot of us like to speculate on the state of Venture Capital in Canada; we all have a vested interest in the existence of a healthy and competitive market. For BrightSpark, the truth has been much more obvious.

BrightSpark, with over $100 million under management, raised its first fund in 1999 and its second fund in 2004. Co-Founded by Tony Davis and Mark Skapinker, the fund positioned itself as a “seed and early-stage software venture fund” for the Canadian market with offices in Montreal and Toronto. They have been active even recently with great deals like NowPublic, b5Media and MobiVox, 9 recent investments, and a few more to make in their second fund.

The BrightSpark team, a bunch of experienced entrepreneurs, was (and is) perfectly suited for the job we have been asking VCs to take on here in Canada: early stage financing with heavy duty support capabilities. It should have been a perfect combination, and one would hope that they could have done quite well in the last few years with the resurgent tech bubble.

Source: startupnorth.ca via mtippett

NowPublic

Tags: Canada | Montreal | Toronto | Brightspark | early-stage | ENTREPRENEURS | FINANCING | fund | INVESTMENTS | Management | Mark Skapinker | MobiVox | Money & Stuff | NowPublic | resurgent | software | tech bubble | Tony Davis | venture

We’re always looking for smart people so feel free to send us your resume.

The guy who persuaded Fox to pay 500 million for myspace back when everyone thought it was crazy has now put his money behind Broadband Enterprises.  The company is said to be, “the largest seller of video advertising online outside of the big portals.”

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Since former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and former Fox Interactive Media chief Ross Levinsohn banded together as partners in Velocity Investment Group, internet watchers have been curious to see where they’d place their bets. Online video — its distribution, content creation and monetization — is an area in which they are particularly bullish.

The group’s first investment is a $10 million stake in Broadband Enterprises. The deal also marks the first round of funding Broadband Enterprises has raised, despite its having been around for two years and having grown its online traffic into something that rivals top media companies and portals.

Mr. Miller, who will join the board of Broadband Enterprises, said Velocity is interested in investing in “online platforms that scale, the content you put through those and [those with] the ability to make money in the space.”

Source: adage.com via mtippett

NowPublic

Tags: Media | New York | bets | Broadband Enterprises | companies | content creation | distribution | Funding | internet | Investing | jonathan miller | monetization | Money & Stuff | online Video | Partners | rivals | Ross Levinsohn | Traffic | VELOCITY