News Summary

Luge Capital and Pender Ventures, two venture-capital firms from opposite sides of Canada, are expanding their presence in Alberta following investments from the Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC). Luge Capital, based in Montréal, focuses on FinTech companies and has brought on Chelsea Gillett, an investor from The51 in Calgary. The firm manages $180 million across two funds and has recently closed a $96 million Fund II with contributions from AEC and other major partners. Luge Capital has already invested in two Alberta FinTech companies, HonestDoor and OneVest.

Vancouver-based Pender Ventures, the VC arm of PenderFund Capital Management, has hired Jacob Grainger as a Calgary-based associate. Pender Ventures focuses on early-stage B2B software and healthtech companies. The firm received $5 million from AEC towards its $100 million fund and has previously invested in the Edmonton-based healthtech startup DrugBank. The AEC is actively supporting early-stage startups through its Accelerate Fund IV, which has raised $15 million of its $25-million target. This new VC presence signals increased capital availability for early-stage companies in Alberta, further supported by the growing investment in digital adoption for financial services in the region.