The Canadian tech scene’s knight in shining armour is spreading the wealth again.
Sir Terence Matthews, knighted bythe Queen in 2001, has just raised$105-million through a new venture capital fund targetinginvestmentsin early stage firms in media communications technology (MCT).
His Ottawa-based VC firm, Celtic House Venture Partners (an ode toMatthews’s Welsh roots), announced the closure of the fund today. Leadinvestor was Ontario Venture Capital Fund, with additionalinstitutional investors being Teralys Corp., Export Development Canada,and Business Development Bank of Canada.
Matthews’s new $105-million VCfund will invest in media communications startups.
Celtic House, with additional offices in Toronto and Montreal, managesa total portfolio of $425 million across three VC funds. It was foundedin 1994.
In a recent speech in Winnipeg, the Welsh-born Ottawa-based Matthewssaid not enough successful Canadian entrepreneursare investing instartups, bemoaned the hollowing out of Canada’s startupscene afterseveral young firms were acquired by U.S. companies, and applauded $400million in startup funding announced in the federal budget.
Matthews is one of the most successful tech titans to come out ofOttawa, having founded companies such as Newbridge Networks Corp. andMitel Corp. Proclaimed by U.K. media as the first ever Welsh-bornbillionaire, Matthews was ranked the richest Welshman in 2011 with anet worth of about $1.72 billion. That put him ahead of better knownWelsh compatriots actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and crooner Tom Jones(no relation), ranked tenth and twelfth respectively.