Frontier Tech

BDC Capital's Deep Tech Venture Fund is a dedicated venture capital fund established in 2021 by BDC Capital, the venture and growth capital arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Canada's federal development finance institution. The fund was designed to address a persistent financing gap in Canada's deep technology sector, providing capital to Canadian startups commercializing transformational technologies requiring longer development cycles and specialized expertise to reach commercial scale. The fund targeted investments across four foundational technology areas: quantum computing, advanced electronics and photonics, next-generation semiconductor applications, and foundational artificial intelligence systems. With a mandate to invest in 15 to 20 companies over at least 12 years, the fund committed CAD 200 million to build Canada's deep tech commercialization pipeline, focusing on companies at the intersection of scientific research and commercial viability, often bridging the gap between university spin-outs and Series A institutional venture rounds. The fund made 12 investments before BDC's broader portfolio review led to a strategic restructuring of its venture capital activities following a CAD 220 million write-down in the value of BDC Capital's VC portfolios in fiscal year 2024 (ending March 31, 2024). BDC subsequently wound down the Deep Tech Venture Fund after approximately four years, shifting focus to a defence-technology successor mandate. The fund achieved Closed status as BDC redirected resources toward next-generation technology investment programs, having demonstrated early commercialization potential in several portfolio companies operating in quantum, photonics, and AI infrastructure.

Backed 3 is the third investment vehicle of Backed VC, closing at approximately $100 million. The fund marks a milestone as Backed VC makes its 100th investment into European deep‑tech and frontier technology companies.The strategy is to back ambitious, early‑stage founders building globally significant companies in three core verticals: AI‑native therapeutics; blockchain and banking infrastructure; and industrial/manufacturing automation. Ticket sizes are set at $500,000 to $5 million, targeting pre‑seed and seed rounds, and the firm is increasing its presence in the U.S. to source transatlantic founders and support follow‑on capital.Limited partners comprise a mix of institutional allocators (including fund‑of‑funds) and over 50 family offices and founder‑LPs, with nearly half the fund coming from institutions. Through its community‑driven model, Backed VC aims to leverage its network of events and founder‑LP recycling to accelerate deal flow, syndication and talent mobility between Europe and the U.S.By focusing on frontier technology sectors and providing long‑horizon capital to founders with global ambition, Backed 3 positions itself to help unlock Europe’s next generation of platform companies — building with a mindset to compete at the highest level rather than settling for convenience plays.

The fund is designed as a European closed‑end venture capital vehicle managed by Kibo Ventures. It aims to back early‑stage software businesses with global ambition, leading or co‑leading pre‑series A and series A rounds. Its investment policy places a geographic emphasis on companies whose center of operations, management or strategic base is in Spain, with the intention that at least two‑thirds of invested capital goes into Spanish companies. The duration of the fund is estimated at ten years from the first close, extendable by up to two additional one‑year periods, and it targets a portfolio of B2B software companies with differentiated technologies and scalable international models. Typical checks are in the order of ~€2 million into early‑stage rounds, seeking minority positions (~10‑20%) in companies ready to scale, demonstrating product‑market fit and growth potential.