Maple Leaf Angels is Ontario’s largest and most active angel investor group. Since its founding in 2007, Maple Leaf Angels has invested $6m in start-ups. Maple Leaf Angels is made of about 40 accredited high net worth individuals, business leaders and entrepreneurs mostly from the Greater Toronto Area.  A partnership with the RIC Center opened up a chapter to serve the west GTA.

Maple Leaf Angels hold 10 pitching rounds annual, with an average of about 3 companies per pitch. Maple Leaf Angels is not bias towards any one industry; a start-up from any sector can apply. It is up to individual investors to decide in who they wish to invest and how much. Typically, most investments are in the range of $200 000 to $400 000 and act as the required capital to accelerate the company forward significantly. Investors receive equity or convertible debt.

Applying for the opportunity to pitch is done through an online submission of a business plan. Submission can be done anytime, there are no deadlines. Maple Leaf  Angels acknowledges that it is beneficial to have someone to known to Maple Leaf Angels act as a referral; the referral can be an innovation center (such as MARS), professional service firm (such as  Mckinsey and Company,)  employee of a government funding program or someone who has successfully pitched to Maple Leaf Angels. From around 40 monthly submission, 4 to 6 companies are selected for a 15 minute pitch to a review committee, the top 3 companies are invited to present to investors.

While a perfect business plan is a definite must, having a persuasive pitch is vital. The pitch should focus on the benefits to investors – market size, projected revenues, core competencies, barriers to entry, return on investment and an exit strategy.

From the time that a start-up pitches to investors, it can take between 1 and 4 months to receive a check depending the length of due diligence, negotiations and preparation of necessary legal documents.

Aside from receiving capital, angel investors often offer other benefits such their network of contacts and mentorship.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about business plans or pitching to investors. I can be contacted at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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The purpose of the Green Innovation Award is to inspire entrepreneurs to pursue green business models that serve as solutions to environmental challenges and to assist in taking green business at the seed stage to the market.

Established businesses are not eligible, however eligible applicants can be individuals, students, inventors or non-profit organizations. Each applicant may only submit one idea.

The application is a 2 stage process, the first stage being applying online with a 1-2 page project proposal; in the second stage selected applicants will be required to present a business plan and present their idea to a panel of judges.

The Green Innovation Award falls under the Toronto government mandate for a better cleaner Toronto. The Toronto Community Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to improving Toronto; it does so by serving as an umbrella organization that pools organizational capacity resources as well as charitable gifts of donors to create endowment funds and using the investment income to make grants.

More information can be found at www.tcf.ca

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Business Development  Bank of Canada  (BDC) offers venture capital to Canadian pioneering entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Business Development Bank of Canada is a federal government owned financial institution with a mission to help develop Canadian businesses through financing, venture capital and consulting services, with a focus on small as well as medium-sized enterprises. BDC’s  entrepreneurial and progressive corporate culture exists to support to Canadian businesses and accelerate the success of entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital is available to businesses at any stage (from seed to late/growth stage investments) involved in:

1. Green Energy Production
2. Environmental and Green Technologies
3. Manufacturing Innovations
4. New Electronics
5. Advanced Materials
6. Improvements in broadband transmission/bandwidth
7. Optical and Wireless Networking Technologies
8. Innovative Life Sciences
9. Novel Information Technologies

Typical initial investments range from $500 000 to $3 000 000 as part of a financing round in the $1 000 000 to $10 000 000 range. In return BDC will ask for up to a 49% control of the company and a position on the Board of Directors.

With over 1000 annual request for venture capital financing, the selection criteria and process is extremely competitive with only a few businesses receiving funding. In order to increases the chances of being selected the business must have a leadership team with excellent credentials along with an attitude that wishes to work alongside BDC,  a unique competitive advantage with strong barriers to entry, significant intellectual property, technologies with broader applications than a single product or market, viability for high growth plus high revenues,  job creation, a clear exit strategy, commitment from other investors and detailed business plan.

Companies wishing to apply for BDC Venture Capital must present business plan. Applicants that demonstrate potential will be asked to submit to a due diligence check and invited to a series of meetings discussing a venture capital ask and possible offer. Once an agreement is reached, funds can be invested. This entire process usually takes 3 to 6 months to complete.  

More information can be found at www.bdc.ca

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or comments. I can be reached at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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Launched in late 2009, Rogers Ventures is a “venture capital like” firm focusing on seed funding and early stage investment for Canadian technology start-ups.

Why “venture capital like”? Simple, because while it operates like a venture capital firm that invests funds, it can also offer select technology start-ups with advice, meeting spaces or other in-kind resources. Furthermore, in keeping with Ted Rogers’ desire to drive innovation, Rogers Ventures has a mandate that involves going beyond developing a portfolio of successful companies and investing to promote innovation acceleration in Canadian communities.

Pitching Rogers Ventures is initially done through its website – www.rogersventures.ca

Selected start-ups companies are contacted for a more detailed review, eventually requiring a business plan. Rogers Ventures will probably have a preference towards funding technologies that can contribute to its internet, digital media and mobile communications market. The amount that it will invest in a company is decided on case by case basis.

Examples in Rogers Ventures portfolio companies include Zoocasa, a vertical search product focused on real estate, Thoora, a next generation news discovery service, and GridCentric, a solution for grid computing.

The leadership of Rogers Ventures includes Melinda Rogers – Senior Vice-president Strategy and Development with Rogers Communications, Mike Lee – Vice-President with Rogers Ventures, and Nyla Ahmad – Vice-president, Rogers Ventures Operations.

I would be happy to answer any questions regarding business plan development or investor/VC pitches. I can be contacted at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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One of the Ontario’s government hottest business funding programs is the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund.

The Ontario Emerging Technology Fund (OETF) is a $250 million ($50 million a year, over 5 years, 2009 – 2014) program where the Ontario government co-invests alongside venture capital firms, private investors (angel investors) and investment corporations (i.e. pension funds) towards clean technology, life sciences/health care and digital media/telecommunications.

The program is a powerful opportunity for start-up and existing businesses to attract investment.

The program was established by Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation, whose mission is to develop policy as well as programs that will help commercialize academic research and innovative venture start-ups.

To manage the OETF, the Ontario government established a crown corporation – The Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC). Its mandate is to manage the interest of the Government of Ontario in the limited partnership known as the Ontario Venture Capital Fund LP (OVCF) and to manage and operate the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF).

Investors must first apply to become Qualified Investors from the OCGC. It is relatively easy to become obtain Qualified Investor status. Qualified Investor eligibility criteria includes: sufficient available investment capital, investment portfolio performance history over the last 5 years, strong Ontario footprint and meeting due diligence/ethics requirements. Once Qualified Investor status is achieved, a co -investment proposal is submitted for review. In the case of Angel Investors, a co-investment proposal must be submitted along with an application to become a Qualified Investor. In other words, Venture Capital and Investment Corporations, can become Qualified Investors without having a targeted co-investment opportunity, but Angel Investors must have an immediate co-investment need.

First time co-investment opportunities of up $4 million are available.

Accessing requires either that Qualified Investors approach a business. that a business find a Qualified Investor or that a business find an investor and ask them to apply for Qualified Investor status.

The Fund model is based on a number of design principles that are consistent with achieving the government’s goal and objectives for the Fund

1. Market-based investment decisions – identification of investment opportunities will be undertaken by qualified investors that have a proven track record of success and have been pre-qualified by Ontario

2. Rapid deployment of capital – the Fund will have the ability to make investments directly into companies within a short time frame.

3. Focus on key industry sectors for Ontario – the Fund will focus its investments on sectors of strategic importance to the province.

4. Government’s role as a catalyst – Ontario will act as a catalyst to leverage private sector capital.

5. Ability to make additional investments into an investee company – the Fund will be able to make both initial and follow-on investments to support the ongoing growth of high potential, innovative companies.

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ArtReach Toronto is an innovative youth focused and youth driven program with a mandate to support arts initiatives that engage youth who have experienced exclusion in under-served areas of Toronto.

With strong financial support from all three levels of government, funding organizations and donors, ArtReach has committed to spending $1.2 million over 3 years to support projects that encourage creative expression through quality arts opportunities for youth. ArtReach also provides free youth capacity building workshops on fundraising, leadership and non-profit organization administration.

Much like the Youth Challenge Fund, ArtReach embraces a growing social change philosophy that youth should be involved in the design, funding decisions and evaluations of youth programs. In other words, youth must be a vital part in creating solutions to the issues of youth oppression, disengagement, crime and negative influences.

The idea for ArtReach Toronto was created out of 2004 Intergovernmental Roundtable of Art Funders and Foundations (IRAFF) from the recognition youth in the Greater Toronto Area are increasingly find it difficult to access to relevant cultural arts programs. ArtReach Toronto believes that arts programs have high youth appeal and that quality arts experiences/programs can serve as a powerful engagement method; ultimately improving Toronto’s communities, include the city’s priority neighbourhoods.

ArtReach provides grants to non-profit organizations, individual artists or groups of artists for arts initiatives that provide meaningful youth arts opportunities and engage youth aged 13-29 from Toronto’s Priority Neighbourhoods. Youth must be part of every aspect of the project – design, implementation, management and evaluation. ArtReach also tries to fund arts projects that may not supported elsewhere.

Non-profit organizations are eligible to receive $75 000 over 3 years while individual artists or groups of artists are eligible for $10 000 in funding.

Example programs that ArtReach Toronto has funded include:

Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples: The Sequel – The program will provide 10 Latino youth with an opportunity to build skills in the art of filmmaking. These youth will have an opportunity to tell their story through the films they develop and screen in the Jane and Finch community. Amount: $24,330

Beyond the Lyrics Youth Resource Centre Inc: Living Through HERstory - a collaborative project that will support young women from Crescent Town to build skills in traditional dance forms, as well as the cultural art form of basket weaving, to develop mouts (Harari baskets) and hats. This inter-generational project also aims to engage young women in discussions around their experiences with respect to identity and familial disconnect. Amount: $17,550

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The Business Development Program of Atlantic Canada’s Opportunities Agency offers interest free, unsecured business loans for new or existing businesses that are repayable on a flexible time schedule built around a business’ needs. The exact amount of funding provided is evaluated on a case by case basis.

In order to apply for funding an applicant will need to present a persuasive business plan that explains a financial need, proves repayment viability using qualitative/quantitative data and demonstrates a benefit to the Atlantic community.

The program does not fund 100% of costs, rather it funds 50% or 75% of eligible costs.

Cost eligible for 50% financing include direct start-up or operating expense such as working capital, buildings (new acquisitions or renovations), site improvement (for example parking space creation, signage, landscaping, etc) equipment, patents, certifications and trademarks.

Cost eligible for 75% financing include marketing, staff training, required case studies, consultant fees, productivity improvement, environmental assessments as well as research and development expenses.

As a Business Development Consultant I am available to answer any questions you may about this or other funding programs. I can also assist in applying to this program. I can be contacted at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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Established in 1986 by the federal government, the BC Community Futures Network promotes economic prosperity in British Columbia’s rural regions. Since its creation, the British Columbia Community Futures Network has played significant role in entrepreneurial and community development. For example, in the 2006/07 fiscal year, the BC Community Futures Program created or maintained more than 4,559 jobs, offered 606 loans totalling $31 million and leveraged an additional $53 million.

BC Community Futures Network has 34 locally and strategically positioned offices across the province.

While BC Community Futures offers many programs, one of its strongest programs is its Small Business Loan Program which provides funds up $150 000 in funding to small businesses who for various reasons are unable to get approved for financing from other sources such as banks. The Small Business Loan program can be used to stabilize an existing business, grow a thriving enterprise or start a new business.

Acceptance for a BC Community Futures Small Business Loan depends on having a persuasive and detailed business plan that clearly shows the market viability of the business, the potential for job creation, management experience, ability to repay and reasonable equity.

I would be happy to answer any questions regarding this program or assist you in preparing a successful business plan.

I can be contacted at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is a provincial crown corporation that provides Alberta small businesses, farmers and agribusinesses with funding opportunities that include general business loans, crop insurance, farm income and disaster assistance.

3 programs of interest from AFSC are:

Commercial Loan Program

The Commercial Loan Program offers up to $5 million to any qualifying Alberta business run by either Canadian Citizens or Landed Immigrants. The loan must be used for real property expenses such as signage, equipment, computers, renovations, buildings, vehicles, etc. This program has 3 advantages over many other financing programs. First, it offers a higher loan amount than other loans offered through financial institutions or government programs.
Second, borrowers can re-borrow up to the maximum limit as loans are paid down or paid out. Third, a variety of affordable and flexible payment options are available.

Specific Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP)

The SLGP program enables applicants to obtain financing from other lenders with the support of a specific loan guarantee from the AFSC. Sometimes, small businesses or agribusinesses with potential for growth find themselves in a situation where despite they can demonstrate they can repay a loan, they are unable to qualify for funding from financial institutions. The SLGP, addresses this shortcoming and helps strengthen Alberta’s economy by empowering small businesses with the support they need to successfully obtaining funding. Guarantees of up to $5 million can be provided to financial institutions on behalf of an applicant. Risk for the loan guarantee is normally shared between AFSC and the financial institution. Guarantees can also be in the form of a letter of credit, bid bonds, or performance guarantees.

Alberta Farm Loan Program (ALFP)

The ALFP provides up to $5 million in financing to Canadian citizens or landing immigrants who as primary agriculture producers wish to start or grow their farming operations. Eligible expenses include livestock, land, buildings, equipment, housing, etc. While the loan cannot be used as a operating or feeder loan, it can be used for financial restructuring, restoring working capital or investing in an agribusiness. A unique feature of the AFLP is the Beginning Farmer Incentive (BFI) which offers applicants with a net worth of $500,000 or less, an interest rate reduction of 1.5% for the first 5 years of the loan.

As with almost all lending programs a strong business plan with supporting documentation is required to apply for funding.

For questions or assistance please e-mail me at jorge@jorgeleclair.ca

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There are many financing options for new or existing small businesses; one the best options is the Canada Small Business Financing Program. (CSBFP)

CSBFP provides government backed loans of up to $500 000 for new or existing small businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenues. Borrowers can receive 90% of their required capital for a maximum of $500 000 if the loan is for real property or a maximum $350 000 if the loan is to open or improve a new business. This means that borrowers only need a down payment of 10%. Eligible costs are basically assets that have real value such as property, equipment, signage, computers, communication systems, restaurant equipment, vehicles, etc. Agriculture related costs or farm property are ineligible because such items are covered under other federal and provincial programs. Ineligible costs also include assets that have intangible value such as goodwill, working capital, franchise fees, goods inventories, research and development expenses, etc. Loans have a maximum term of 10 years.

The Canada Small Business Financing Program was created in 1999 because the federal government recognized the importance of ensuring that small businesses and entrepreneurs have access to credit. Previously, the program permitted a maximum of $250 000, however, under Canada’s 2009 Economic Action Plan the limits where increased. Under the program, the Federal Government guarantees 85% of the loan made by eligible institutions to qualifying businesses. By sharing the credit risk with lenders, it increases the chances that a financial institution will lend to small business borrower.

Financing for small businesses comes from either private investors including family as well as friends, bank loans or the Canada Small Business Financing Program. Capital from private investors is ideal, but it harder to find. Bank loans will have the lowest interests rates compared to other avenues of financing but usually require that a borrower have minimum 25% down payment and provide a personal guarantee for 100% of the loan. CSBFP is a viable alternative for borrowers with good credit who cannot provide a minimum 25% down payment and cannot provide a personal guarantee for 100% of their loan.

CSBFP is administered by banks and credit unions. A small business or entrepreneur must apply for a loan at a financial institution of its choice. The interest rate which may be variable or fixed, is decided by the lender. The maximum variable interest rate allowed is the lender’s prime rate plus 3% and the maximum fixed rate allowed is the lender’s single family residential mortgage rate plus 3%. CSBFP has a program administration fee of 2% of the total amount loaned under the program which is paid by the borrower to the lender and can be financed as part of the loan. Consequently, CSBFP has a higher interest rate than a normal business loan.

A personal guarantee is still required but the lender can only ask for a personal guarantee of up to 25%, this is better than signing an unlimited guarantee. A lower personal guarantee means that it will be easier to qualify for a loan because a bank only has to ensure that a borrower can repay 25% of the loan.

A persuasive, detailed and professionally written Business Plan and Presentation will increase the chances of being accepted to the CSBFP.

The bottom line is that if a borrower who wants to buy a new franchise needs a total $350 000, which breaks into $300 000 real equipment, $25 000 franchise fee and $25 000 cash flow, the borrower can ask for $270 000. (90% of the $300 000 of eligible costs) The borrow will need a $30 000 down payment (10%) and to demonstrate to the bank that he/she can provide a personal guarantee for $75 000 (25% of the loan) based on a relationship with his/her lender, personal credit history and personal net worth. Furthermore, the new franchise owner will have to somehow come up with the remaining $25 000 of required cash flow. Thus, in this example the total required to ensure a loan through CSBFP is $55 000.

The Canada Small Business Financing Program has and continues to be a popular source of financing. As mentioned, it’s not the only financing option available. New or existing business owners should look into all the financing options available and decide which is most suited to their needs.

More information can be found here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/csbfp-pfpec.nsf/eng/h_la02855.html

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