TORONTO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - OMERS Ventures, one of Canada's
biggest venture-capital firms, said on Monday it has raised
about C$260 million ($198.56 million) for a second fund to
invest mainly in early-stage technology companies.
Lead investors in the fund are Bank of Montreal BMO.TO , a
unit of Cisco Systems CSCO.O , and OMERS Ventures' parent, the
Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
The funding comes as investments in the Canadian technology
industry have been gathering momentum, with a steady stream of
funding and capital-raising in recent months.
The initial public offering of Canadian e-commerce company
Shopify Inc SH.TO earlier this year was one of the highlights.
OMERS Ventures invested in Shopify before its IPO in May,
and was one of the big winners from that offering. Shopify's
shares were priced at $17 in the United States in May and have
doubled in value since then.
"The closing of the fund is a positive signal for Canada's
tech sector, and shows the strong interest of private capital in
partnering with innovative technology entrepreneurs," John
Ruffolo, chief executive of OMERS Ventures, said in a statement.
($1=$1.31 Canadian)