UPDATE 1-HarbourVest closes Canadian venture capital fund to new investors

(Adds details from Business Development Bank of Canada)
TORONTO, April 5 (Reuters) - A Canadian plan to encourage
private investment in the country's venture capital industry
raised more than C$1.35 billion ($1.03 billion), a government
bank for entrepreneurs said on Tuesday, after the last of four
funds closed to new investors.
Private equity investor HarbourVest Partners said its C$375
million ($285 million) fund, mostly dedicated to investing in
venture capital funds that back Canadian companies, had been
oversubscribed by the limited partners that account for
two-thirds of the fund.
The remainder of the HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund was
provided by BDC Capital Inc, a subsidiary of the federal
government-backed Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC),
which operates at arms length.
The HarbourVest fund is part of a plan launched by Canada's
former Conservative government in early 2013 to match and
attract private-sector funding for local startups.
That plan leveraged C$400 million of government cash to
bring in more than C$900 million from private investors, which
the BDC said had been invested in nearly 100 Canadian companies
via the four funds.
HarbourVest said it has so far funneled cash to Canadian
funds run by Avrio Ventures, Genesys Ventures, Georgian
Partners, Golden Venture Partners, Information Venture Partners,
Inovia Capital, and McRock Capital, and invested directly in
Intelex, a Toronto-based environmental and health and safety
software company.
It has also backed Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, and
Spark Capital, three U.S. fund managers who invest in Canada.
The three other funds that the government promoted to
investors are the Teralys Capital Innovation Fund, the
Kensington Venture Fund and the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund.
($1 = 1.3178 Canadian dollars)