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<h1 style="text-align: center;">$100M venture fund announced by BC.gov</h1>
<h2>[WHAT]</h2>
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<li>] BC gov <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2015MTICS0033-001951" target="_blank">announces 100M venture capital investment fund</a>&nbsp;</li>
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<h2>[WHY]</h2>
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<li>]&nbsp;</li>
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<h2>[WHERE]</h2>
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<li><strong>] READ THE FULL ARTICLE</strong></li>
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<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/business/technology/announces+million+tech+innovation+venture+fund/11574297/story.html?__lsa=739d-926a" target="_blank">http://www.vancouversun.com/business/technology/announces+million+tech+innovation+venture+fund/11574297/story.html?__lsa=739d-926a</a></li>
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<h2>[WHEN]</h2>
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<li>] 2015-12-08</li>
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<h2>[EXAMPLE]</h2>
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<li><span style="background-color: #888888;"><strong>[vancouver sun]&nbsp;</strong></span></li>
<li>"Tech companies need four things: They need talent, they need markets, they need ideas and they need money. All of those things are areas where the government can't do it all but government can support making sure that it happens." Christy Clark, BC Premier</li>
<li>"What surprised me and surprised a lot of people who normally study this stuff is that the record of governments in this area is not bad," he said. "A lot of people expected it would be a waste of money. "But this kind of investment has often worked out to be pretty good." James Brander, UBC Sauder School of Business</li>
<li>"As it happens government support of venture capital finance in the high-tech area is very common around the world," he said. "Governments all over the place are in this business, including the government of Canada."&nbsp;</li>
<li>Bill Tam, president and chief executive of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association, was among tech leaders who welcomed the announcement.&nbsp;"This is probably the most sizable single venture capital investment in the history of British Columbia in this area," said in a later interview. "There are many other jurisdictions that have done similar things. The B.C. government has consulted far and wide and they have taken the best of practices in other jurisdictions into account."&nbsp;</li>
<li>In the most recent example, the federal government committed $400 million in its Venture Capital Action Plan, aimed at revitalizing the venture capital sector. Among the initiatives that have come from that is the NorthLeaf Venture Catalyst Fund, a $300-million fund with private and public investment, including funds from the Canadian and Ontario governments along with institutional investors.</li>
<li>Tam identifiied Series A funding gap (post startup, 3-10M range)</li>
<li><span style="background-color: #888888;"><strong>[globe and mail]</strong></span></li>
<li>] the announcement, first plank of <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">"innovation strategy"</span>, which comes following a multi-year push to expand more conventional, old-economy industries including natural gas and shipbuilding.</li>
<li>]&nbsp;&nbsp;the province&rsquo;s at-times overlooked tech industry <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/vancouver-tech-scene/article25885653/" target="_blank">has flourished in recent years</a> and now <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">employs more than 86,000 people</span>, <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">more than B.C.&rsquo;s forestry, mining and oil and gas sectors, combined.</span></li>
<li>]&nbsp;The tech sector is <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">growing at a faster pace than the overall economy</span> and added $13.9-billion to its gross domestic product in 2013,&nbsp;</li>
<li>] with tech <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">jobs paying 60 per cent more</span> than the province&rsquo;s industrial average.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] The province is <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">home to some of Canada&rsquo;s most successful startups</span>, including Hootsuite Media, Builddirect.com Technologies and BroadbandTV.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] Several other local companies, including Recon Instruments and Plentyoffish.com, have also sold to major international firms in the past year.&nbsp;</li>
<li>]&nbsp;The remainder of the government&rsquo;s innovation plan will be unveiled next month and will include actions to bring &ldquo;the highest quality talent&rdquo; to the province and &ldquo;to make it easier to access new markets,&rdquo; the government said in a release.</li>
<li>]&nbsp;the <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">government will select a private sector fund manager to administer its pool of capital.</span> Sources told the Globe the manager hired by government will act as a &ldquo;fund-of-funds,&rdquo; which would <span style="background-color: #ffff00;">direct the money to venture funds that invest directly in startup companies.</span> Although the government&rsquo;s tech strategy is being led by the ministry of technology, innovation and citizen&rsquo;s services, the money will come from the international trade department budget.</li>
<li>]&nbsp;In addition to the venture fund, the government said it will increase the number of B.C. technology companies that can claim tax credits available for firms engaging in digital animation, visual effects, or interactive digital media. The government also reiterated its support for $33-million in annual tax credits through its small business venture capital legislation.&nbsp;</li>
<li>]&nbsp;startup sector welcomed the funding news, observers are keenly hoping the rest of the B.C. plan will address other chronic issues facing the tech sector, including a shortage of programmers and immigration challenges faced by surging tech companies that have held up their efforts to recruit skilled foreign senior executives into their companies.</li>
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<h2>[HOW-TO]</h2>
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<li>]</li>
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<h2>[REFERENCE]</h2>
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<li>] <a href="/view/task?id=6148" target="_blank">CREATE-article# 4843</a>(this)</li>
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<h1 style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</h1>

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