Inovia Capital Secures $200 Million First Close for AI-Native Fund VI
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The Montreal-based firm targets frontier tech and AI startups, but the new fund's leadership remains concentrated among six partners.
Inovia Capital has announced a $200-million USD first close for its sixth early-stage venture capital fund, according to BetaKit. The Montreal-based investor is targeting a total of $325 million USD for Fund VI, a goal the firm expects to reach by the first quarter of 2027.
Inovia partner Karamdeep Nijjar told BetaKit that Fund VI represents the firm's first completely "AI-native" fund, focusing on startups integrating AI from inception. The fund will target emerging frontier technologies in sectors including robotics, quantum, energy, compute, infrastructure, developer operations, and cybersecurity. Inovia intends to make 15 to 20 core investments ranging from seed to Series A stages across Europe and North America.
Investment decisions for Fund VI will be managed by six partners: Karamdeep Nijjar, Magaly Charbonneau, Shawn Abbott, Kory Jeffrey, Taha Mubashir, and Steve Woods. BetaKit reports that Jeffrey and Mubashir were promoted to partner last year.
The first close was supported by returning limited partners, including Teralys Capital, Investissement Québec, Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Business Development Bank of Canada, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Inovia plans to source opportunities via its Discovery Program for emerging managers, which is being developed in partnership with Northleaf Capital Partners. This latest milestone brings Inovia's total assets under management to $2.7 billion USD. This follows other initiatives, including a $100-million USD Venture Scientist Fund co-launched with the Québec AI research institute Mila, and a growth equity fund that has raised $365 million USD of a planned $450 million.