February 2019 Edition
Hello Reader,
On January 22nd, Pique Ventures hosted our annual investor and community event to celebrate another year of great connections and investment activity with our investors and founders. We welcomed people who were newer to the Pique community and who were curious about our approach to impact investing. And at the start of February, I welcomed the newest member to our team - Debbie Pai who joins Pique Ventures as an Analyst. You'll be hearing more from Debbie in the future.
In meantime, welcome to another edition of the Pique Ventures monthly newsletter, where we share our insights as well as news about our funds, our portfolio companies and other information that we think will help inform your impact investment strategy.
At Pique Ventures, we're continuing to fundraise towards our target of $11.5 million (CAD) for our second fund that will focus on a diverse community of leaders building companies that care, connect, and protect. We're only $1.6 million away from our first close (happening soon!) So if you're an impact investor (or aspire to be) and you would like to learn about the benefits of investing now and participating in this opportunity, I invite you to contact me.
All the best,
Bonnie Foley-Wong
CEO, Pique Ventures
Author, Integrated Investing
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Zebras: Built to Last
"Although venture capital is the source of funding for less than 10% of fast-growing firms, the impacts of venture-backed businesses are more wide-spread. These companies develop technologies that are implemented by non-venture-backed businesses and adopted by individuals. The jobs of the future are generated by venture-backed businesses or potentially eliminated or saved by them. We need diverse perspectives and leadership diversity at the helm of venture-backed companies and that is why I believe increasing venture capital to women-led businesses deserves our attention."
Read more
Via Pique Ventures
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Billion Dollar Fund for Women comes to Canada
"While female entrepreneurs are gaining profile in the VC market, data show the dollar flows remain heavily skewed to men... Pitchbook data showing only 2% of disbursements going to women-founded companies in 2017."
With that said, the Billion Dollar Fund for Women, a global initiative that aims to increase investment in women-founded companies, has arrived in Canada to change this. They are now recruiting local venture firms!
Read more
Via The PE Hub Network
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Dementia Society tries out Careteam's app
We're excited to share this news about Pique Fund portfolio company, Careteam: "The Dementia Society is the first organization to make use of the app, which is designed to put all your medical information in one place. If all goes according to plan, Sharon will soon be able to add her family doctor, her neurologist, her oncologist and her pharmacist to the app...CareTeam can make this process easier for everyone. When hospitals, pharmacies and specialists sign on with the app, they will be signing on to join the team. And the team, like the communities that support people living with dementia, is strongest when everyone plays a part."
Read more
Via Ottawa Citizen
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Save-on-Foods partners with FoodMesh to reduce food waste
Pique Fund portfolio company FoodMesh in the news: "Save-On-Foods has already provided perishable food for over 250,000 healthy meals to those in need through these kinds of partnerships in the first three months of the FoodMesh pilot. It has also supported close to 400 small family farms in BC, Vancouver Island, and beyond."
Read more
Via Daily Hive
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Sustainability is not just about the environment; it actually leads to better financial performance says NYU Stern professor
Hollender: "Sustainability is going to improve your financial performance and that's what people don't understand. People think it's a trade-off: am I gonna be a nice, good citizen and treat the environment well or am I gonna maximize profits? And the truth is you will perform better financially by doing things like having a great sustainability program, by having women on your board and in your senior management and by treating your employees well and ensuring that they're owners of the company. Those things translate into better financial performance."
Read more
Via Business Insider
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Interview with Naval Ravikant: CEO and co-founder of AngelList, investor of 100+ companies including Uber, Twitter, Yammer, etc.
- Re: Habits that impact life - “My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health."
- Re: Decision-Making - "Someone who makes decisions right 80% of the time instead of 70% of the time will be valued and compensated in the market hundreds of times more."
- Re: Investment - “I try and set up good systems and then the individual decisions don’t matter that matter much.”
- Re: Philosophy - "No one in the world is going to beat you at being you.”
- Re: Advice - "Great people have great outcomes. You just have to be patient."
Read the transcript
Via Farnam Street
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NACO Academy | Quickfire: The Rise of Impact Investing
Bonnie Foley-Wong, CEO of Pique Ventures was featured in a broadcast on February 21, 2019 with Bruno Lam from SaunderS3i, UBC to discuss the growing number of investors prioritizing impact investing and its culminating effect. Click on the link below to listen to the quickfire discussion.
Watch the Quickfire
Via NACO Academy
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Upcoming Events
- Innovation Week - March 2-8, 2019, New Westminster, BC
- BC Tech Summit - March 11-13, 2019, Vancouver, BC <-- Bonnie will be speaking on March 11 and 13.
- SVI Women Bay Area - April 10-12, 2019, San Francisco, CA
- RIA Conference - April 24-25, 2019, Montreal, PQ
- Collision - May 20-23, 2019, Toronto, ON
- Women Deliver - June 3-6, 2019, Vancouver, BC <-- Bonnie will be there!
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Follow @PiqueVC on Twitter, Pique Ventures on Instagram, or Like the Pique Ventures Facebook page to get more information about investing in Pique Fund and to hear about the upcoming events where you can meet us.
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