Luge Capital, a venture capital fund focused on fintech, has successfully raised an initial $71 million to invest in early-stage startups in Canada and the United States.
The fund has already invested in 21 companies from the approximately $85 million raised for Luge Fund I. Notable investments include Flinks, which was acquired by National Bank of Canada in 2021, as well as Plooto, Owl, Flare, and OneVest.
For its second fund, Luge aims for a target size of $100 million and has received support from returning investors such as CDPQ, Desjardins, BDC Capital, Sun Life, Industrial Alliance Financial Group (iA), and Fonds de solidarité FTQ, along with new investor Inovia Discovery Fund I.
In addition to continuing its core investment strategy from the first fund, Luge is expanding its focus to include fintech startups that operate at the intersection of financial services and other significant industries, as well as fintech-oriented ESG startups. Initial investments from Fund II are anticipated to be slightly larger than those from Luge’s first fund.
“Financial services impact the lives of every person, from opening a bank account and making payments to buying insurance and investing,” said Karim Gillani, general partner at Luge Capital. “However, large institutions face challenges in modernizing their legacy technology. By investing in exceptional fintech founders who tackle the industry’s most pressing issues, Luge is driving innovation across financial services, which account for 20 percent of the GDP in both the U.S. and Canada.”