INCO Ventures

Since its founding in 2009, H/L Ventures has forged a new way to build companies. H/L Ventures’ unique approach combines Daily Active Engagement with every portfolio company and a focus on investing in growth, impact, and diversity. Today, H/L Ventures manages a family of companies and funds that together comprise a holistic company-building ecosystem. At the heart of this system is H/L Studio, which was among the first venture studios to include social impact in its investment thesis. That venture studio is now supported by our opportunity fund, CityRock Ventures, and our managed services group, H/L Strategies, among other entities. Our team has pioneered an innovative, effective model that aligns the interests of entrepreneurs, investors, other stakeholders, and society to succeed together. At H/L Ventures, we apply these three key elements across our studios and funds: DAILY ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH FOUNDERS H/L Ventures’ involvement with our portfolio companies is as hands-on and supportive as possible throughout the entrepreneurship journey. This is the hallmark of H/L’s approach: we hold ourselves to a standard of virtually daily contact with every company in our portfolio, on an open-ended basis. This is not the empty promise of a website value-added page, but the core of our investment thesis. We host weekly calls with our senior portfolio team and each team of founders, which leads to daily activities involving our staff, Venture Partners, EPIRs, advisors, and network of service providers. All of this is in a supportive mode, meant to ensure that whatever needs our portfolio companies have, we remain actively relevant and helpful, every day. This care is given to all portfolio companies, regardless of which H/L Ventures vehicle is engaged. A POWERFUL ECOSYSTEM We respond effectively and proactively to our portfolio companies via a powerful team and community. Organized in a hub-and-spoke model around our core portfolio staff, four key communities help us co-build companies: Venture Partners & EPIRs, Advisors, Member Partners, and our affiliated Trusted Partner Network. Our team is shared across all our family of studios and funds. ACCESS TO CAPITAL From inception to exit, we provide many different forms of capital. Pre-Series A start-ups benefit from the H/L Studio model, where they enjoy access to virtually every form of capital, including human capital, social capital, networks, experience, and time. H/L does not normally invest in Pre-Seed rounds, focusing on our broad range of value-add services as we build a deeper relationship together via our Studio. We do however offer $100,000 in funding at the formal Seed round stage for our Studio companies [1, see Footnote], as well as an opportunity to leverage our extensive networks of co-investors to benefit the team’s fundraising efforts. Our opportunity fund, CityRock Venture Partners, invests at Series A and Series B. CityRock funds both qualifying studio portfolio startups and companies that come to us from outside of the studio pipeline, provided they fit our thesis and pass our standard due diligence process. Regardless of placement in the H/L Ventures ecosystem, all of our portfolio companies enjoy full access to our venture studio resources.

As a public fund that invests in opportunities where there is both measurable social impact and financial outcome, InBC offers a unique contribution to investment capital in British Columbia. Increasing overall investment capital available within B.C. Engaging across all regions of the province Investing with long-term timelines aligned to big visions and triple bottom line objectives Actively supporting companies and venture funds with a strong connection to B.C. Prioritizing the potential that exists across diverse populations, communities and sectors Investment objectives InBC’s investment decisions are guided by impact objectives that link to the triple bottom line approach – People, Planet and Profit. While no specific amount of money is allocated to each objective, InBC seeks to ensure that any investment it makes aligns to at least one of these impact objectives, demonstrates a strong connection to B.C., benefits the B.C. economy and generates financial returns. Investment criteria InBC invests in companies and venture funds that demonstrate strong and measurable opportunities aligned to our People, Planet, Profit approach: People: Investments will support an inclusive economy for British Columbians and advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Planet: Investments will create new jobs and opportunities associated with a net-zero future and climate resiliency. Profit: Investments will have growth potential to achieve a positive financial return for British Columbians and support InBC’s ability to be an evergreen fund.

At Positive Ventures, each investment must create economic, social and environmental value. We invest in entrepreneurs who take on the mission of solving great social and environmental challenges, driven by technology, performance and impact. We identify courageous innovators that dare reimagine the folds of the social (and ambiental) fabric, seeking to build enterprises which are in service of society. The sense of purpose is the driving edge that unites us, and we support those entrepreneurs in their mission to transform society and the planet through disruptive solutions. We want to change the course of this great river in which the world’s capital flows. To us, each investment must create an economic, social, and environmental value. To achieve this, we only make what we call decisive investments, that are supported by evidence and key to achieve a more sustainable and inclusive economic model. We value entrepreneurs and businesses that practice values based on ethics, that have as part of their culture incorporating the best practices for all its stakeholders, measuring and evolving at each step of the way, at the same pace with the transformation they promote into the world. We are a part of the movement that transforms capital into positive impact. Together, we weave tomorrow.

Capital for an economy that respects planetary limits. Some generations have built cathedrals. Some have navigated across oceans and expanded the frontiers of the known world. Others have had to rebuild war-torn continents. Our generation’s greatest challenge is equally immense: to create an economic system that respects the planet’s limits, and overcome the ecological crisis. If we are to rise to the challenge, we're going to have to innovate. In a radical way. This means taking risks - carefully considered, never unnecessary, ones. Having the courage to take the long view once again. Rewriting the rules of economic activity from the ground up, by standing alongside those who recognize that the greatest ambition of all lies in finding alternative means to create wealth. Our mission is to support the entrepreneurs who are repairing the world - from the very beginning of their journey, and with no time limit on our commitment. How? By bringing together a broad and diverse community of first-rate investors, and steering the flow of capital to where it is most likely to make a difference. One sector at a time, one start-up at a time, thereby increasing the number of tipping points. Allowing what will save us to thrive in the face of overwhelming adversity. So that we can finally initiate the systemwide transformational change which all of us are calling for, without always knowing where to start.

Accompagner les champions de l’impact qui changent la donne. Comment ? Long Terme: Grâce à notre structure evergreen, nous accompagnons nos entrepreneurs humainement et financièrement aussi longtemps que nécessaire et utile. Proximité: Forts de nos racines entrepreneuriales, nous agissons au plus près des entrepreneurs pour créer des synergies positives. Expertises: Nous levons des fonds uniquement auprès d’entrepreneurs, aujourd’hui près de 80 actionnaires, prêts à partager leurs expériences entrepreneuriales, sectorielles et métiers. Impact: Fidèles à notre ADN impact first depuis plus de 20 ans, nous sommes les partenaires de modèles pionniers, innovants et engagés. Thèse d’investissement Nous investissons en equity ou quasi equity de 250k€ à 2,5M€ en lead ou co-lead de tours de financement de Seed et Série A : Impact: Dans les champions de l’impact, menés par des entrepreneurs inspirés et inspirants, portant des solutions accessibles au plus grand nombre Ambition: Ayant un potentiel de croissance de l’impact et du business important et la volonté d’apporter des changements systémiques à leur secteur Go-To-Market: Dans des entreprises en phase d’accélération commerciale, avec des premiers retours d’usage et des métriques impact Collectif: Avec des entrepreneurs souhaitant s’entourer et valorisant notre accompagnement de long-terme

With over two decades of Australian investment in building capability in research and universities, Australia now enjoys some of the most extraordinary talent and globally leading minds. This talent is creating knowledge and has the capacity of solving some of the big problems of our time but if we can’t take this know-how and intellect into the world, then this brilliance is lost and the opportunity we have will remain just that – an opportunity. As business builders and investors, Significant has been taking up this challenge for nearly two decades. Working in collaboration with universities, researchers and state governments, we, as a collective group have a track record in translating this knowledge bank into technology, into products, into services and ultimately into businesses that: Have become global companies Re-shaped markets Solved sustainability problems Created jobs and New career pathways for Australians Significant has the capacity to create high value niche modern manufacturing industries and exports for Australia and are extremely proud of their achievements. Significant leads by example to show that Australia can commercialise its inventions, that sustainable globally competitive businesses can be created in Australia, and that early-stage investment can create immense value for investors, demonstrating that through action Significant is able to attract more capital to invest in this important space and is be able to shift the mindset (read the AFR article) that Australia is great at innovation but not at execution. Backing Australia Our vision is a country that backs its researchers for the intellectual capital advantage they provide. Our mission is to back this talent, entrepreneurs and innovators to take these ideas and concepts to the world and create its own self-funding eco-system that results in the formation of new industries. Through our 4-way all-encompassing unique eco-system, our university investor partners provide us with access to the ‘very earliest’ investment opportunities possible, opening the door to concepts, ideas and innovations well before other venture capital funds. Our investment approach We invest in applied technologies that address high-impact global niche markets and will bring about social, environmental or economic change. Every potential investment must have a pathway to being a sustainable business and contributing impact to the UN Sustainable Development Goals either through the technology or through their business model. We look for technologies that provide a market advantage that is hard to replicate. They will have emerged either from researchers who have had long well-funded R&D cycles or innovators who have deep domain specialisation in an industry and so know their market problem exceptionally well. We are sector agnostic driven by the thematics that arise from the core capabilities of our partner universities and the innovations we uncover. The accelerators Strong market-fit and early industry engagement are imperative. We seek to accelerate the path to market dramatically by sourcing early adopters to validate the market need and aim to achieve market traction within 12-24 months. Our ability to find these early adopters is a key part of Significant’s initial due diligence.