Fintech-focused venture capital firm Luge Capital is reporting it has raised $71 million for its second fund to invest in Fintechs in both the US and Canada. Fund investors include returning investors CDPQ, Desjardins, BDC Capital, Sun Life, Industrial Alliance Financial Group (iA), Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and new investor Inovia Discovery Fund I.
Founded in 2018, Luge Capital is an early-stage VC firm that invests in Fintechs. Based in Montréal and Toronto, the firm’s strategic base of LPs includes large financial institutions, insurance carriers, and pension funds.
Luge said it is expanding its scope of investments to include “verticalized” Fintech startups that operate at the intersection of financial services and other large industries, like environmental, social, and ESG startups.
David Nault, General Partner at Luge Capital, said the partnerships they have provide unique insights to give their team a competitive advantage when it comes to backing Fintech founders.
“Financial services impact the lives of every person, from opening a bank account and making payments to buying insurance and making investments. Yet large institutions are finding it challenging to modernize their legacy technology,” said Karim Gillani, General Partner at Luge Capital. “By investing in high-calibre Fintech founders who are solving the industry’s biggest problems, Luge is helping to drive innovation across the financial services that are the lifeblood of the economy and account for 20 percent of the GDP in the U.S. and in Canada.”
In Fund 1, Luge invested in 21 companies from the roughly $85 million raised. Investments include Flinks (acquired by National Bank of Canada in 2021), Plooto, Owl, Flare, and OneVest.
