Build a customized venture capital portfolio

Individuals, family offices, trusts, and corporations that meet the definition of an accredited investor can participate in Brightspark investments. Our team will also work with you to assess whether you are suitable for venture capital investments based on your financial situation and investment goals.

Generally, an individual is an accredited investor if they meet at least one of the statements below:

• You earned a net income before taxes exceeding $200,000 (or $300,000 combined income with a spouse) in each of the two most recent years and who reasonably expects to exceed that net income in the current year;
• You, alone or with a spouse, own at least $1 million in financial assets (cash and securities) before taxes. In calculating your financial assets, any outstanding loans incurred to acquire those assets must be deducted.
• You hold alone or with a spouse at least $5 million in net assets;
• You are investing as a corporation, limited partnership, trust or estate that has net assets of at least $5 million;
• You currently are, or once was, a registered advisor or dealer, other than a limited market dealer.

The minimum investment is C$10,000 per individual investment (the average is $35,000-$50,000).

When deciding how much to invest, take into consideration that we suggest you diversify your risk by investing in multiple deals, and plan to reserve some capital for a follow-on strategy.

 A portion of your investment is applied to fees:

• A management fee (1.5 to 2% per year for the first three years) is used as compensation for sitting on boards of directors, due diligence, legal paperwork and overhead. 
• A one-time admin reserve fee (2.5%-4% of the investment) covers external out-of-pocket fund expenses such as legal fees, tax and accounting costs.

You should also know about our performance fee (also called "carry"). When a company exits, Brightspark (pro-rata) returns 100% of the limited partners’ initial contribution first, and then distributes 85% of the remaining distribution to them. The remaining 15% of profits goes to Brightspark as carry.

As an investor, you make money when (and if) a company in your investment portfolio goes through a liquidation event. You will then receive your initial investment back as well as your allocated portion of the profit.

Brightspark also offers the option to sell your position to other accredited investors through its Secondary Transactions Program. 

You should know that:

• Usually, a liquidation event takes the form of an acquisition or an IPO
• The average time before a company exits is 5-7 years, but this varies
• Returns are not guaranteed. VC investments are very risky, and you could lose your entire investment.
• A successful sale through the Secondary Transaction Program is not guaranteed.

Our SPV investments opportunities are managed by Brightspark Financial, an Exempt Market Dealer registered in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario with the Provincial Securities Commissions in Canada.

Venture capital investments involve a high level of risk, and investors could lose all of their investment. The best way to offset the risk is to build a diversified portfolio of multiple VC investments. 

You can read our full risk disclaimer here