Today (16 August) marks five years since Valhalla Private Capital’s inception.
Founded as Valhalla in 2003 as a single city angel investor group by
Randy Stewart Thompson - managing director of
Old Kent Road Financial and co-owner of Peterborough United Football Club – Valhalla Private Capital has grown to facilitate over $75m from its network of 120 investors into an estimated 270 early-stage entrepreneurs.
The company launched with a five-pillar business model comprising investor and startup programs, angel investing, family of funds, global reach and M&A and advisory services.
These pillars also encouraged collaborations between Valhalla and Old Kent Road Financial, The Seed Global and
Vario Ventures - a boutique mergers and acquisition firm focusing on entrepreneurs and specializing in identifying the right next step for small and medium companies and their investors.
Investor and startup programs such as Valhalla’s Basecamp - a two day investment-readiness program for entrepreneurs hoping to scale their business - have seen more than 1,100 participants raise upwards of $500m in capital.
Over the past three years, Valhalla has also managed and implemented four
Investment Summit programs in provinces including Saskatchewan and British Columbia, each of which costs more than $100,000 to develop and nurtures local investor communities to facilitate capital for early-stage entrepreneurs in their province.
Discussing the inception of Valhalla Private Capital at the time, chairman Randy Thompson explained: “Valhalla Private Capital is the realization of a vision.
“For too long venture capital has been the domain of large institutional investors. I have a much more democratic view. Valhalla is all about inviting all people who care about their local business climate into the VC realm, giving them the tools and opportunities to participate successfully in both investing or building some great companies.”
Likewise, director
Jan Lederman said: “We have very deliberately not used ‘equity’ in our name as we believe investors and early stage entrepreneurs alike need tailored solutions and ownership is just one option.”
In the years following its inception, Valhalla Private Capital has won a cavalcade of awards as a result of its programs - including
Startup Canada’s ‘Entrepreneur Support Award’ for the Prairies in 2019 - and is home to the National Angel Capital Organization's ‘Angel Investor of the Year’ for both 2018 and 2019,
Randy Stewart Thompson. Canadian governments, universities, and ecosystem partners have also utilized our network and expertise to unlock capital in their respective regions.
Happy birthday, Valhalla Private Capital!
Do you have a question about angel investing? Get in touch with Valhalla Private Capital via our
contact page.