Anges Québec marks a milestone:

Nicolas Darveau-Garneau becomes the 100^th member!

Quebec City, May 8, 2012 – Anges Québec marked a major milestone with its 100^e member, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, Managing Director of Google Québec. A seasoned entrepreneur and experienced investor, he worked 15 years in the US and was a member of two California Angel investment groups before returning to Québec, where he is now building Google’s market with companies here.

With his solid professional background, the scope of his entrepreneurial expertise and his focus on helping innovative Québec companies, Mr. Darveau-Garneau is a very typical representative of the network. Anges Québec members are experienced entrepreneurs who, having attained financial success, have chosen to invest their time and money in start-ups or in expanding innovation-sector companies. As François Gilbert, President and CEO of Anges Québec, pointed out, ”Our members do an outstanding job and play a vital role helping innovative Québec companies take their place in the international market. Angel investors use their expertise, their broad network of contacts and the financial leverage indispensable to growth to help these companies shift into high gear.”

The average investment per project to date is $400,000, generally made by a group of eight members. In the past year, Anges Québec members invested in some ten business projects, primarily in the area of information technologies and communications, industrial technologies and life sciences. ”The network is constantly growing and I’m impressed by the quality and the calibre of our members, who choose to invest financially and personally to make a difference for companies here in Québec. These dedicated individuals and successful entrepreneurs, who have chosen to encourage innovation and innovative people, are what makes our network so strong,” added Magaly Charbonneau, the Anges Québec investor in charge of member recruitment.

Anges Québec is always looking for quality investors who want to join one of its three investment groups in Montreal, Quebec City or Sherbrooke. Every year, the network presents members with about forty interesting business opportunities in its meetings, covering four projects per meeting. Each member is responsible for his or her investment decisions and chooses projects based on personal objectives. For details on admission criteria and on how the group operates, go to www.angesquebec.com or contact Magaly Charbonneau, Head of Member Recruitment.

Anges Québec is a network of 100 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com

An English version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/en/nouvelles

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Fonds Anges Québec Capital launch: good news for Québec entrepreneurs!

Quebec City, May 1, 2012 – Anges Québec salutes yesterday’s launch of Fonds Anges Québec Capital announced by Sam Hamad, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region. This support fund will help Anges Québec members invest more capital in innovative Québec companies, and help them develop even more such promising business projects province wide.

As Mike Cegelski, Anges Québec Chairman of the Board, explained, ”We’re pleased to see that the government recognizes the need to encourage and facilitate private investment in Québec companies. Fonds Anges Québec Capital will benefit innovative companies in the start-up phase of their development, because that’s when they need seed capital the most. But that’s also when they have the most trouble getting financing, because without backing from investors, financial institutions hesitate to take on a project that has its share of risk. For each dollar invested by Anges Québec members, the fund could inject up to $2. This co-investment fund will boost the amount of capital our members invest, giving companies better financial leverage at this crucial phase of their development.”

For the new Chairman of the Board of Fonds Anges Québec Capital, Serge Gouin, ”Setting up the Fonds Anges Québec Capital is a real challenge and good news for Québec entrepreneurs, because it paves the way for a new kind of fund that is widespread in the US, but was nonexistent in Québec until now, and which is ideally suited to our innovative SMEs.”

Anges Québec is an important network of private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

Quebec City, February 28, 2012 – For the first time, members of the Anges Québec network and Ontario’s Maple Leaf Angels are joining forces to invest in a company. Private investors from these two groups are investing $560,000 in the Canadian company Futurestate IT and its Application Currency Management Cloud™ platform.

Named by IDC as one of 10 Canadian companies to watch in the field of cloud computing, Futurestate IT developed AppRx, the first cloud-based platform that automates the monitoring and testing of applications
to ensure they are kept current, compatible and compliant
with changes in the IT environment. As Futurestate IT’s CEO Alex Topitsch explained, “Today, organizations are faced with an escalating backlog of out of date applications that puts them at risk of running unsupported software, being incompatible with new technology platforms and , potentially, application failure. With the end of Windows XP in April 2014, just over 24 months away, there is now even greater risk and urgency. We’ve developed AppRx to enable organizations to rapidly test applications for new technology platforms, such as Windows 7, and to continue to monitor their applications on an ongoing basis to manage and monitor their application portfolio risk.”

AppRx version 2.0 was launched in January 2012. Funding from Anges Québec and Maple Leaf Angels will help Futurestate IT continue to grow and to forge commercial partnerships aimed at quickly marketing its product in the US and Europe. As Anges Québec investor Nathalie Marcoux noted, “The Futurestate IT management team has solid experience running a company. Its members clearly know their market, and are extremely dynamic. They are also backed by a stellar board of directors that is well-versed in information technologies.”

“Futurestate IT caught our attention for two reasons”, according to Maple Leaf Angels investor Tim Lett. “First, they are on the cutting-edge of cloud computing.  That means there’s no hardware or software to install and customers can be up and using the system in a matter of hours, which is a completely new paradigm in enterprise application management. Second, AppRx automates what are traditionally very manual and error-prone processes, which translates into an extremely compelling business case.”

François Gilbert, President and General Manager of Anges Québec, added, “For Anges Québec, this investment marks another milestone in our development. This is the first time that we’ve invested jointly with another member of North America’s 350 Angel groups.”

About the Maple Leaf Angels

Funding Ontario’s most promising new companies, Maple Leaf Angels is an experienced group of private investors looking for great entrepreneurs, great products and great companies to support. By bringing together investment, experience and a large network of contacts, we help companies to become market leaders in their industry.

For more information, go to www.mapleleafangels.com

About Anges Québec

Anges Québec is a network of 85 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com

An French version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/en/nouvelles

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Montreal, (December 15, 2011) – Anges Québec is pleased to announce $1.3 million in funding for Virtual Paper, a Montreal based company that develops digital publishing solutions. The group of private investors is comprised of eight Anges Québec members, including businessman Luc Vincent, along with Fondaction CSN and two Fonds d’Intervention Économique Régional (FIER), the Fonds Soutien Relève and Écho Capital.

Virtual Paper has patent-pending technologies that enable the rapid publication of print content on all electronic platforms (web-mobile-tablet). Founded six years ago, Virtual Paper now serves 700 customers in 35 countries, including some of the world’s largest publishers. Over 3,000 new digital editions are published on the Virtual Paper platform every month. With the growing use of mobile and tablet devices, the strong demand for digital publishing solutions is being felt worldwide, especially among newspaper publishers.

This funding from Anges Québec and its co-investors will allow Virtual Paper to provide an even more comprehensive digital publishing solution to their clients, particularly across web platforms (fixed and mobile). As General Manager and CEO of Virtual Paper, Pascal Cardinal pointed out, “The funding provide by Anges Québec will allow us to invest in marketing our digital solutions and set up strategic partnerships so that we can offer the most technologically advanced and comprehensive digital publishing solutions on the market.”

Luc Vincent, who heads the group of Anges Québec investors in this project, is now also Chairman of the Board at Virtual Paper.  “Virtual Paper has developed a high-performance solution that is in strong demand and that answers a real need. We intend to use the experience of Anges Québec members to propel the company to large-scale commercialization of its digital publishing solutions,” he said.

François Gilbert, President and General Manager of Anges Québec, added, “The digital publishing and web mobile markets are in high gear. This funding from our members and partners will keep Virtual Paper a frontrunner and expand its international presence with the large-scale commercialization of solutions that are ideally adapted for all platforms.

About Anges Québec

Anges Québec is a network of 85 private investors that identifies finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com 

About Luc Vincent

Luc Vincent is a businessman and a member of Anges Québec. He founded ModelCom, a financial consulting firm established in Montreal for 15 years. He also created two other companies: Kerosene, a recruitment firm specializing in financial and accounting professionals, and GIM – Risk Management, which he sold to Fujitsu Consulting in 2006. He currently serves as officer and director of several companies in areas of the web, games and social networks.

Une version française de ce communiqué est disponible en ligne à : www.angesquebec.com/fr/nouvelles 

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Source:                
Anges Québec

Information:
Mr. Pascal Cardinal
pcardinal@myvirtualpaper.com
T. 514.787.0692 x 622

Quebec (December 12, 2011) – Anges Québec is pleased to announce, for the very first time, a 2^nd round of seed funding in the same company, Biocean Canada. This group of fifteen private investors is led by Pierre Lortie, Senior Business Advisor with Fraser Milner Casgrain, along with Desjardins Innovatech and Sherbrooke Innopole, through the Program for Innovative Entrepreneurship. Biocean Canada is active in the life sciences sector and markets its nutraceutical and dermaceutical skincare products under the Ocean+ brand. This product line is currently sold in Canada and the US through healthcare professionals, plastic surgeons, physicians and beauticians.  

Biocean has developed two exclusive technological platforms: the world’s only procedure for the extraction and purification of protein such as native soluble marine collagen, and a natural antioxidant, NOXvp. This active natural protein, which is the basic ingredient in Ocean+ products, helps reduce the signs of aging by promoting the growth and regeneration of skin cells. The Ocean+ line of hypoallergenic products, rich in Oméga-3 and antioxidants, is used to treat skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, cold sores and rosacea.

Biocean is showing strong growth, and can use this second round of Anges Québec seed funding to beef up marketing of its products US medical clinics and medical spas, negotiate licensing from pharmaceutical companies and launch a new product line to be sold directly to consumers, initially on the Canadian market, then on US and international markets.

 “A rapidly growing company like Biocean is a great addition to the key Life Sciences sector. Sherbrooke is currently seeing the development of a cluster of nutraceutical/cosmeceutical companies, in response to a growing trend worldwide,” Sherbrooke Innopole’s Josée Blanchard was pleased to note.

And as the President of Biocean, Andrea C. Martin pointed out, “Demand for anti-aging products is growing. We’ve invested heavily in R&D to create our exclusive native soluble marine collagen-based products. Now we have the funds we need to pursue our goals and expand into the national and international markets.” 

Pierre Lortie, the Angel Investor who spearheaded the project, added, “Biocean’s management team, which its founder, Richard Boudreault, has a solid roadmap for international marketing success. With these exclusive products, an expanding market and a qualified team, we stand firmly behind Biocean at this new phase of its development.”

As François Gilbert, President and CEO of Anges Québec, said, “This is the first time that Anges Québec members invest a second time in the same project. This shows trust in Biocean’s product and its team. We’re also pleased to be working with Desjardins on this project.” This second round of seed funding for Biocean also represents the first financial partnership between Anges Québec and Desjardins Innovatech.

Roland Léger, Investment Manager at Desjardins Venture Capital, views the Biocean partnership and strategic support as a model of efficiency, “As investors, we need to tap into the expertise of entrepreneurs and businesspeople who understand the dynamics, the complexity and the opportunities of this industry. Not only do we have the chance to work with top-notch entrepreneurs, we can also rely on the solid knowledge of Anges Québec members. These talents, combined with our funding capacity, create winning conditions for the growth of Biocean.”

About Pierre Lortie

Pierre Lortie is a director of Groupe Canam (TSX:CAM), Tembec Inc. (TSX:TMB) and of Services Financier Element Inc., President of the Canadian Ditchley Foundation, Governor of the Ditchley Foundation (UK), a member of the Autorité des marchés financiers SME Advisory Committee, and is a director of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Institut du cancer de Montréal and Festival Classica. From 1999 to 2004 he was representative of the Prime Minister on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Centre d’innovation en technologies de l’information and Vice-Chairman of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council.

Anges Québec is a network of 85 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com 

An English version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/en/nouvelles 

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Source : Anges Québec
Information :

Anges Québec
André Forest
Vice-president
Tél. : 514 642-1001
Courriel : aforest@angesquebec.com

With a master’s degree in accounting, Mr. Noël is a full professor in the Accounting Department at the Université de Sherbrooke, where he was also dean of the Faculty of Administration for eight years. Named FCA by the Order of Chartered Accountants in 1995, he received the Calculare Award (OCA Estrie section) in 2004 and was chosen for the Mérite Estrien earlier this year. Roger Noël played a major role in the development of several local enterprises as founding shareholder (Sisca Informatique, C-Mac, Gexcel Télécom, Médiatrix Télécom). Very active in his community, he sits on a number of committees as strategic advisor and on the boards of several private corporations and non-profit organizations.

“I enthusiastically agreed to head Anges Québec’s Sherbrooke investment group. Given the context of today’s global markets, I believe that we must first build cohesion on the local level in order to develop a strong knowledge economy if we want to take our place on the world stage. Anges Québec makes it possible for investors to join forces with our innovative enterprises so that they can expand into the international market. As you know, I’ve always promoted local business development and I encourage investors who share this vision to join the network,” Roger Noël explained.

Richard Bordeleau, who has a degree in Marketing from Université Laval, has been instrumental in the international development and strong growth of a number of innovative companies over the past 25 years, primarily in the field of health. From 1994 to 1999, he helped develop the biotech company AetemaZentaris, building strategic alliances with several multinationals and working on private and public funding for the company. He was president of Atrium Innovations from 2000 to 2007, a health and nutrition company that showed strong growth, both within the organization and through acquisition. In late 2007, he became a shareholder and executive vice-president of BioCad Medical, which was sold to Nobel Biocare in 2008. His primary goal is to act as a catalyst and accelerator for companies that are developing innovative solutions for the health sector.

Richard Bordeleau had this to say about the creation of the Anges Québec Health and Wellness Group, “An aging population increasingly aware of its many different healthcare needs, the need to develop efficient systems to meet these needs, and the emergence of innovative technologies all point to the huge potential of this sector worldwide in the coming years. In the months to come, we will be taking concrete action to better evaluate and promote health and wellness projects by bringing together the expertise of members of the Anges Québec network who are interested in this sector, and by making use of the many leverage opportunities offered by networking, both on the local and the international level. We also hope to multiply co-investments with other financial partners who, like us, are looking to help vitalize a sector that is both highly promising and so essential for the welfare of the community,” he said in closing.

As François Gilbert, President and CEO of Anges Québec, added, “We’re honored to have Mr. Noël and Mr. Bordeleau at the head of these two groups. Their consensus-building capacities, depth of knowledge, extensive experience, involvement in the community and genuine desire to advance technological and life science business files make them the perfect choice for these key positions.”

Anges Québec is a network of 85 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com 
An English version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/en/nouvelles 
To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Source :
Anges Québec
François Gilbert
(418) 261-0011

Quebec City, (September 28, 2011) – Anges Québec is pleased to announce funding for the Quebec City-based biopharma, Feldan Bio, by a group of private investors in collaboration with FIER Succès s.e.c.

Feldan Bio develops, produces and supplies recombinant proteins for therapeutic and research purposes to academic and government laboratories as well as to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. Founded in 2007, the company quickly became a world leader and a driving force in the discovery and development of innovative solutions for the treatment of severe or fatal diseases.

This funding from Anges Québec will allow Feldan Bio to fast track marketing for its products in the US. As the co-founder and executive director of Feldan Bio, François-Thomas Michaud explained, “We want to consolidate our presence in this market and promote local development. For example, we aim to establish R&D partnerships and even to increase our service offer. We’re pleased that with Anges Québec, we found people who understand our vision and are willing to back us as we pursue our goals.”

The Angel investor who piloted this project, Pierre Breton, former owner of several pharmacies, said, “The drive shown by the young academics who founded Feldan Bio incited me to invest in this company. In just a few years, they were able to develop major markets and meet the demands of emerging North African countries. By giving them access to high quality proteins at lower costs, Feldan Bio helps these countries advance in the research and treatment of severe or fatal diseases. Coming from the health community, this is an aspect that I can relate to.”

The vice president of Anges Québec, André Forest, added,  “For our investors, it goes without saying that Feldan Bio has everything in hand, both in terms of its management and its product, to reach its new growth and development goals.”

Anges Québec is a network of 80 private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com

A French version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/fr/nouvelles

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

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Source: Anges Québec

Information:
Anges Québec
André Forest
Vice President
Tel.: 514 642-1001
E-mail: aforest@angesquebec.com

Healthcare IT startup funded by Real Ventures and Anges Quebec angel investors.

Quebec City, Canada – September 20, 2011 Caristix, a healthcare IT startup transforming data integration and interoperability, announced today that it has closed a round of seed financing led by Real Ventures with participation from Anges Quebec investors.

The funding will fuel growth activities, including customer acquisition in the US and new product development to execute on the company’s vision. JS Cournoyer from Real Ventures and serial entrepreneur Martin Ouellet from Anges Québec have joined the Caristix board.

“The team is excited to have Real Ventures and Anges Québec on-board. Their investment helps us fund our plan to scale Caristix. Our current strategic focus is to get healthcare IT analysts to adopt Caristix software. Our initiative around our upcoming free application came together as a direct result of our first conversations with JS at Real. And with Martin’s experience in Tier 1 customer acquisition in the enterprise software space, we’re well-positioned to execute on our growth objectives,” said Stéphane Vigot, CEO and co-founder of Caristix.

 “What got me interested in Caristix was Stéphane’s drive and determination. What got me hooked was the company’s vision. With the team’s strength in interfacing, they are well-positioned to execute on their vision of integrating the huge mass of data in hospitals and creating a data platform to dramatically simplify analytics,” said Martin Ouellet. Ouellet is currently CEO of Genia, a social gaming startup. He also founded Taleo, the leading SaaS HR provider.

“We are thrilled to invest in Caristix. They have a killer combination of product and technical focus,” said JS Cournoyer. “Today, Caristix is targeting hospitals and healthcare IT vendors to drive the manual work out of interfacing and interoperability. Their roadmap takes them much further, so disparate clinical and operational data in hospitals can come together to drive decision-making. We can’t wait to see it happen.”     

About Caristix

The average US hospital runs up to 100 IT systems. Not a single one of these systems can share patient information out of the box. But effective patient care demands that IT systems exchange information. So hospitals and vendors turn to data interfaces – 50 to 100 of them in an average hospital. However, it can take months of painstaking manual work to set up an interface.

Caristix has developed a software suite to automate this manual work. Our software reads data in an information system and outputs a list of requirements for setting up the interface. As a result, Caristix software can reduce months of work to a few days.  Overall, our software can reduce interface deployment time by 50%, reduce hospital testing time by 75%, and cut interface maintenance time by 90%.

For more information, please visit www.caristix.com.

About Real Ventures

Real Ventures is a seed venture fund based in Montreal that invests alongside great entrepreneurs from idea to exit. We like to be first money behind great teams and companies in the web, mobile, SaaS, e-commerce, gaming and digital media sectors. The team behind Real Ventures has over 67 years of combined experience in starting, funding, and growing companies. For more information, please visit www.realventures.com.

About Anges Quebec

Anges Quebec is a network of 85 private investors that identifies, finances, and coaches innovative Quebec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Quebec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Quebec works closely with a number of Quebec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations. For more information, please visit www.angesquebec.com.

Source
Sovita Chander
Co-founder, Caristix
(418) 872-4000 x152
sovita.chander@caristix.com 

Montreal, August 24, 2011 – Anges Québec is pleased to announce that a group of seven private investors, including Me Robert Brouillette of the law firm Brouillette & Associés, have granted financing to Manyeta, a Laval-based telehealth company that has developed an innovative telehomecare application.

Manyeta’s telehomecare system lets patients with limited mobility due to age or disability stay connected with their healthcare team in real time. Remote interactive systemic follow-up on the patient’s metabolic condition allows the patient to exchange messages with the medical team and receive reminders to take medication. Manyeta’s solutions can be used with iPad, PC, smart phone and similar platforms, but because the company has taken into account the fact that elderly people are generally less familiar with the Internet and new technologies, its telehomecare application can be used with a simple cable TV.

Anges Québec will allow Manyeta to consolidate its management team, complete a clinical study in the US and launch the marketing of this remote systemic follow-up system, which was first successfully tested with a Philadelphia target group. The founder and president of Manyeta, Mario Perron, remarked, “This Anges Québec backing couldn’t be better timed, as we are poised to launch our solution on the US market. I’m glad that with Anges Québec, I found investors who believe in the project and who have confidence in me and in my determination to put technology to work for people.”

As Ms Magaly Charbonneau, who will be coordinating Anges Québec investments with Manyeta, confirmed, “Manyeta’s product corresponds to Anges Québec investment criteria, but it was also Mr. Perron’s long experience, sound judgment and personality that immediately earned our investors’ trust. Mr. Perron has developed an innovative product that anticipates the needs of an aging population and explores the possibilities of using new technologies to develop a homecare follow-up protocol that will make life easier for thousands of people every day.”

The vice president of Anges Québec, André Forest, added, “We have no doubts that Manyeta’s telehealth solutions represent a genuine potential for implementation worldwide. We want to help this company expand under the expert guidance of its president and fonder.”

Anges Québec is a network of private investors that identifies, finances and coaches innovative Québec enterprises with high growth potential. Anges Québec members invest their capital and expertise in the most promising start-up companies. In this capacity, Anges Québec works closely with a number of Québec leaders in the development and growth of technological innovations.

For more information, go to www.angesquebec.com 

A French version is available online at www.angesquebec.com/fr/nouvelles 

To keep track of news and activities, join Anges Québec on LinkedIn.com.

Information :
Anges Québec
André Forest
Vice President
Tel.: 514 642-1001
E-mail: aforest@angesquebec.com