OCTOBER 16, 2000

Tech's homecoming kings; It's got a renowned university, a booming IT sector and now Cisco. Welcome to Waterloo, the next Silicon Valley North?

Andrew Wahl
Canadian Business

Of course, if you're building a tech capital, you also need venture capitalists. And Waterloo has only one, lonely VC, Andrew Abouchar of Waterloo Ventures. Backed by Toronto-based Working Ventures Canada Fund Inc., he set up shop last fall when he decided the market couldn't be properly scouted by someone driving an hour and a half each way from Toronto once every couple of weeks.

"The amount of early-stage capital in town is very limitedöeverything has to come from Toronto," says Abouchar, who has an engineering degree from Waterloo. His financial contribution is still smallöhe has only $5 million under managementöbut its presence may draw larger funds, including those from the US. Ardesic Corp. was his first Waterloo-based investment last December; it recently closed a $10-million financing round with, among others, Terry Matthew's Celtic House International Inc. and Pennsylvania-based TL Ventures.

But deals like Cisco's make Abouchar hopeful that more US venture or acquisition capital is coming to Waterloo, instead of drawing away talent. "It's a great deal for the region," he says. "It's tough to put your finger on the precise event that starts the landslide, but I certainly view it as very positive."

[Full article]