CBC News – Innovation Foundation nets $9M

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The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation earned $9.25 million after selling its stake of Radian6 Technologies earlier this year, the agency announced on Wednesday.

The social media-monitoring company was sold to Salesforce.com for $326 million in March and the NBIF sold its stake in Radian6 in May.

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, which was created with an initial infusion of provincial cash, gave Radian6 $50,000 in funding in 2006. And the innovation foundation invested another $276,973 in venture capital in December 2008.

After the sale of its two investments, the innovation foundation said in its statement that it generated a combined internal rate of return of 170 per cent, 28 times the value of its original investment.

The foundation will use the $9.25 million from the sale to invest back into its venture capital fund.

Calvin Milbury, the chief executive officer of the foundation, said the money made on the Radian6 sale will help other IT start-ups.

« The $9.25 million give us the opportunity to invest in 10 to 20 more companies, » he said.

The innovation foundation is also helping companies such as Inversa, a Fredericton start-up company that is hoping to sell its CT-scan like equipment to the energy industry.

John Bowles, the chief executive officer of Inversa, said the Radian6 « home run » makes it easier to attract other investors.

« It legitimizes a lot of peoples' interest in angel investing and venture capital funding, so it really helps everybody else who comes behind them, » Bowles siad.

Robert Hatheway, the chairman of the innovation foundation, said the sale of Radian6 is demonstrating to the technology world that New Brunswick is a good market for starting companies.

“It’s amazing how New Brunswick is becoming a hotspot for startup companies like Radian6, and the word is finally getting out that companies can get the capital they need to get started and grow into a global business here,” Hatheway said in a statement.

“Since most of the investors were from New Brunswick, the province has experienced a substantial infusion of new capital that’s ripe for investing.”