NBIF Earns $9.2M On Radian6 Sale

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) today reported an investment return of $9.25 million from the sale of its stake in Radian6 Technologies. NBIF exited the Fredericton, New Brunswick-based social media monitoring company in May 2011 after its acquisition by Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM).

“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,” says NBIF Chair Robert Hatheway, “since most of the investors were from New Brunswick, the province has experienced a substantial infusion of new capital that’s ripe for investing.”

NBIF helped launch the company in August 2006 with a seed equity investment of $50,000. In December 2008, NBIF invested another $276,973 in venture capital to help fuel its growth. After the sale, NBIF’s two investments generated a combined internal rate of return (IRR) of 170 percent—28 times the value of its original investment.

The success of the sale has received both international and national recognition, including the 2011 Deal Of The Year Award by the Canadian Venture Capital Association.

“Watching Radian6 transform itself from a small start-up company to the global leader in social media monitoring—in just five years—has been very exciting for us, and a constant reminder of why NBIF was created,” says NBIF President & CEO Calvin Milbury, “without the hard work and risk-taking of Radian6’s management and staff, none of this would have happened. Their achievement is the real success story.”

As a non-profit corporation, all of the investment return will be used to further the Foundation’s mandate through by replenishing its Venture Capital Fund. This will allow NBIF to start up more innovation-based companies for years to come.

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