MSBI: Universities launch $26 million venture capital fund

McGill, Sherbooke and Bishop's universities unite in Canadian business first

Three Quebec universities are teaming up for a Canadian business first. McGill, Sherbrooke and Bishop's universities are creating an independent venture capital firm called MSBI, with an initial $26 million fund. An acronym for "McGill, Sherbrooke and Bishop's Innovation," MSBI will multiply the number of research projects that are commercialized.

MSBI will be Canada's first venture capital firm comprising both English and French universities, as well as their affiliated research hospitals. The hospital partners include the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the McGill-affiliated Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General and Douglas Hospitals, as well as the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Sherbrooke (CHUS).

About MSBI

The mission of MSBI will be to provide seed and early stage venture capital to commercialize discoveries in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, bioinformatics, software/communications and networking technologies. Working closely with the technology transfer offices of its partner institutions, MSBI will be offered a right of first review of approximately 100 research innovations per year. Of these, MSBI aims to invest and support the development of approximately 10 research innovations annually. Partner institutions will have the freedom to decide whether or not they wish to collaborate with MSBI on any specific project.

Research funded by MSBI will be carefully selected so that each investment can be eventually licensed to an existing or new spin-off company. As general partner, MSBI, will administer the initial $26 million seed fund, which will have a life of 10 years. MSBI will act as a fund manager, mandated to make investments for about five years. Over the five following years, MSBI will monitor the progress of its investments and seek to exit from them. MSBI may also launch and administer other seed funds in the future.

VRQ: An essential partner

The creation of MSBI has been made possible through a $15 million grant from Valorisation-Recherche Québec (VRQ). Founded by the Government of Quebec in March 1999, the VRQ's mandate is to help promote the commercialization of research conducted by educational and research institutions for the betterment of society and to create jobs. The remaining $11 million has been raised through MSBI limited partners.

"MSBI is an extremely strong union that is certain to inspire confidence in the financial and business community," says Gilbert Drouin, VRQ president and CEO. "At the same time, MSBI will encourage the scientific community to create more research spin-offs."

Meet the president

Mark de Groot, a Canadian physicist and businessman, was recruited as president and CEO of MSBI. He joins the fund after developing expertise in research-based companies, including University Medical Discoveries Inc, which he helped found in Toronto.

"As president of MSBI, I look forward to helping translate innovative research into successful companies," says De Groot. "MSBI will provide another opportunity for its partners to demonstrate that investing in research is advantageous to society and that research spin-offs can be an engine for economic growth."

McGill and MSBI

The partnership between McGill, Sherbrooke and Bishop's universities, as well as their affiliated institutes, will produce many natural synergies. McGill, for instance, is No. 1 in the number of spin-offs companies in Quebec with 33 created to date. McGill also boasts the highest research funding in Canada per researcher, about $177,000 per academic, for a total of $234 million last year.

Pierre Bélanger, McGill's vice-principal (research), says MSBI will serve the research community extremely well. "Not only will MSBI help us recruit and retain some of the best researchers," he says, "we expect MSBI to generate income for its partners, which we can then reinvest into further research."

Sherbooke and MSBI

As the Canadian leader in research licensing revenues, the University of Sherbrooke will be a dynamic part of MSBI. Last year, the University received $15.8 million in revenue from licenses - 10 times more than any other research institution across the country.

"The combination of McGill, Sherbooke and Bishops Universities, as well as their affiliated institutions, will make MSBI an extremely vibrant and competitive venture," says Edwin Bourget, vice-rector of research at the University of Sherbrooke. "This edge will allow MSBI to create jobs that will ultimately employ students from each of our institutions."

Bishop's and MSBI

While Bishop's is primarily a teaching institution, joining MSBI will allow the University to raise its research profile and gain expertise from its sister institutions. "MSBI will increase collaboration between university researchers," says Jonathan Rittenhouse, Bishop's vice-principal whose portfolio includes research. "MSBI is really a win-win situation for us, since we're joining a consortium with considerable experience."

A final word from MSBI's chairman

Jan Peeters, CEO of Olameter Inc. and member of McGill's Board of Governors, will be chairman of MSBI, having previously served as one of the firm's principal architects. A two-time McGill graduate, in mining and accounting, Peeters realized firsthand the vital importance of creating MSBI as a new investment source.

"There's a tremendous pool of researchers who are starving for the necessary funding to bring their intellectual property into the marketplace," he says. "MSBI will be a catalyst that will give academic ideas a fiscal shot at commercialization, locally and worldwide. The spin-offs funded by MSBI will have no geographic boundaries."