Four businesses have collected $37,000 in equity funding each from a micro-VC fund established by University of Waterloo’s Velocity unit in support of the Velocity Fund Finals competition.

Velocity, the entrepreneurship program of University of Waterloo, has made four equity investments of C$50,000 ($37,000) from its angel fund in the winners of its Velocity Fund Finals (VFF) competition, Betakit has reported. Canada-based radiology interface developer ClearVoxel was crowned as a winner in the contest together with construction 3D imaging platform creator Glove Systems, construction media management software company SiteVue and travelling social networking service Tugolo. ClearVoxel will invest the money in product validation in mammography and breast cancer screening, while Glove Systems will look to expand its sales operation. SiteVue will use the funding to pursue its project and sales strategy, while Tugolo hopes to enhance its capacity for customer acquisition. The $37,000 investments mark the first time VFF has supplied equity funding to its winners, as Velocity aims to consolidate its support for ambitious businesses targeting growth. Velocity revealed plans in January to raise an angel fund sized between $1.2m and $1.8m to stimulate the competition’s momentum. Its investors have not been disclosed, however the vehicle has sought backing through online portal AngelList’s fundraising software. VFF takes place three times each year to encourage the development of businesses established by former and current Waterloo students, in addition to participants in the Velocity Garage startup incubator. There had been 23 VFF contests prior to the latest iteration, between them awarding $2.3m of prize funding to 91 businesses. Velocity estimates equity investments matching the prize money from VFFs held from 2011 until 2013 would have resulted in an annual return of 57%. Jay Shah, director of Velocity, said in a blog post: “For the first time in VFF’s seven-year history, we have made investments in today’s four winners, not grants. “Due to the positive reception from investors, our micro-VC fund that makes these investments possible was able to double support for the four winning startups to C$50,000 each.” – Feature image courtesy of University of Waterloo

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