Radical Ventures has secured more than $1 billion in commitments at the first close of its Radical Breakouts Fund, launching what the AI-focused investment firm describes as the largest venture capital fund in Canadian history.
The new late-stage strategy is backed by major Canadian institutional investors including PSP Investments, CPP Investments, HOOPP, TD Bank Group, BMO Financial Group, CI Global Asset Management and OPTrust, along with other global investors.
Radical describes Breakouts as a multi-billion-dollar fund that will invest in AI companies capable of scaling into major global businesses.
The strategy responds to a structural change in technology investing in which leading private companies increasingly remain private longer, raise larger late-stage financing rounds and can reach valuations of $100 billion or more before entering public markets.
Historically, the amount of capital required to participate meaningfully in those later-stage rounds has been concentrated heavily in the United States. Radical wants the Breakouts Fund to give Canada a largerompete for leading AI opportunities globally
Radical already invests across the full lifecycle of AI companies, from incubation and seed investments through growth and pre-IPO financings.
Its portfolio includes Canadian AI and deep-tech companies such as Cohere, Waabi, Xanadu, Veeda and Aspect Biosystems, along with global companies including Discovery Loop, World Labs, Etched, Crusoe, Generalist, Prime Intellect, Decart, Latent Labs and Muon Space.
The Breakouts strategy gives Radical additional capacity to continue investing in companies as their capital requirements increase rather than limiting its participation to earlier financing stages.
It also gives Canadian pension funds and financial institutions greater exposure to late-stage AI value creation that historically has often accrued to investors outside Canada.
PSP Investments has backed Radical since its first institutional fund, while CPP Investments has worked with the firm since 2019. HOOPP, TD, BMO, CI Global Asset Management and OPTrust are also participating in the new strategy.
The announcement was made at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, a gathering organized by the Government of Canada in partnership with CPP Investments and PSP Investments to encourage investment in the Canadian economy.
Radical Ventures has offices in Toronto, San Francisco, London and New York.
“We compete to invest and partner with the best AI founders and companies in the world, and we win. We have invested in Discovery Loop, Cohere, Waabi, World Labs, Veeda, Xanadu, Etched, Crusoe, Generalist, Prime Intellect, Decart, Latent Labs, Muon Space and Aspect Biosystems, just to name a handful of the Radical portfolio companies that are rapidly scaling. The world’s most important AI founders often choose Radical to incubate their startups and lead their investment rounds, from the first to the last. The result is a Canadian firm investing in Canada and globally, with the returns coming home.”
“Canada has never had a shortage of world-class AI companies. What we have lacked is capital at the scale required to keep them here as they grow. For decades that meant our best companies looked to the United States to fund their most important years, and much of the value they created went with them. The Radical Breakouts Fund closes that gap.”
Jordan Jacobs, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Radical Ventures
“We have partnered with Radical Ventures since its first institutional fund in 2019, when we developed conviction in the team’s strategy, network and deep expertise in AI. With deep roots in Canada’s AI ecosystem, Radical has built access to promising companies both here and globally. The Breakouts Fund gives CPP Investments an opportunity to extend that partnership into later-stage companies as they scale, to deliver attractive long-term returns for the CPP Fund.”
John Graham, President and CEO of CPP Investments
