About Ventures West
Ventures West is a venture capital firm founded in 1973. It is primarily based out of Vancouver, Canada. As of Apr 2013, Ventures West has invested in 69 companies. It primarily invests in Series B round in Canada based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Life Sciences and High Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series C round of Aquinox Pharma Overall, Ventures West portfolio has seen 5 IPOs and 33 acquisitions including key companies like PowerSchool, MACOM and Xenon Pharmaceuticals. A lot of funds co-invest with Ventures West, with names like BDC sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Ventures West has team of 3 people including 2 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 4 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Soonicorns
Ventures West's List of Top Investments
Ventures West has a portfolio of 69 companies. Their most notable investments are in Dabble DB and OncoGenex Technologies.Their portfolio spans across Canada, United States, Germany and 1 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech and 23 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 4 more. Here is the list of top investments by Ventures West:
1. PowerSchool
Provider of software and cloud-based solutions for K-12 education. The company offers student information, personalized learning, and student success solutions. It also provides tools for college and career readiness, talent recruitment, and resource planning. Data analytics, communication, and artificial intelligence solutions are available.
Key facts about PowerSchool
- Founded Year: 1997
- Location: Folsom (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $500M - $1B as on Dec 31, 2023
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $32M
- Employee Count: 3,283 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Triodos Investment Management, Onex and 7 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 06, 2000, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
2. MACOM
Manufacturer of RF, microwave, millimeter wave, and optical networking components. The company provides amplifiers, attenuators, diodes, filters, integrated circuits, limiters, modules, photodetectors, and switches. Products support aerospace, broadcast video, CATV, data centers, industrial, medical, and telecommunications applications. The company also offers foundry and design services.
Key facts about MACOM
- Founded Year: 1950
- Location: Lowell (United States)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $183M
- Employee Count: 2,221 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Gefinor Capital, White Hat Capital Partners and 12 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Jan 14, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Developer of small molecule drugs against rare channelopathies. They have built a core enabling discovery platform for the discovery of validated drug targets by studying rare human diseases with extreme traits, including diseases caused by mutations in ion channels, known as channelopathies. The company has a proprietary discovery platform, Extreme Genetics which involves the study of families where individuals exhibit inherited severe traits or phenotypes. With Teva, they are developing TV-45070, a topical Sodium Channel Inhibitor for the treatment of pain.
Key facts about Xenon Pharmaceuticals
- Founded Year: 2000
- Location: Burnaby (Canada)
- Annual Revenue: $1M - $10M as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $85.7M
- Employee Count: 422 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Fidelity Investments, Archer Venture Capital and 14 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Sep 12, 2006, $*****
- Highlight: Public
4. Quickplay
Distribution of multi-screen video to IP-connected devices solutions provider. It offers solutions for multi-channel video program distributors and content providers to launch and scale OTT video services to the home and on the go. It provides an open and modular platform for IPTV set-top boxes and unmanaged OTT devices for live, video-on-demand, and monetization services including ad insertion, personalization, and subscription-based content.
Key facts about Quickplay
5. AudienceView
AudienceView provides ticketing and e-commerce solutions for sports venues, not-for-profit arts organizations, regional ticketing agencies, arenas, film festivals, theaters, college athletics, professional sports teams, and race tracks. Products include 'AudienceView', 'OvationTix', 'TheaterMania', and 'WhatsOnStage'. Features include CRM, white-label online ticketing, marketing, fundraising, content management, venue management, and analytics. Customers include Denver Center of Performing Arts, Yale University, ATG Tickets, Geffen Playhouse, mIrvish, MoshTix, The Ticket Factory among others.
Key facts about AudienceView
- Founded Year: 2002
- Location: Toronto (Canada)
- Stage: Series A
- Employee Count: 293 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Rubicon Technology Partners, Ventures West and 1 Other
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Nov 03, 2016, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Ventures West's Investments by Stage
Ventures West has made 13 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $9.77M, 11 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $15.2M and 5 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $26.7M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 13 |
Series B | 11 |
Series C | 5 |
Post IPO | 1 |
Seed | 1 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Ventures West's Investments by Sector
Ventures West has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Life Sciences, High Tech, Enterprise Applications, Semiconductors and Sustainability Tech. Notably, it has invested in 48 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 44 Tech companies, 22 Software companies and at least 10 companies focusing on Tech hardware.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Life Sciences | 12 |
High Tech | 6 |
Enterprise Applications | 5 |
Semiconductors | 4 |
Sustainability Tech | 4 |
Others | 18 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Ventures West's Investments by Geography
Ventures West has made most investments in Canada (21), followed by United States where it has made 11 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Canada | 21 |
United States | 11 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Ventures West's recent investments
Ventures West has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Ventures West:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 01, 2013 | Canada | Series C | 5410 | [+3] | |
Aug 14, 2012 | United States | Series B | 9000 | ||
Apr 19, 2012 | United States | Series D | 1222 | [+5] | |
Jun 28, 2011 | Canada | Series C | 7148 | ||
Sep 29, 2010 | Canada | Series B | 6409 |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Ventures West's Portfolio
5 of Ventures West's portfolio companies have become public. Xenon Pharmaceuticals got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), in Nov 2014 at marketcap of $122M and MacroGenics got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) at marketcap of $384M.Here are Ventures West's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 05, 2014 | Apr 04, 2001 | Series C | 2438 | |
Oct 10, 2013 | May 17, 2006 | Series C | 3565 | |
Mar 15, 2012 | Jun 10, 2002 | Series A | 1063 | |
Jun 09, 1993 | - | - | 5236 | |
- | Aug 03, 2007 | Series C | 4624 |
Acquired companies in Ventures West's Portfolio
33 companies from Ventures West's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Spectra7 in Mar 2025 by Parade Tech for $*****.Here are Ventures West's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 07, 2025 | Aug 14, 2012 | Series B | 8501 | |
Jun 07, 2024 | - | - | 6366 | |
Jul 29, 2020 | Jun 12, 2007 | Series A | 1369 | |
Mar 03, 2020 | Sep 19, 2007 | Series C | 4689 | |
Sep 16, 2019 | Aug 09, 2005 | Series A | 3389 |
Team profile of Ventures West
Ventures West has a team of 3 members including 2 Partners located in Canada. Ventures West's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Co-investors of Ventures West
Over the past 25 years, 154 investors have co-invested in Ventures West's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Ventures West: BDC, GrowthWorks Capital and 18 others have invested in rounds before Ventures West. There are 2 companies where BDC has invested before Ventures West and 2 companies where GrowthWorks Capital has invested before Ventures West.
- Top Co-investors of Ventures West: 62 investors entered a company along with Ventures West. These include investors like BDC (9 companies).
- Invested after Ventures West: A total of 72 investors have invested in Ventures West's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include CMEA Capital (2 companies), Delphi Ventures (2 companies) and H.I.G. Capital (2 companies).
Recent News related to Ventures West
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Dow Jones•Apr 20, 2012•Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Sevin Rosen, Ventures West, Washington Research Foundation and 4 others
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Fresco Microchip Raises $9M in Series C FinancingFinSMEs•Jun 28, 2011•Fresco Microchip, Ontario Venture Capital Fund, Celtic House Venture Partners, Ventures West
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Pangaea Ventures - SWITCH Materials Closes $7.5M in Series B FinancingPangaea Ventures•Jan 14, 2010•SWITCH, BDC, GrowthWorks Capital, Pangaea Ventures and 1 other
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QuickPlay Media Inc. Closes $12 Million Funding Round - EContent Magazine
EContent•Jul 14, 2009•Quickplay, GMP Securities, Ventures West, General Catalyst and 1 other
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QuickPlay Media raises $12 million for mobile video | VentureBeatVentureBeat•Jul 13, 2009•Quickplay, GMP Securities, Ventures West, General Catalyst and 1 other
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QuickPlay Media Raises $12 Million - PE HubPE Hub•Jul 13, 2009•Quickplay, GMP Securities, Ventures West, General Catalyst and 1 other
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Zeugma Announces Series C Funding; Total Funding Approaches $50 Million | Business WireBusiness Wire•Mar 17, 2009•Zeugma Systems, Granite Ventures, Ventures West, Yaletown and 3 others
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VC investors, Granite Ventures and Venture West provide 9 Million Series C funding round for Zeugma SystemVCgate•Mar 17, 2009•Zeugma Systems, Granite Ventures, Ventures West, Yaletown and 3 others
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Celator to use $22.5M round for Phase II trials | FierceBiotechFierce Biotech•Jul 29, 2008•Domain Associates, TL Ventures, Ventures West, GrowthWorks Capital and 2 others
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Zeugma Systems Inc. Announces US$22.5m Series B FinancingPR Newswire•Dec 13, 2007•Zeugma Systems, Granite Ventures, Ventures West, Yaletown and 4 others
