Yaletown Partners parlays Bit Stew Systems score into new, $100-million fund

Venture capital is no place for the retail investor, but for those who know what they’re doing, it can be very lucrative. Case in point: Vancouver-based Yaletown Partners made seven times its initial investment in Bit Stew Systems in just three years when the Burnaby-based machine learning company sold to GE Digital for $218 million last year. That equated to an internal rate of return of 98.3 per cent (annualized) and earned Yaletown the Venture Capital Deal of the Year award from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) for 2017. But Yaletown is not picking up its marbles and going home. The Bit Stew score formed a springboard for a new emerging growth tech fund reportedly worth more than $100 million, which vaults the former boutique firm into the big leagues of Canadian VC.