Early Stage Investor Version One Ventures Closes $35M Second Fund

The Vancouver-based early stage investment fund Version One Ventures, led by founder and current Andreessen Horowitz board partner Boris Wertz, has closed its second fund of $35 million today. The venture firm, which also has offices in Palo Alto, secured the funding from Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, a recently created Canadian ‘fund-of-funds,’ and BDC Capital, as well as existing investors who participated in Version One’s original $19 million fund, which closed last February.

The new fund will again be focused on seed and Series A investments, and will encompass startups in the marketplace, platform, SaaS and mobile realms, as well as now also adding healthcare, cryptocurrency (including Bitcoin) and next-generation government ventures to the mix. Wertz says the key is that they be targeting opportunities that have the opportunity to really make an impact, whether by disrupting large companies or creating entirely new markets, regardless of industry.

Second fund investments are set to start immediately, with individual investment size ranging between $500,000 and $1 million per opportunity. First fund companies valuation is now at over $600 million, per Version One, and includes Figure1, the Toronto-based healthcare startup that acts as a kind of Instagram for doctors; Mattermark, a machine learning business intelligence company; and social reading platform Wattpad, among others.

Wertz’s cross-border investment strategy has earned him praise as an investor who can spot opportunities both beyond and within Silicon Valley, and that led to his new role at Andreessen Horowitz, which labelled him “the Nomad VC” in an introductory blog post.