The Toronto-based venture capital firm is aiming to raise $50 million in total for its second fund, the Black Innovation Fund II. Investors in the fund so far include RBC, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, Boann Social Impact Fund and Cap Finance Social Finance Fund. (The Logic)

Talking point: BKR launched in 2021, raising $18.5 million for its first fund to invest in Black entrepreneurs. The fund launched to address the lack of capital for Black-led businesses. A recent analysis by the firm found that just 0.15 per cent of venture capital invested in Canada last year went to Black founders. With 90 per cent of those dollars invested at the pre-seed and seed stages, the results highlight “a rapidly growing pipeline of early-stage innovation that remains largely undercapitalized,” the firm said in a press release. BKR has backed 15 companies through its first fund, which it says is tracking as a top-quartile performer for its year.