The Business Development Bank of Canada has promoted Geneviève Bouthillier to executive vice-president of its venture capital business, according to a BDC source with direct knowledge of the appointment. 

Geneviève Bouthillier joined BDC Capital in March as senior vice-president of growth and impact investments. Before that, she was a vice-president at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, where she oversaw medium-sized businesses for the pension fund investment manager. 

BDC did not immediately respond to The Logic’s request for comment. 

Bouthillier’s appointment cleans up some loose ends following the sudden departure of longtime BDC Capital lead Jérôme Nycz in June. Nycz had spent 22 years at the bank and had served as executive vice-president of venture capital since 2013. BDC’s chief financial officer Christian Settano had been filling in as interim EVP since Nycz left. 

In her new role, Bouthillier will oversee BDC’s venture capital business, including the bank’s direct investments in startups and scale-ups, funding for other venture capital funds and managing federal government programs like the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI). 

BDC Capital is the most active venture capital investor in Canada. It’s one of the main divisions of BDC, which also supports entrepreneurs through its loan business and advisory services. 

The Crown corporation has a dual mandate to generate profits for the federal government—its sole shareholder—while at the same time filling lending and investing gaps for entrepreneurs whom traditional financiers may deem too risky. 

Bouthillier’s promotion comes at a challenging time for the venture capital market in Canada. BDC posted steep writedowns in its VC portfolio in the last fiscal year. ​​Its latest annual report shows the investments lost $220 million in value to end fiscal 2024 with $2.9 billion in assets.

The results dragged down BDC’s overall returns for the year to four per cent, below the 6.2 per cent it anticipated. “In fiscal 2025, challenging market dynamics for venture capital are expected to persist,” reads the report, published earlier this week, “which should lead to further net fair value depreciation and larger net realized losses on investments.” 

The Canadian government’s latest mandate review of BDC called on the bank to take more risks to finance underserved entrepreneurs. Upon hiring Bouthillier in March, the bank described her as “a passionate leader and strategist,” tapped to focus on growth, “as well as building a pillar around impact investments targeting underrepresented entrepreneurs.”