Portage Ventures

On October 17, 2016, Portag3 Ventures publicly launched as a fund focused exclusively on fintech companies. It was a hybrid fund resulting from a corporate partnership among Power Financial, IGM Financial, and Great-West Lifeco, three companies within Power Corporation of Canada, and it was also the venture capital vehicle of Sagard (then Sagard Holdings), an alternative asset manager within the Power group founded the same year. Adam Felesky, co-founder and former CEO of Horizons ETFs, served as president and ran day-to-day operations, while Paul Desmarais III, a vice president of Power Corporation and Power Financial, served as executive chairman.⁠[1][1][2][3][1]

At launch, Portag3’s portfolio already included Wealthsimple, Borrowell, Clearbanc, Koho, and LEAGUE, and it had also invested in Information Venture Partners. Felesky said the fund’s goal was to find the next generation of Canadian financial technology entrepreneurs and help them build global companies.⁠[1][1]

In October 2018, Portag3 Ventures’ second fund, Portag3 Ventures II LP, held a C$198 million first close, at which National Bank of Canada, Intact Financial, Guardian Capital, Equitable Bank, La Capitale, and SSQ Insurance invested.⁠[4]

In December 2019, Portag3 Ventures II LP held its final close with commitments totaling C$425 million (Global Venturing put the figure at C$427 million, or about $321 million), focusing on early-stage investments in the global financial technology sector, with an emphasis on Canada, the US, Europe, and key markets in Asia-Pacific. New institutional and strategic investors included the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), BDC Capital, Aviva France, CNP Assurances, iA Financial Group, and Laurentian Bank, among others; Power Financial, IGM Financial, and Great-West Lifeco remained anchor investors. Paul Desmarais III said Portag3 had become the largest fintech-focused VC fund in Canada, evolving from an internally funded venture platform into a multi-investor fund with a broad array of strategic LPs from around the globe.⁠[2][4][2][4][4][4][4][4][4]

As of August 2021, Portage Ventures III, the third fund of the firm, by then renamed Portage Ventures, had held an additional close in the second quarter and received a further $145 million commitment in July, bringing its total to $358 million. At the time, Portage had more than 40 portfolio companies across eight countries and $2.9 billion in assets under management; its exits included Clearco, Wave, and Zensurance.⁠[5][5][5][5]

In 2022, Portage expanded beyond venture capital to late-stage fintech and financial services companies by launching Portage Capital Solutions, led by Daniel Ballen and Devon Kirk, which provides flexible equity capital to public and private later-stage businesses.⁠[3]

On March 10, 2022, Portage announced the sixth close of its third fund, having raised $616 million (C$788.5 million) to date, and described it as one of the largest early-stage fintech-focused venture funds in the world; including the first two funds, its assets under management reached $3.3 billion as of December 31, 2021, and the three funds together had invested in 62 fintech companies from 13 countries. New LPs included HarbourVest Partners, Kensington Capital Partners, and Meridian Credit Union, joining previous LPs such as CDPQ, PSP Investments, and Eldridge; Portage also opened the fund to individual Canadian accredited investors for the first time, through Grayhawk Investment Strategies. The five largest investments of the first two funds were Wealthsimple, KOHO, Clark, Albert, and Alpaca.⁠[6][6][7][8][6][7][7]

In July 2022, Portage Ventures III held its final close, raising an additional $39 million for a total fund size of $655 million.⁠[6][6]

On January 14, 2026, Portage announced the closing of a transaction with Point72 Ventures to assume management of select assets from its fintech portfolio: the assets were transferred to a $280 million continuation vehicle whose general partner is an affiliate of Portage, with the investment led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and supported by a syndicate of secondary investors; for the assets not transferred, the two firms entered into a services agreement under which Portage oversees them. Tripp Shriner, a partner at Point72 Ventures, joined Portage as a general partner with the transaction to oversee the continuation vehicle.⁠[9][9][9][9][9][9]

The assets comprise about 40 relatively mature private companies, such as DriveWealth, which builds online trading platform technology; Point72 kept a 40% stake in the continuation vehicle, with the balance financed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Portage, and a European family. It was the first time Portage had bought into secondaries and launched a continuation vehicle; the fund runs for four years, charges annual fees of less than 1%, and takes 10% to 15% of profits. Felesky said many of the fintech companies backed by Point72 were close to IPO stage or strategic exits.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10]

On September 16, 2026, Portage announced the final close of its fourth venture fund, Portage Ventures IV, at approximately $600 million, in its tenth year of investing in fintech. Broadridge and Fifth Third Bank joined as new strategic limited partners. As of June 30, 2026, Portage had $7.0 billion in assets under management and more than 140 portfolio companies. Co-founder and CEO Adam Felesky said wealth management is entering the same kind of structural disruption that transformed banking a decade ago, and that AI is being embedded into the core workflows of financial institutions at an unprecedented pace.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11][11][11][11]

On September 18, 2026, Angle Health, a US health insurance technology company in Portage’s portfolio, announced a $600 million equity financing at a $2.7 billion valuation, consisting of a $200 million Series C financing and a $400 million tender offer for existing shares. The round was led by Vitruvian PartnersVitruvian PartnersVitruvian Partners is an international private equity firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 2006, it focuses on growth buyouts and growth capital investments in “Dynamic Situations,” investing mainly in asset-light, high-growth middle-market companies, and between 2008 and 2024 it raised five funds in its Vitruvian Investment Partnership series.Open the full entry with participation from new investor Town Hall VenturesTown Hall VenturesTown Hall Ventures is a healthcare venture capital firm headquartered in New York, United States. It was founded in 2018 by Andy Slavitt, who led the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during the Obama administration, and others, and it invests in healthcare technology and services companies that improve access to care in underserved communities.Open the full entry and existing investors including Portage, Blumberg Capital, PruVen CapitalPruVen CapitalPruVen Capital is an independent venture capital firm headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. It was founded in 2020 by Ramneek Gupta with funding from the US insurance group Prudential Financial, and it invests in technology startups in financial services, insurance, and other industries.Open the full entry, and Y Combinator, and was expected to close later that month. Earlier, Portage had listed Angle Health’s $134 million financing, announced in December 2025, as a portfolio update.⁠[12][13][13][13][14][15]

As of October 2026, Portage invests in financial services sectors including wealth and asset management, banking, insurance, and payments through three strategies: venture capital (Portage Ventures, with check sizes of $1 million to $30 million), growth equity (Portage Capital Solutions, with check sizes of $30 million to $150 million), and secondaries; it has more than 25 investment professionals and offices in Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Sagard is a multi-strategy alternative asset management firm with $47 billion under management.⁠[11][16][16][11][11][11]

As of January 2026, Portage owned 8.7% of Wealthsimple, and Power affiliates together owned just over half of the company.⁠[10]

Portage: Official website: https://portageinvest.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

Sagard: Official website: https://www.sagard.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/portageinvest (opens in a new window)⁠[16]