Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
BKR Capital Raises $20M For Fund II First Close
Mar 23, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Activity | Venture Funding And Building
Image: Freepik
Fresh Capital Targets A Measurable Gap in Canadian Venture Funding
On March 23, 2026, BKR Capital announced a $20M first close for Black Innovation Fund II, with a final target of $50M. The first close includes backing from RBC, Boann Social Impact Fund, Cap Finance Social Finance Fund, BDC, and EDC.
BKR also said its first fund invested in 15 technology companies and is tracking as a top quartile performer for its vintage.
The release puts a hard number on the market gap. BKR said only 0.15% of venture capital deployed in Canada in 2025 went to Black founders. That is the core fact in this story. A second institutional fund is being raised into a market where founder supply exists, but early capital allocation remains extremely thin. The first close is aligned with a wider government effort to expand access to capital, including Canada’s renewed $189M Black Entrepreneurship Program.
Lissa Bjerkelund, Vice-President and Head of Investments at EDC:
"Supporting Canadian companies as they expand into global markets is critical in today's economic environment, and our investment in this fund speaks to our commitment to helping level the playing field for Black-owned businesses to access the capital they need to fuel their growth."
Isaac Olowolafe, General Partner at BKR Capital said there was “a powerful investment opportunity hiding in plain sight,” while Lise Birikundavyi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at BKR Capital said “the strong financial performance of our first fund confirms what we have always known.” BKR is not pitching this as a social side pocket. It is arguing that Canada continues to misprice a real venture pipeline.
That raises a more direct capital formation question. If Fund I has already reached 15 companies and BKR says it is tracking as a top quartile performer, what keeps more institutional capital from moving sooner into managers and founder segments that the market still underfunds?
BKR’s first close also includes BDC, which lines up with a broader push toward more inclusive capital formation in Canada, including BDC’s $250M commitment to inclusive entrepreneurship.
Talking Point
If the founder pipeline is there and the performance case is strengthening, what still stops more Canadian institutional capital from moving earlier and at larger scale?
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