Réseau d’investissement social du Québec (RISQ)
Email: risq@fonds-risq.qc.ca
Website: http://fonds-risq.qc.ca
Phone: 514-866-2355
Office Headquarters Address:
208 – 1431, rue Fullum, Montréal, QC, H2K 0B5
Background
Year Founded: 1997
Mission & Mandate: To contribute, with our expertise, to the development of social economy enterprises in Québec by providing accessible financial tools adapted to their specific characteristics and phases of development.
Description: The Réseau d’investissement social du Québec (RISQ) is a non-profit venture capital fund dedicated to social economy enterprises. Its mission is to provide access to financing adapted to the reality of community enterprises and to support their growth from start-up, expansion to maturity. RISQ supports innovative projects that promote social action and structure across communities in all regions of Quebec. From idea to action, RISQ offers financial tools in the form of loans to social enterprises of all stages of development.
Sectors
– Addressing Systemic Racism
– Biodiversity & Conservation
– Business & Financial Literacy
– Cleantech
– Community Arts & Media
– Community Economic Development
– Co-operative, Community & Social Enterprise
– Education & Skills Development
– Employment & Training
– Food Security
– Gender Equity
– Green Buildings & Retrofits
– Health & Well-being
– Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship
– Microlending
– Renewable Energy
– Sustainable Consumer Products
– Sustainable Finance
– Sustainable Food, Fisheries & Agriculture
– Sustainable Resource Management
– Sustainable Transportation & Infrastructure
– Youth
Fund Characteristics
Capitalization Loan Fund
AUM: $7,195,000
Vintage year: 1997
Closing year: NA
Fund term: 2-7 years
Asset class: Private debt, Bid or performance surety bond, Loan guarantee and Line of credit, Preferred shares (co-ops) or solidarity bonds (non-profit organizations)
Investor eligibility: NA
Minimum investment: NA
Geographic scope: Provincial, Quebec
Committed capital: $6,615,000
Average investment size: $38,500
Investee type: Co-operatives (except worker/shareholder co-operatives), Non-profit organizations
Investment stage: Early, Mid, Late
Technical Assistance Loan Fund
AUM: $1,468,000
Vintage year: 1997
Closing year: NA
Fund term: Repayable only when the project is completed
Asset class: Private debt
Investor eligibility: NA
Minimum investment: NA
Geographic scope: Provincial, Quebec
Committed capital: $282,500
Average investment size: $4,300
Investee type: Co-operatives (except worker/shareholder co-operatives), Non-profit organizations
Investment stage: Seed, Early, Mid, Late
Pre-Startup Loan Fund
AUM: $3,245,,000
Vintage year: 2010
Closing year: NA
Fund term: No capital repayment during the pre-startup period, or up to 2 years. The reimbursement is either:
– Single payment at startup, in other words, at the moment of the first round of financing, first sales, or after expiration of the 2-year pre-startup deadline OR
– Repayment by fixed payments (capital and interest) in accordance with a repayment agreement made after the above-mentioned deadlines (term of no more than 10 years).
Asset class: Private debt
Investor eligibility: NA
Minimum investment: NA
Geographic scope: Provincial, Quebec
Committed capital: $3,646,00
Average investment size: $56,500
Investee type: Co-operatives (except worker/shareholder co-operatives), Non-profit organizations
Investment stage: Seed and existing organizations that are looking to undertake new projects
Nota Bene
Future Projects:
Recapitalization ($11,500,000) from Quebec’s government in 2020 from which 7, 500, 000 $ is dedicated to administrate a new fund, of which the goal is to stimulate economic recovery in the social economy sector.
Notable Transactions:
– Coopérative nationale de l’information indépendante (CN2i) : Following the announcement of the closure of the 6 regional newspapers of Capitales Médias Group, the employees and managers of these newspapers mobilized to collectively take over their own entity. They set up a Cooperative (CN2i) to help them with this project and ensure the professionalism, quality and diversity of information in Quebec communities. The total cost of the project was 12 300 000$ and 7 financial partners participated in its financing (Investissement Québec, Caisse d’économie solidaire Desjardins, Desjardins Capital, Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale and RISQ).
Other:
In 2020, RISQ also created a special financial product based on revenue and invested in a student affordable housing development project.
Success Story
Coop Couturière POP
Montreal, QC | 2019
Project Name: Launch of the co-op’s first workshop
Financing: $20,000
The Co-op’s first objective is to become extremely competitive in terms of working conditions. On the first hand, the co-op wants to exert an upward pressure on the market, so that better working conditions are offered to seamstresses. On the other hand, the co-op is trying to cope with the shortage of seamstresses and train them so that they are adapted to market requirements (quality of work, experience, speed, thoroughness, etc.).
