There's a new capital pool company (CPC) fund in town, one targeted at emerging growth companies during what's become an increasingly sparse financing scene in Ottawa and the rest of North America.

Launched as a partnership between Ottawa's James Edward Capital Corp., Montreal's Downshire Capital Corp. and Evans and Evans Inc. of Vancouver, CPC Ventures Fund II's founder told OBJ there's a growing demand for the CPC financing model in light of the ongoing meltdown in larger cap stocks.

"There's a dearth of private VC around, as well, so early-stage companies – of which there are many in Ottawa – don't have a lot of early-stage capital," said Patrick Power, president of Ottawa's James Edward Capital Corp. "And this is a way that companies can access public venture capital for early stage growth.

"It's pretty interesting dynamics going on right now," he continued. "First off, there's a lot of U.S. companies looking to list in Canada, and that's because it's cost-prohibitive to list in the U.S. right now.

"So we do see a big demand for the TSX's CPC product, and they've been heavily promoting that in the U.S. as well."

"Our view is that the smaller cap market will be unscathed, and it may actually be a panacea for that market."

By way of promotion, a CPC seminar sponsored by the TSX Venture Exchange was held at the Holiday Inn Select & Suites in Kanata Tuesday night. Billed as a knowledge exchange for entrepreneurs and investors alike the seminar featured keynote speaker Tim Babcock, of the TSX Venture Exchange, who illustrated the nuances of the exchange's Capital Pool Company Program.

The event featured a panel including OCRI's Michelle Scarborough, Deloitte's Mike Runia, Greg Jackson from Investpro Securities and members of Ottawa's Green Swan Capital.

While Mr. Power cautioned the model may not be right for every company – he said it's not quite as appropriate for startups as for emerging-growth companies – he said recent financial turmoil will likely be a boon for the CPC financing model. Mr. Power said CPC financings are typically between $2 million and $10 million.

"I do think the small cap markets will be attracting more investors, because it's more or less immune from the events of the last couple of weeks," he said.