Industry committee  We call for a formal proposal. We will do our own due diligence on the company, we'll do our investigation, we'll ask for a business plan, we'll support them in developing a business plan, which is critical to their success as well as critical to their getting funding. It's a str

Industry committee  You're quite right to point that out. The competition for investment capital is extreme. Right now you have huge returns on mining investments, oil investments, and that's what's drawing off the big money, the really big money. We've taken the opportunity to look at Asia for fu

Industry committee  I may be a little different from some of the panel members who are here, but we didn't ask for money. We asked for enhanced investment, and we can document the return on your investment as very much a business case. It's capturing the value of much of the science that is already

Industry committee  Yes, well, we aim to be.

Industry committee  The three things you can manage are time, money, and people, and that applies to commercialization of a technology. It's time-sensitive; it's money-sensitive. If you have unencumbered capital and unencumbered organizations that can invest in a good business case on a sound busine

Industry committee  Venture capital is only one source of funds. There are many other sources of funds. In some cases, venture capital is not the appropriate vehicle for funding. It is worrisome, particularly for people who rely on venture capital. A reduction from $4 billion to $1 billion is huge.

Industry committee  The investment was $10.4 million, I believe. We had $10.4 million and 57 projects.

Industry committee  At this time, yes. We do draw in small amounts from other organizations. But it's primarily provincial funding, yes.

Industry committee  That's correct, and we have the opportunity to grow our capital seed fund, depending on the return on any of our investment, although we're non-profit.

Industry committee  Yes, it certainly will be. We're looking at developing a continuum of funding and support for technology, and that will include publicly raised money and privately raised money.

Industry committee  Thank you. First of all, we'd like to express our thanks for having the opportunity to address the standing committee on the topic of biotechnology in support of agriculture. The agriculture-biotech economy is one of the fastest-growing and innovative sectors in this province,