How a Fractional CFO helped U of A Innovation Fund come to life and support PortCos
The University of Alberta Innovation Fund is advancing innovation, entrepreneurship, and tackling global challenges by enabling new ventures to access smart capital and go-to-market opportunities.
Industry: Venture Capital
Fractional Roles Filled: CFO
The Challenge
The U of A’s new Innovation Fund needed a financial steward to help them raise $50M over 5 years to invest in university-incubated startups.
They needed a CFO who had the startup and venture capital experience, but didn't need a full-time person.
Finding the right person with such specific skills for a part-time role was difficult.
The solution
From first meeting to hired within 3 weeks.
solace’s Fractional CFO signed on for an initial one-year contract working at least 15 billable hours per month.
Their Fractional CFO is fully embedded into the team, and involved in key leadership discussions, finance team discussions, strategic planning, and more.
The results
Everything they needed in their CFO for 80% less than a full-time hire.
Active involvement in investor due diligence as part of the investment team.
Successful coordination with external accounts and legal teams for annual financial audits and tax planning / structuring
Built financial models to be leveraged internally but also templates that can support portfolio companies
Weight off CEO's shoulders knowing they have a strong financial arm in place.
"solace tailor-made an approach to identify the right candidates for me which wasn't a cookie cutter approach. I felt like solace really looked after me and listened to what I needed…
We were looking for a CFO but [upon joining the team] they went above and beyond their role because they voluntarily identified areas where we could leverage other skills of theirs to give us more of a robust solution to problems we didn't know we had."
Sheetal Walsh, Founder and CEO of University of Alberta Innovation Fund
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