About Us

AVAC was created to grow agrivalue™ in Alberta with initial financial support of $35 million from the Alberta government in March 1997, and a federal commitment of nearly $10 million from the Government of Canada in 1998. A subsequent $10 million was advanced from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada in October 2005. The Ag Research Fund within AVAC was created in September 2005 upon the receipt of $24 million from the Alberta Government. Most recently, the new IVAC initiative was created with an additional $30 million from the Alberta Government.

AVAC stimulates value-added research, development and the commercialization of new products and services in Alberta, through knowledge brokering, alliances, skilled investment and the use of financial resources. It utilizes and renews sources of funds to carry out its mandate on a sustainable basis and expects successful proponents to reinvest in AVAC in order to support additional pre-commercial innovations in other enterprises. AVAC's reputation as a knowledgable investor leverages additional resources including financial capital, managerial talent, and intellectual property for the value-added sector.

Value-added is the activity of converting commodities or products into a product that provides more value for the customer. A value-added product is in a form that provides a higher profit or value.

AVAC utilizes three investment programs across the agrivalue™, renewable resource, ICT, life sciences and other industrial technology sectors:

	Agrivalue™	Ag Research	IVAC
Early stage and  pre-commercial  investments	• Pre-Commercial and   Entrepreneurial • Idea Builder • Commercialization   Start- up (Pilot)	• Commercialization    Start-up (Pilot)	• Capacity Builder
Research  investments	•  Research •  Strategic	• Projects • Programs
Early stage  venture capital			• Limited   Partnerships