High Net Worth Money Makes its Way to Series A?

Vancouver's Strangeloop Networks coyly announced today that it had secured a $11.5 million Series A round from "A group of private investors." This phrase is often PR shorthand for high net worth folks who've been enticed by their tax-planning advisors into an interesting investment vehicle. Sometimes, this is a straight share investment; other times, it's a more complex (and, might I add, less founder-friendly) GP/LP structure that's being funded. Either way, these kinds of announcements another sign of an interesting trend - the financing of high tech companies by players off the venture capital grid.

There are other examples out there - in Toronto, Bluecat Networks is a notable example - with more to come. Stay tuned.