The Globe reports that Celtic House has closed a new $280M fund:

Celtic House Venture Partners, an Ottawa-based technology venture
capital firm, will announce today that it has closed a new $280-million fund — its third and the largest raised in the private equity arena in Canada.

This new venture capital money follows on the heels of a new $250-million fund raised last fall by Ventures West Management Inc. of Vancouver.

The new money signals "an improving sentiment" by institutional investors toward a higher-risk asset class after the technology bubble burst in 2000, Andrew Waitman, managing partner of Celtic House said yesterday. "It was tough to raise the money because people remained very cautious."