Innovacorp is calling for proposals from private fund managers to oversee an early-stage venture capital fund – a fund whose value has been boosted by 50 percent.

The Nova Scotia government’s VC agency said last month it would invest $10 million in an early-stage fund. But when it released its request for proposals on Friday, Innovacorp said the fund will actually be worth $15 million.

The announcement is part of a two-track policy to provide both early-stage and follow-on funding for Atlantic Canadian companies. The Nova Scotia government in 2014 said it would invest $25 million in a private fund manager, as long as the manager brought in additional capital.

Last month, the government announced it would sink $15 million into Halifax-based Build Ventures, which makes follow-on investments of about $1.5 million to $3 million in companies across the region. The investment will be the first commitment to Build’s second fund, which is expected to be worth $50 million to $75 million.

Innovacorp said at the time it would also channel money into an early-stage fund – initially outlining a $10 million investment and now saying it will be worth $15 million. The announcement Friday did not say the early stage fund manager will have to bring additional capital into the fund.

Creating two funds was recommended to the government by the selection committee responsible for evaluating responses to Innovacorp’s 2016 request for proposals for a fund manager, said the statement. The committee will remain in place for the new process.

“It was important to enable Build Ventures to continue to provide follow-on capital for the most promising startups in Atlantic Canada,” said Gilles Duruflé, a selection committee member and consultant for venture capital and private equity funds and governments across Canada. “It is also important to ensure Nova Scotia’s start-up community continues to grow, which is why we need to bring an additional new private-sector-managed fund for early stage start-ups to the region.”

The deadline for proposals is Feb. 15. 

Disclosure: Build Ventures and Innovacorp are clients of Entrevestor.