The BC Renaissance Capital Fund -- an entity of the British Columbia government -- has awarded $55 million to four venture capital funds.

Iain Black, the Small Business, Technology and Economic Development Minister, said that the funds will be used to help "build anchor technology companies in our province." Recipients of the funds include Tandem Capital, Vanedge Capital, Wesley Clover and Yaletown Venture Partners.

They join venture capital firms -- ARCH Venture Partners, Kearney Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners -- which were already part of the initiative. Together, they will be able to invest $90 million from the fund.

To date, $9 million from the B.C. Renaissance Capital Fund has led to a total of $37 million being invested in five B.C. companies. Those include a $6.45 million investment from Yaletown in Indicee, a Vancouver, B.C.-based startup that specializes in online business reporting tools. And Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies -- a Vancouver company that is developing environmentally-friendly fertilizers -- raised $10.5 million from VantagePoint.

Money from the Renaissance Capital Fund does not have to be invested directly in British Columbia startups, though Todd Tessler, vice president of venture investments at the fund, tells The Vancouver Sun that investors must have a strategy for making sure that they "see the best B.C. opportunities."

For years, Seattle venture capital investors have talked about taking a closer look at opportunities in B.C. And while a few deals have occurred -- including OVP's backing of Victoria-based GenoLogics -- there's still not too much cross pollination between the two tech hubs.

Kevin Cable, a co-founder of Seattle investment bank Cascadia Capital, had this to say about the B.C. tech community in a story I wrote six years ago.

"It looked and felt and smelled like Seattle 10 years ago," said Cable. "And I do believe that was the beginning of a wave of a number of Seattle venture capitalists and (San Francisco) venture capitalists going up there."

John Cook is co-founder of TechFlash. Follow on Twitter @johnhcook.