BDC Capital is a venture capital investor focused on companies across multiple stages in Canada. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Brightspark Ventures

Brightspark Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in Canada, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Georgian

Georgian is a venture capital investor focused on growth-stage companies in North America, with a focus on AI and software. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America
Amount: From $25,000,000

View program details →

Golden Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on seed-stage companies in North America with Canadian focus, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America with Canadian focus
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Information Venture Partners

Information Venture Partners is a venture capital investor focused on growth-stage companies in North America, with a focus on B2B software and fintech. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Inovia Capital

Inovia Capital is a venture capital investor focused on companies across multiple stages in North America and Europe, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America and Europe
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Kensington Capital Partners

Kensington Capital Partners is a venture capital investor focused on companies across multiple stages in Canada. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Luge Capital

Luge Capital is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in Canada and United States, with a focus on fintech and financial services. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada and United States
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

OMERS Ventures

OMERS Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on Series A to C companies in North America and Europe, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America and Europe
Amount: $5,000,000 to $25,000,000

View program details →

Plaza Ventures

Plaza Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in Canada and United States, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada and United States
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Radical Ventures

Radical Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on companies across multiple stages globally, with a focus on artificial intelligence. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: global
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Relay Ventures

Relay Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in North America, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Round13 Capital

Round13 Capital is a venture capital investor focused on companies across multiple stages in Canada, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Scale Up Ventures

Scale Up Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in Canada, with a focus on fintech, developer tools, infrastructure automation and intelligence, future of work. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Version One Ventures

Version One Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in North America, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: North America
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Whitecap Venture Partners

Whitecap Venture Partners is a venture capital investor focused on early-stage companies in Canada, with a focus on technology. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Yaletown Partners

Yaletown Partners is a venture capital investor focused on growth-stage companies in Canada, with a focus on technology and climate-resilient industries. Verify current fit and intake with the official source before applying.

Geography: Canada
Amount: Amount not publicly stated

View program details →

Match the fund's investment thesis

A relevant venture fund typically has stated preferences for stage, sector, geography and ownership. Use those signals to build a focused list, then verify that the fund is actively investing.

Show why venture capital fits the company

Venture financing is designed for companies that can pursue substantial growth and support investor returns. Founders should be clear about the market, growth evidence and future capital needs.

Expect diligence on the full business

Prepare the cap table, financial model, customer evidence, team information, intellectual property and data room before a serious process begins.

Put the funding plan into practice

Choose the fund that matches the stage

The existing Ontario VC application guide explains how to research a fund, prepare an introduction and demonstrate commercial progress. The current mandates show why that research matters: Golden Ventures describes pre-seed and seed investing, Relay states pre-seed and seed entry, and Georgian describes growth investments in AI technology.

A broad technology label does not make those firms interchangeable. Identify the stage, sector, geography and type of financing first. Then explain the evidence that makes your company appropriate for that investor’s strategy.

Match the company to the fund’s current entry stage.
Identify portfolio examples that explain the fit.
State the milestone the round will finance.

Applying for venture capital in Ontario

Official program or investor information: Golden Ventures’ investment approach · Relay’s current focus · Georgian’s investment approach

Make the commercial evidence easy to assess

Prepare a consistent account of the customer problem, product, traction, business model and funding need. Show how customers find the business, why they choose it and whether usage or revenue persists. Explain the assumptions behind growth rather than relying only on a market-size slide.

As conversations advance, keep the cap table, financial information, contracts and relevant intellectual-property records organized. The existing application and pitch articles help you prepare; the current fund’s process determines what it requests and when.

Reconcile deck metrics with financial and customer records.
Explain the strongest evidence and the largest unanswered question.
Prepare a data room organized around actual investor requests.

Detailed Ontario VC guide Pitch-deck preparation

Investor fit

Choose investors whose model matches your company

The investor discussions connect capital with the type of business, its growth potential and the return the investor expects. Be clear about whether you intend to build a business that can support that financing model and what an eventual return could look like.

Check each fund’s stage, sector, geography and investment approach against your company. Read its portfolio and application route. A focused list gives you a better starting conversation than sending the same pitch to every name in the directory.

Danielle Graham’s Firehood interview illustrates the importance of mandate and expertise: she describes women-led startups, an angel community and related fund structures. Use the 2024 interview to understand the model, then check the organization’s current focus and intake.

Prepare evidence for the conversation: customer use, revenue where available, the sales process, team capability and the milestone the money supports. The 2025 panel discusses traction as a response to the conditions they observed; each fund still has its own investment criteria.

TorontoStarts · September 2024

Investing in Canadian Startups, Is it Worth It?

The investor panel examines the fit between a business, its growth ambitions and investment returns. Speakers distinguish scalable companies from local businesses and discuss why an exit plan matters to some investors.

Watch on YouTube

TorontoStarts · June 2024

Investing in Startups: Insights from Danielle Graham | The Firehood

Danielle Graham explains The Firehood’s women-angel community and the related fund structures in a 2024 Collision interview. She discusses women-led startups, subject-matter expertise and readiness programs.

Watch on YouTube

Recorded 2025 discussion on approaching investors

TorontoStarts · September 2024

How to get investors in 2025

A 2025 investor discussion about traction, paying customers, business fundamentals and preparing a company for an investment conversation.

Watch on YouTube

Browse investor profiles Ontario angel networks and individuals Prepare the deck and investor conversation

Funding market archive

Compare what investors said at different points in the market

The 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 panels preserve how founders and investors discussed financing in those periods. They cover investor preferences, valuation, revenue, financing alternatives and the work needed to prepare a company.

Use the sequence to identify questions you should ask now: is the fund making new investments, which stage does it fund, what evidence does it require and how long can the process take? Historical observations help explain a change in expectations, but do not describe today’s availability.

The two 2024 uploads contain the same discussion. Both remain available in the archive. The 2025 roundtable is also a dated discussion, with links back to the existing listings for the next step.

TorontoStarts · September 2024

2025 Canadian Funding Landscape

A 2025 roundtable covering the Canadian funding landscape, investor readiness, fund fit and making useful connections. The panel’s market observations and program references are dated context.

Watch on YouTube

2021, 2022 and 2024 panels, including the alternate upload

TorontoStarts · January 2021

2021 Venture Capital and Startup Funding Landscape with TorontoStarts

A 2021 panel comparing venture capital, angel funding and equity crowdfunding. Investors discuss fit, growth expectations and cross-border funding in the market at that time.

Watch on YouTube

TorontoStarts · January 2022

State of Canadian Startup Funding in 2022

A 2022 roundtable on Canadian startup financing during the pandemic, including investor expectations, valuation and financing choices.

Watch on YouTube

TorontoStarts · January 2024

Will it be harder to get VC funding in 2024

A 2024 panel on funding conditions, specialized funds, customer evidence and building the business before asking for capital. Its observations reflect that market period.

Watch on YouTube

TorontoStarts · January 2024

Will it be Harder in 2024 to Get VC Funding?

An alternate upload of the 2024 funding discussion, covering investor caution, revenue, team and execution.

Watch on YouTube

Build the milestone funding plan Prepare valuation evidence