ventureLAB

No founder has ever closed a round because of a beautiful pitch deck. A deck may get you a meeting. But fundraising is an investment process - not a pitch-deck project. That was the core idea behind my crash course at Nrth (formerly Elevate Festival): Become Fundable Before Fundraising. And it felt like the right way to wrap up three packed days of conversations with founders, investors, operators and ecosystem leaders - reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and talking about what actually makes companies fundable. For the crash course, we had 50 minutes and one goal: look at fundraising the way an investor does. We started with the 7 questions every investor is ultimately trying to answer: ~ Is the problem real, clear and important enough? ~ Can this become large enough to generate a venture-scale return? ~ Why is this the team to win? ~ What have you actually proven - not just planned? ~ Can this become a scalable, economically attractive business? ~ Does the round itself make financial sense? ~ What will this capital unlock - and will it make the next round easier to raise? I encouraged founders to separate fundraising into three different decisions: 1️⃣ Are you venture-fundable? Is this actually a business that fits the venture capital model? 2️⃣ Are you raising the right round? The right amount. The right capital path. The right structure. The right valuation and dilution. The right milestones. 3️⃣ Are you actually ready to fundraise today? This is the one founders often underestimate. Before sending the first investor email, the fundamentals should already be in place: → Pitch deck → Financial model and KPIs → Funding ask and use of funds → Runway and dilution analysis → Investor targeting → Investor Q&A preparation → Data room → Cap table → Diligence readiness → Negotiation preparation I also walked through an example 90-day fundraising process built around reaching approximately 200 right-fit investors: Prepare & Launch → Meet & Learn → Diligence & Terms That is also why I increasingly think about investment readiness through three words: ASSESS Is the company fundable? Does the narrative work? Does the round make sense? CREATE Build the investor-ready case - deck, model, metrics, positioning, data room, investor list and supporting materials. EXECUTE Run outreach, meetings, follow-ups, diligence, negotiation and closing with discipline. Beyond the session itself, one of the best parts of nrth was reconnecting with people I have worked with across the ecosystem and meeting many new founders, investors and partners. ➡️ If you're a founder planning to close a round in the next six months, particularly if you want to reach investors beyond your immediate network across Canada, the US, Europe, the Middle East and other global markets, feel free to connect. Happy to compare notes on your fundability, round strategy and fundraising process. #nrth #Fundraising #InvestmentReadiness

What a week! I’m pretty sure my shoes are still recovering, I definitely logged way more than 50,000 steps this week, but my heart (and coffee cup) is full after a whirlwind few days in the wild world of Canadian innovation. 👟☕✨ From catching up with old ventureLAB friends (and meeting new friends!!), and partners at Nrth Festival (formerly Elevate) to cheering on Dejana Dua on the Moonshots Stage alongside powerhouse founders Dr. Wintta K. Ghebreiyesus and Yasaman Soudagar, the energy downtown was electric. Meanwhile, our team doubled down and boothed at the City of Vaughan's Community Health Lecture, diving deep with leaders from higher ed, hospitals, and digital health on how tech can transform care access across York Region (The Regional Municipality of York). No rest for the innovate-ive, though! 🚀 Next up: We’re keeping the momentum rolling with the HIN Venture Summit, bringing together top investors, hardtech founders, and ecosystem builders for the ultimate capital match-up. Ready to join the party? Grab your spot here before the seats disappear: https://lnkd.in/gdy7DTye

What a week at Nrth! Grateful for the chance to have my team at ventureLAB, take the stage, connect with ecosystem leaders and private-sector and corporate partners, and catch up with old friends across Canada's innovation ecosystem. Huge congrats to the Nrth team, Lisa Zarzeczny Marium Kirmani Angelo Casanas Maryam Masoumi (PMP)® Lynne Dubuc Alex Rayment on an amazing, timely rebrand — the energy this year said it all. And a big thank you to our own Marketing team for capturing every moment — the panels, the Moonshot stage presence, and more. Always a pleasure catching up with our industry partners like Dell Technologies, BMO, our investment ecosystem partners BDC Capital (Canada), Archangel Network of Funds, GreenSky Ventures, @SunnySide Ventures, Good News Ventures, and our ecosystem partners Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario | Agence fédérale de ... Ontario Centre of Innovation DMZ Sandbox Centre, Spark Centre MaRS Discovery District City of Toronto- Business and Economy University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Toronto Global and many, many others. Next Step: Our own HardTech Investor Network Summit on September 28. See you there!

The breadth of #vaughan’s economy was on display today! From opening a new Marriott Hotels property, to hosting a York University panel on digital health with Mackenzie Health Oak Valley Health and Southlake Health, regardless of your ambition, you can grow with Vaughan! Reach out to Vaughan Economic Development to learn about how we can help you with your next business opportunity! Lisa Philipps Michael Genova Don De Los Santos Ashley Angeloni Amanda Dudek Shawna Teper Ijade Maxwell Rodrigues, MPA Tourism Industry Association of Ontario Central Counties Tourism Life Sciences Ontario Medtech Canada ventureLAB Nima Khadem Mohtaram, Ph.D. Ghazal Mardmomen Julie Flesch