Toronto’s Northside Ventures has successfully closed its inaugural early-stage venture capital fund, securing $15 million CAD despite a challenging fundraising environment. The firm, led by solo General Partner Alex McIsaac, focuses on backing Canadian founders at the pre-seed and seed stages, particularly in artificial intelligence, vertical SaaS, fintech, and cleantech sectors.
Northside’s limited partners include notable institutional investors like Inovia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Intact Ventures, and Golden Ventures. The fund also attracted over 50 individual investors, including tech industry veterans from companies like Google, Uber, and Affirm. With its first fund, Northside aims to fill a crucial gap in the Canadian startup ecosystem by offering the early-stage funding that founders often struggle to find.
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Backing Canadian Talent in North America
Northside Ventures has already deployed 40% of its capital across 15 companies, including Datacurve, Switch, and Veritree. The firm plans to make another 15 to 20 investments over the next two years, with a majority of the portfolio focused on Canadian founders building businesses either in Canada or the U.S.
Founder-Friendly Approach
McIsaac, a former partner at Global Founders Capital, aims to blend the agility of an angel investor with the backing of an institutional-grade fund. This allows Northside Ventures to make quick decisions and support startups at their earliest stages. Northside’s strategy has proven successful, closing its fund despite the worst Canadian VC fundraising conditions in a decade.
