StandUp Ventures reposted this
Part three of Hard Knocks, presented by Mantle, is out now, featuring Michelle McBane, who breaks down the key lessons she’s learned as an early-stage investor #CDNtech
StandUp Ventures is a Toronto-based, seed stage venture capital fund focused on investing in high growth ventures with at least one female founder in a key leadership role. We believe that women led companies think outside the box, recruit great talent, and serve bigger markets. We invest in seed-stage, for-profit technology companies with at least one woman in a C-level leadership position within the company and an equitable amount of ownership. We're dedicated to curious, confident, and fearless entrepreneurs building ground-breaking technology companies. We partner with ambitious founders across Canada to break through from Seed to Series A.
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StandUp Ventures reposted this
Part three of Hard Knocks, presented by Mantle, is out now, featuring Michelle McBane, who breaks down the key lessons she’s learned as an early-stage investor #CDNtech
StandUp Ventures' Founding Partner Michelle McBane has had an incredible career in venture that has spanned over 2 decades! Check out this story and learn how her journey to date inspired the mission for the work we do supporting world-class founders at StandUp Ventures. #venturecapital #women #career https://lnkd.in/effibvMi
Wonderful news for StandUp Ventures portfolio company Max Retail led by the incredible Melodie van der Baan! 🚀 🛍 👚 👔 👗 👠 The company has successfully closed an exciting $15M USD Series A led by Nosara Capital, with participation from Rethink Impact, LP, M13, and The Artemis Fund to continue supporting the profitability of independent retailers! Learn more about our investment thesis below ⬇ #fundingnews #seriesa #retaildata https://lnkd.in/ebyZrWkJ
StandUp Ventures reposted this
I am not sure I deserve this, but have to admit I am a bit chuffed to be named to the 100 Most Powerful Canadians for 2024! Thank you, as always, to the incredible Arterians, who are responsible for this happening. Apparently, the Maclean's magazine annual Power List "celebrates the individuals shaping the course of our nation." Tee hee. Mostly, I am just pleased to even be near the same category as AI powerhouses like my friend Patricia Thaine (and of course, the little known folks like Yoshua Bengio, Ilya Sutskever and the Cohere gents). #MacleansPowerList2024 #ai #artificialintelligence #arteria cc. Arteria AI, Abrar Huq, Jonathan Wong, Brent Taylor, John Wallace, Jason Diller, Amir Hajian, Mark Bennewith, Bailey Dougherty, Illuminate Financial, Notable Capital, Citi, Katya Chupryna, CFA, Information Venture Partners, Robert Antoniades, Chelcie Taylor, Jeff Richards, Alexander Ross, Mark Beeston, Guy Cogan, BDC, StandUp Ventures, Golden Ventures
StandUp Ventures reposted this
I'm proud to share some exciting news from Cognito Health and our mission to improve mental health for all! We’ve closed $2 million in seed financing thanks to our mission-driven investors StandUp Ventures, Garage Capital, Graphite Ventures, Spring Impact Capital, and Simplex Ventures. This latest capital will help us launch our all-in-one, affordable mental health service in Ontario. We’ll also be using these funds to expand our partnerships with insurers, businesses and government partners seeking to offer mental health support. See the full story: https://lnkd.in/gDxQ3ftP At Cognito, we're not just envisioning a future where effective mental health treatment is available in a timely and affordable manner, we're actively building it. If you or someone you care about is seeking treatment for anxiety, depression, insomnia or ADHD, get effective, immediate help at getcognito.ca. #MentalHealth #MentalHealthCare #MentalHealthTreatment #MentalHealthMatters #Therapy #CBT #Anxiety #Depression #Insomnia #ADHD
StandUp Ventures is excited to announce our investment in Cognito Health's Seed Round, alongside friends at Garage Capital, Spring Impact Capital, Graphite Ventures, and Simplex Ventures. Led by Armon Arani, Dr. Francois Muller, and Dr. Marlene Muller, Cognito offers an all-in-one virtual mental health treatment option that provides Canadians with a single access point for effective, affordable, and immediate mental health care. If you or someone you love needs support (they're launching in Ontario this month!): https://www.getcognito.ca/ #startups #venturecapital #mentalhealth
Almost 9M Canadians reported a mental health disorder last year, with mood disorders increasing 20% in just one year (more than 1 in 5 people) How is this getting worse so quickly? An alarming % of these individuals report not having their needs fully met - particularly when it comes to accessing therapy (a key component of effective mental health treatment). For years medical research has demonstrated what drives remissions for individuals who are suffering, and yet digital mental healthcare solutions haven't been designed in a way that aligns with this understanding. Offering an all-in-one virtual mental health treatment option that provides Canadians with a single access point for effective, affordable, and immediate mental health care, Cognito Health was built to drive outcomes (vs. just abate symptoms), offering folks a chance to actually get better. The platform combines the critical ingredients of cognitive behavioural therapy and medication with an integrated care team, all for an affordable, easy-to-cancel, monthly subscription that costs less than a single traditional counselling session. By addressing a pain point trifecta of efficacy, access, and cost, Cognito Health offers a solution to a segment of the Canadian market that was previously unable to access care, opening up the market, and delivering support to millions who need it. We're incredibly humbled to announce our investment in Cognito Health's $2M Seed round, alongside friends at Garage Capital, Spring Impact Capital, Graphite Ventures and Simplex Ventures, led by mental health advocates Armon Arani, Dr. Marlene Muller, and Dr. Francois Muller. It's not every day that we have an opportunity to invest in businesses with a large economic opportunity, as well a large and equally important opportunity to tangibly impact the future of Canadian mental health. Kudos to the team for their incredible passion and resiliency - we're so excited to be on this journey together. Cognito Health is live in British Colombia and launching in Ontario later this month. If you or someone you know needs support: https://www.getcognito.ca/ #mentalhealth #fundingnews #startups #venturecapital https://lnkd.in/er5q-asV
Great summary of your chat over milkshakes (I hope) - thanks for sharing Jordan Hill !!
Fractional Startup CFO | Helping startups grow with fundraising support, scalable tech stacks, and relevant reporting
How can I get my startup funded by a VC? For founders, this journey can be a daunting one if not done correctly. That's why I tapped the mind of Lucas Perlman. He routine invests in early stage startups at the Seed Stage as part of StandUp Ventures. Lucas shared what makes certain startups a VC-fundable business, as well as what VCs look for when making an investment decision, especially at the Seed Stage. Here's some of the top tips from a Seed Stage VC: 🎯 Showcase Your Product Market Fit: the bet at this stage is that you have a working product that an identifiable cohort of customers are buying. Can you articulate this group and attract many more of them? 📊 Metrics Become Key: as you get bigger, it’s not enough to have a bold vision, but metrics that prove your traction. Measure key metrics like: NRR, Gross Margin, CAC and Growth (YoY). 🏆 Dominate a Vertical/Niche: prove that your product is a clear market leader in the industry that you are selling to. If it’s not clearly better than the rest, selling it becomes much harder (think switching costs for your customer). 🔍 Focus, Focus, Focus: at this stage, resources are still scarce. While having a big vision is needed, you need to walk before you run. Identify a critical set of milestones and focus on achieving those. Adding too many new products or customer types can dilute your resources. 💰 Strong Financials: bookkeeping is not enough at this stage. You need to show a strong financial projection and backed by accurate financials, as well as a clear understanding of your unit economics. Shameless plug: fractional CFOs work great at this stage 🤓 It was great to catch up with Lucas and I look forward to hearing about more trends in VC investing at the early stage! Until then, happy scaling! 🚀
StandUp Ventures reposted this
We got an office in Montréal !! 😎 It's officially been a year since I moved to Montreal - and this week, StandUp Ventures was grateful to become apart of the incredible Espace CDPQ community alongside the many other prominent funds and friends in the Quebec venture ecosystem. I'll try to be there at least once a week - so shoot me a note if you're an investor or founder who wants to connect over a fancy latte d'amande or practice french with me!! 😊 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nous avons un bureau à Montréal !! 😎 Cela fait officiellement un an que j'ai déménagé à Montréal - et cette semaine, StandUp Ventures était reconnaissant de faire partie de l'incroyable communauté de l'Espace CDPQ aux côtés de nombreux autres fonds et amis importants de l'écosystème du capital-risque québécois. J'essaierai d'être là au moins une fois par semaine - alors envoyez-moi un message si vous êtes un investisseur ou un fondateur qui souhaite se connecter autour d'un latte d'amande raffiné ou pratiquer le français avec moi !! 😊 #venturecapital #capitalrisque #espacecdpq #quebec
An incredible milestone for StandUp Ventures founder Shelby Austin and her outstanding team at Arteria AI - $30M USD Series B led by GGV Capital. We are so humbled to be on this journey with you. TO THE MOON! 🚀
HUGE NEWS for Arteria AI today. I am so pleased to tell you that we have completed our 30m USD Series B! I am beyond thrilled to welcome Jeff Richards, Chelcie Taylor and the broader GGV Capital team to our journey. We are grateful for continued support from our friends at Citi, Illuminate Financial, Information Venture Partners, and BDC. To our clients, thank you for your continued support. We promise to do our very best for you - always - as we modernize the world of documentation infrastructure in financial services together. ❤️ Most importantly, a huge congratulations to all of the Arterians - your steadfast pursuit of greatness has propelled us to this next phase of growth. Thank you for all you do - now, to the moon! 🚀🚀🚀 #ArteriaAI #ArtificialIntelligence #DocumentationInfrastructure #SeriesB #Startups #AI #SAAS #vc #venturecapital #verticalSAAS #financialservices #banking