This week Brandon Zhao had the pleasure of judging a pitch competition at Perimeter Institute as part of the first-ever Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) alumni reunion celebrating 15 amazing years. As part of the competition, PSI alumni formed small groups to develop a project that bridges theoretical physics and real-world issues like climate change. 🎉 Congratulations to the first-prize winners, Simulating the Future Through Science Fiction! And a special shout out to the runner-up prize winners, Physics Without Words! 🎉 The pitches were incredible examples of why PSI is one of the most sought-after master's programs in theoretical physics. Every year, it attracts the best and brightest young minds, where they dive deep into modern physics topics under the supervision of the Institute’s world-renowned faculty. Thank you Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics for including Two Small Fish in your 15-year celebration. We’re excited to watch how these winning projects develop and progress. #innovation #sciencemagic #quantumphysics
Two Small Fish Ventures
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Toronto, Ontario 2,774 followers
Investing in the next frontier of computing and its applications.
About us
Most VCs lack real-world startup experience, but not Two Small Fish. We’re massively successful serial entrepreneurs with multiple exits under our belt. Two Small Fish has a proven track record of spotting groundbreaking tech giants before they disrupt the industry. After we invest, we’re along for the ride and put our extensive technical, entrepreneurial, and operating experience to help startups achieve meteoric growth. Our US$30 million third fund focuses on supporting early-stage founders with a focus on deep tech, including AI, protocols, and semiconductors.
- Website
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https://twosmallfish.vc
External link for Two Small Fish Ventures
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Toronto, Ontario
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2014
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
101 College St
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, CA
Employees at Two Small Fish Ventures
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Allen Lau
Recovering CEO, 3x Entrepreneur, 2x exits (last one at US$660M), Venture Capitalist by Profession, Electrical Engineer by Training, Rocket Scientist…
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Eva Lau
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Charissa Lai, CFA, MBA
Private Markets | Portfolio Management | Strategy | Relationship Management | Allocator
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Brandon Zhao
Partner at TSFV | Prev: ML at Wattpad
Updates
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We know Collision Conf can feel jam-packed so here is BetaKit‘s one-stop guide to everything Collision featuring our own Eva Lau, Mayor Olivia Chow, Elysia Bryan from Shopify and many more! #Collisionconf
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We’re thrilled to announce the close of our third fund, TSFV Fund III, at $41 million (US$30 million) to invest in the next frontier of computing and its applications. From Story Protocol to Ideogram, Fund III has already invested in several giants in the making. Seeing the future is our superpower and we see where tech is headed. The massive AI platform shift is supercharging advancements across many industries like robotics, life sciences, and microchips. There’s no better time to invest in deep tech startups. With our extensive experience (technical, entrepreneurial, operations) we’re uniquely qualified to support founders in building game-changing tech. If you're a founder building groundbreaking tech products, platforms, or protocols, we want to hear from you! Read more about it in our blog post and on BetaKit. Link to our blog post in the comments.
Two Small Fish Ventures holds $41-million CAD final close for Fund III
https://betakit.com
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Check out Allen Lau's latest op-ed in The Globe and Mail about the bright spots to be found across the current VC landscape.
Recovering CEO, 3x Entrepreneur, 2x exits (last one at US$660M), Venture Capitalist by Profession, Electrical Engineer by Training, Rocket Scientist at Heart
My second op-ed for The Globe and Mail in as many weeks: The depressing numbers of the venture-capital slump don’t tell the full story. Here is the summary: “Bright spots in the current venture-capital landscape exist. You just need to know where to look. The AI platform shift makes it harder for simplistic, shallow-tech startups to succeed. Gone are the days of building a minimally viable product, accumulating vast data and then establishing a defensible market position. We’re entering the golden age of deep-tech innovation, and in order to be successful, startups have to embrace the latest platform shift – AI. And this doesn’t happen by tacking on “AI” to a startup’s name the way many companies did with the “mobile-first” rebrand of the 2010s. In this new era, technological depth is not just a competitive advantage, but also a fundamental pillar for building successful companies that have the potential to redefine our world.” Happy reading!
Opinion: The depressing numbers of the venture-capital slump don’t tell the full story
theglobeandmail.com
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"What motivates me as an investor is to help create more homegrown Canadian tech giants - and to keep them in Canada. My job just got much harder." writes Operating Partner Allen Lau. Read his opinion piece in today's The Globe and Mail to learn how changes in the 2024 federal budget will impact entrepreneurs, investors and the entire innovation ecosystem across Canada.
Recovering CEO, 3x Entrepreneur, 2x exits (last one at US$660M), Venture Capitalist by Profession, Electrical Engineer by Training, Rocket Scientist at Heart
Here is the summary of my opinion piece for the Globe and Mail: We will lose our sovereignty in the innovation economy. Period. — As the world shifts to intangible assets, the consequences of the capital gains tax increase go far beyond brain drain and job loss. We will lose out on the GREATEST prize of the innovation economy: ownership of industry-disrupting companies and technologies. This would have a devastating and long-term impact on our economy and reputation on the world stage. At a time when we need more capital to own a meaningful piece of the IP-based economy, our country is going backward. As the economy increasingly shifts toward intangible assets, we will be left behind with digital bread crumbs, selling our next generation short. Hit the link below to read the rest of the piece.
Opinion: For entrepreneurs, staying in Canada comes at a cost
theglobeandmail.com
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The first AI Tinkerers Toronto Meetup was a huge success! Thanks to Warren Ali at Vector Institute for providing a space for the city's AI builders and researchers to connect and share their work. And, a big thank you to Drive Capital and Alanna Lopes Souza for providing delicious food and drinks. TSFV couldn't have done it without you! Did you miss the inaugural event? Don't worry because Allen Lau and Brandon Zhao are already planning a second meetup. Keep an eye out on this page for more details. #ai #toronto #meetup
Recovering CEO, 3x Entrepreneur, 2x exits (last one at US$660M), Venture Capitalist by Profession, Electrical Engineer by Training, Rocket Scientist at Heart
The inaugural AI Tinkerers Toronto meetup is a wrap! It was “3x oversubscribed,” so we had to turn away many people on the waitlist. AI Tinkerers is a meetup for AI builders and only AI builders to connect, share, and push the boundaries of AI innovation. No salespeople, no marketing people, no lawyers, no finance people. No investors—except for the co-hosts because the audience can’t kick us out. Otherwise, there would be no food :) The demos were all highly technical. No pitch. No market opportunity slide. Just pure AI code and product demos. The mandate was that if a company name appears in the “presentation,” it is because it’s in an error log. The immediate audience feedback was that they loved the highly technical format. We delivered an awesome, high-quality, curated experience for the geeks to connect. Selfishly speaking, there was even a demo of using AI to search for galaxies. Perfect for the rocket scientist in me! It is a privilege to co-host with Two Small Fish Ventures’ Brandon Zhao and Drive Capital’s Alanna Lopes Souza, who also sponsored the great food. Big thanks to Warren Ali at Vector Institute for providing the venue. Stay tuned for the second AI Tinkerers Toronto - a meetup in one of the cities with the highest concentration of AI geeks in the world! cc Joe Heitzeberg
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What sets us apart as a VC is our deep technical expertise, especially when it comes to semiconductors. These tiny pieces of silicon serve as the backbone of the Generative AI revolution (another sector where we have extensive experience - but that’s for another post). We’re excited about our latest investment in Blumind, a Canadian deep-tech startup that’s enabling edge AI with its analog compute technology. We also backed Zinite in 2021, another Canadian startup building high-performing 3D chips. 🇨🇦 ⚡If you’re an early-stage semiconductor startup founder and are looking for a VC who truly understands the space you’re in, drop us a note at pitch@twosmallfish.vc. ⚡ In the meantime, check out our latest blog post: https://lnkd.in/guFeTXtE Fun Fact: Our partners have worked for leading semiconductor companies - we know the space well! #deeptech #genAI #canadiantech #innovation
TSFV’s Semiconductor Investments Enable the Future of Generative AI
http://twosmallfish.vc
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🎉 Congratulations to Vince Cifani and the entire Joyride team on their Series A! TSFV has has been an investor since the early days and we're thrilled to participate again in this round and help Joyride achieve vision to power every electric low-speed vehicle in the world!
Very excited to share the news of our Series A and welcome our lead investor, Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA. The mobility industry is evolving and once again Joyride is leading the way.
Yamaha Motors leads Joyride’s $7-million CAD Series A as startup sets sights on enterprises and OEMs
https://betakit.com
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🗓 Mark your calendars! 🗓 TSFV is thrilled to bring the very first AI Tinkerers event to #toronto along with Drive Capital. Join us on April 11th at 5:00 pm inside Vector Institute for an evening filled with talks, demos and collaboration with other AI builders and researchers. 🤖 Check out the post below for all the details and link to register. But, act fast - space is limited. See you there!
GREAT NEWS: AI Tinkerers is coming to Toronto with the generous support of @twosmallfishvc and @drivecapital 👉 https://lnkd.in/gDxQcMwu This inaugural meeting will be in a small venue and space will fill quickly, so if you are actively building with foundation models and generative AI, please join us. What is AI Tinkerers? AI Tinkerers is a meetup designed exclusively for practitioners who possess technical, machine learning, and entrepreneurial backgrounds and are actively building and working with foundation models, such as large language models (LLMs) and generative AI. We are not just “AI enthusiasts”, we are AI tinkerers. The essence of AI Tinkerers is active collaboration around early-stage discovery and innovation, which requires a high degree of experimentation, vulnerability, openness to sharing challenges and learnings, and collaboration among individuals with a shared level of expertise. s/o to @AlannaLSouza of Drive Capital in Toronto and @landon20s in Chicago for their support of the AI Tinkerers community and to @allenlau, @MrsEvaLau and everyone at Two Small Fish Ventures for coming together to make it happen! Alanna Lopes Souza - Allen Lau - Landon W. Campbell - Two Small Fish Ventures - Drive Capital - AI Tinkerers
AI Tinkerers Toronto - Inaugural Meetup [AI Tinkerers - Toronto]
toronto.aitinkerers.org
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"Lau is part people-reader, part psychic, all venture capitalist. It’s her job to find wickedly smart people creating the next great thing and help them do it by investing with them. To say she’s good at it would be an understatement." The latest edition of York University Magazine features TSFV's General Partner Eva Lau. Thank you Deirdre Kelly and Katherine Laidlaw for the wonderful profile! https://lnkd.in/eQhBE2Nz
Venture On - The York University Magazine
https://magazine.yorku.ca