Dominic Lau

It was great to speak with the Logic earlier this week and share Tidal Venture Partners perspective on the subject of fund domiciling strategy.  It may sound like we’re in the weeds on this topic, but the question of where to domicile is a growing conversation and consideration for many Canadian fund managers with big long-term implications for our innovation economy.  The challenge of Canadian companies remaining Canadian owned will only become more acute if more Canadian funds start to domicile in other jurisdictions.

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Below is a good summary and context for the Q3 quarterly report released by the CVCA. On the surface, it seems like it was a good quarter for venture investment in Canadá. But a quick look under the surface paints a potentially very different picture: - the 130 deals closed in Q3 matches the lows during COVID in 2020 - the $2,651MM in deal value appears fairly robust other than the heady days of 2021. But it includes both the Clio deal of $1,240MM and the Cohere deal of $616MM leaving the remaining 128 deals totalling $795MM, matching the levels last seen during COVID in 2020 - the vast majority of the source of the capital invested in Q3 are from US or other foreign sources of capital - early stage investments continue their trend of performing poorly this year What does this all mean? Not really sure yet. It certainly was not a good quarter of activity but it’s too early to call this a trend. But is it a leading indicator that deal activity will continue to be constrained? Is there evidence of a lack of Canadian source capital required to invest in startups, and in particular, early stage opportunities. When the Federal government decided to increase capital gains taxes, many people in the innovation community sounded the alarm bells. The fear was that such an increase will further take the air out of the sails of funding startups in Canadá. While it is still too early to conclude the impact of such a move, it is clear the timing of this decision is very unfortunate because there is a clear trend that the activity in venture from Canadian sources of capital is slowing down materially.

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Spent a wonderful week in Canada with family! Now back to business.. Here's your weekly AI update: 🔙 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬: 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 Week 51 | August 5 - August 11 The OpenAI Brain Drain Industry: 🚨OpenAI co-founder John Schulman leaves for Anthropic; President Greg Brockman is taking extended leave through the end of year. What's interesting is that three of their most technical co-founders (Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Andrej Karpathy) have all left the company now. This then begs the question - is this a result of natural silicon-valley attrition, or is there something deeper going on here? And moreover, how will this impact the technical moat that OpenAI has built over the years? (https://lnkd.in/gztRKhwV) 🚨Google announced that new Gemini AI-powered features will be incorporated in a variety of home devices, such as Google Home and Nest (https://lnkd.in/gV2QacAQ?). It also announced a significant reduction in token cost of Gemini 1.5 Flash (https://lnkd.in/gbNe6yNU?) 🚨Figure releases Figure 02, it's newest humanoid robot. Figure has been actively testing robots with BMW at a manufacturing plant. Figure last raised $675M Series B in February 2024, valuing the company at $2.6 billion. (https://lnkd.in/gZnPSke4) 🚨Mark Zuckerberg said on Meta's Q2 earning call that to train Llama 4, the company will need 10x more compute than what was needed to train Llama 3. (https://lnkd.in/g5pEPrTw?) 🚨Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, renewing claims that the company is betraying its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. (https://lnkd.in/gAk5grU6) Financing and M&A: 🚨Groq raises $640m in Series D at a $2.8B valuation. The round was led by Blackrock Private Equity Partners with participation from other investors such as Neuberger Berman, Type One Ventures, Cisco, KDDI, and Samsung Catalyst Fund. (https://lnkd.in/gRtKQKvW?) 🚨Hugging Face acquires Seattle data storage startup Xethub. The HF team plans to integrate Xethub's backend storage technology, enabling developers to host more large models and datasets than currently possible. CEO Clem Delangue 🤗 confirmed this was the largest acquisition the company has made thus far. (https://lnkd.in/g8fJ-BjT) 🚨OpenAI is leading a $60m Series B funding round for Opal Camera, a maker of professional-grade webcams(https://lnkd.in/gMT9dkTG) 🚨ProRata.ai a company that has invented an attribution technology to properly compensate content owners, has raised a $25m Series A, led by Prime Movers Lab, Mayfield Fund and Revolution Ventures. (https://lnkd.in/gumjbWmj) R&D: 🚨Alibaba Group releases Qwen2-math, a SOTA model for math-specific tasks. (https://lnkd.in/g8Jh3M7T?) Other Interesting Resources: 🚨 Between May and August, more Humane AI Pins were returned than purchased (https://lnkd.in/gy56qpKm?). 😯

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Check out this epic interview.

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Are you a B2B software startup founder at the very start? Then you have to meet this early-stage investor! This week's findfunding.vc spotlight is on Dominic Lau from Ripple Ventures. He: 🇨🇦 Is Vancouver and Toronto based 🎣 Loves to fish 🎶 Founded the RippleX Fellowship - a platform to help underrepresented founders access mentorship, intros, and the tools to get from idea to revenue to funding Amongst founders, Dominic and his team at Ripple Ventures, including Matt Cohen, are known for being hands-on partners who open valuable networks, navigate challenges together, and assist in closing crucial revenue and funding deals. Make sure to: ✉️ Pitch him at [email protected] 👀 Look into the RippleX Fellowship - they take 10 companies 2x a year through the Founder Fellowship program and also back companies through the Fellow Fund For more, check out our funder spotlight card below along with Ripple Ventures' profile on findfunding.vc (link in comments).

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Going to #DiscoveryX tomorrow? Here are the things that I’m mostly looking forward to: ✅ Further developing relationships with the members of the Toronto investment community. No, we are not raising at Mavuus, but it's never too early to start building connections. ✅ Meeting the founders of the latest and greatest tech innovations. I love hearing about other people’s ideas and their success - it’s definitely a source of inspiration. ✅ Lastly, watching the Pitch Competition from early-stage startups. Honestly, they are my absolute favorite thing to do when at conferences. Want to learn the pitching Do’s and Don’ts? This is your place to start. Want to exchange notes on Top Things at #DisoveryX? Let’s connect.     

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The Access Group has acquired Paytronix, a leading customer engagement platform for convenience stores and restaurants. The deal, announced on Nov. 1, 2024, aims to expand Paytronix’s platform offerings and accelerate its growth. The acquisition will also double The Access Group’s North American team and integrate its business management solutions, such as CRM, inventory, and accounting, with Paytronix’s loyalty programs, mobile apps, and online ordering tools. Paytronix will retain its name and continue serving major brands like Panera Bread and QuickChek Corporation. Both companies expect the partnership to enhance their value and growth in the U.S. market. Read More: https://lnkd.in/ezdJwzYm C-Store Dive Jessica Loder Branded Hospitality Ventures Hospitality Hangout Podcast #Hospitality #Growth #Technology #Innovation Andy Crofts Jo Fontaine John Coldicutt James Swaine Rachael Moss Charles Gray Dan Murphy Chris Lanno Matt d'Arbeloff Stefan Kochi

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Insightful breakdown from my great Partner Omri Amirav-Drory on the simple factors that really separate the top 1% of investors from the rest, and how more operators should become investors! https://lnkd.in/gEiZdT2h

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For the past two weeks, I've been on the road, traveling across Canada and the US, giving talks on the intersection of AI and biotech. On a philosophical level, I feel fortunate to work in a field that is transforming biology from a specialized craft into a standardized engineering discipline. This shift is incredibly exciting. Just as mathematics revolutionized physics by uncovering nature's rules, AI and machine learning are now deconstructing biology into an engineering science. On a professional level, computational techniques are becoming central to biotech and healthcare startups, enabling close collaboration with domain experts. This transformation compels us to rethink resources, cloud infrastructure, access models, business models, and care paradigms. It's an exhilarating time for innovation and change. On a personal level, I’ve been overwhelmed by the large, diverse crowds of professionals attending my talks. They range from recent graduates from top-tier universities to mid-career and senior professionals from various technical and social backgrounds, all seriously considering careers in this space. Yes, there is hype. It takes effort to discern which companies are genuinely substantive. However, we have made significant progress, often led by quieter yet impactful startups. Yes, data silos are a problem. However, we are seeing leaders from government, academia, industry, and the private sector work together to unlock that access in an ethical and safe way to support advances. Stay tuned for some exciting news I'll be sharing soon :) #synbio #bioengineering #compbio #startups #biotech #venturecapital #artificalintelligence #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #AICommunity #StartupEcosystem

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Want to raise the right round? Attention all BC early stage ventures and those who support them. The Discovery Foundation Essentials in Startup Investment is a self-paced, always-on initiative designed for early-stage founders looking to strengthen their venture’s viability for equity and create a personalized funding map for the future. This program, powered by Spring, is open to all early-stage impact ventures while giving priority to those companies in health innovation and founders from underrepresented communities, such as Indigenous entrepreneurs, women and non-binary founders, newcomer and immigrant founders, Black founders, people with disabilities and others who have been systemically underfunded. We know being a founder is BUSY, so our program helps investment-curious founders explore the best funding options for their unique needs and aspirations at your pace and accessible when you have time. Get started on your successful fundraise today! #fundraising #raisingcapital #startups #angelinvesting #earlystage #preseed #seedstage #techforgood #healthtech #mentalhealth #femtech #futureofhealth https://hubs.ly/Q02HDJSM0

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For founders, there’s nothing worse than a tapped-out VC.  Check out these firms that have fresh capital to invest! 👇🏻 🔴 Los Angeles based Slauson & Co closed its second $100M fund to support diverse founders. 🔴 Montréal based Luge Capital closed its second $96 CAD fintech fund. 🔴 Brooklyn based Asylum Ventures raised its debut $55M fund to back early stage founders. 🔴 New York based Alpha Partners raised its third $153M “pro rata” fund. Check out more here. 🔴 London based Atomico raised a $754M growth stage fund and a $485M early stage fund to support European founders. 🔴 New York based Halo Capital raised its first $25M fund to invest in early stage crypto projects. 🔴 New York based Wischoff Ventures raised its third $50M fund to back fintech, logistics, and manufacturing startups. 🔴 Amsterdam based SET Ventures closed its fourth €200M fund to support European startups that accelerate the integration of existing renewable energy technologies into mass markets.

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The most popular question among startup founders this week is 'Which Tech Week events are you going to?' I've done my homework: went through 450 events. Of course, I had some help from AI, but I double-checked everything myself. I’ve drawn some conclusions: who’s the most active, where the top tech minds will be, which funds and corporations have really put in the effort, and I even created a personal list of the most unique formats.* In the end, I came up with a schedule – the week kicks off with an ice plunge at 7 AM on Monday, followed by 3 events a day for the first 3 days (since I’ll get lazy after that), then 1 event per day, and saving the lightest and most fun formats for the weekend. Feel free to use, save, and share! 😉 *Last year, morning hikes were all the rage, this year it’s all about the Cold Plunge. Interesting!

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The size of Canada combined with the geographic distribution of health conditions make the country ideal for multi-channel healthcare (e.g., Telehealth). Despite the significant demand for healthcare broadly, those business models haven't been able to achieve exponential growth or ideal unit economics just yet -- they've certainly grown and many are profitable, but millions of Canadians still lack primary care. It's a problem that's on the cusp of being solved (e.g., AI, integrated care) and could unlock significantly more access to care for Canadians. 

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David Yi (Ethos VC) a.k.a "The VC who hates most VCs" on his Personal Journey and Perspective on Growth:  "As an eight-time founder with two exits, I've seen the landscape from multiple angles. It's not about being a hero but about building a team, learning, and evolving. Whether it's in education or tech, the journey is about adapting and finding your path, not just in Korea but globally." https://lnkd.in/gVduV3MQ #startupswithseoul Chang (CK) Kim

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I'm excited to announce that Mindset Care, the platform designed to simplify the application process for Social Security Disability benefits for individuals with mental illnesses and their caregivers, has raised $13 million. Science led the latest funding round and has backed the company since it launched from Science Inc.’s startup studio. We are thrilled to have Wellington Management (Van Jones, Jackson Cummings), Tubbs Ventures, Enable Ventures (Regina "Gina" Kline, Margaret Knowles), XYZ, and LivEdge Capital on board to enable Mindset to meet the growing demand for disability assistance. 17 million Americans live with a serious mental illness and qualify for disability benefits. Yet, it is estimated that about 65% of initial disability applications are denied, often due to errors or incomplete information​. This financing will enable Mindset Care to expand into partnerships with community and large-scale organizations, including local mental health nonprofits, government agencies, and homeless shelters. It has been a privilege to work with Darren Webb, Mindset’s co-founder and CEO, and see his passion and commitment to supporting people struggling with their mental health and their caregivers firsthand. Mindset Care’s community outreach teams work directly in homeless shelters, corrections facilities, veteran organizations, food drives, and rehab facilities to find and assist eligible applicants. Mindset’s platform utilizes AI to handle operational tasks, streamlining and automating the prequalification of prospective claimants and reducing the time required from weeks to less than an hour. At Science, we remain steadfast in our dedication to supporting companies as they strive to build a brighter tomorrow for society. Organizations like Mindset Care are deploying innovative solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges, and we are honored to be part of their journey. We congratulate the entire Mindset Care team for their dedication and upward momentum. We are thrilled to continue working alongside Mindset Care and uplifting their critical role in addressing America’s mental health crisis. *Fun fact: I connected with Enable Ventures thru the Columbia Business School alum network. Grateful for their support. Link to announcement in comments below. #venturecapital #mentalhealth #digitalhealth #disabilityawareness

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PTN raw deal data 24/09/2024: Scribenote / $8.2M / Canada / AI-powered medical scribe for veterinarians / Andreessen Horowitz, Inovia Capital, Velocity Fund Pyka / $40M / USA (Alameda, CA) / Autonomous electric aircraft / Obvious Ventures, Piva Capital, Prelude Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, Y Combinator Invizius / £950k / UK (Edinburgh, Scotland) / Biotech treatments for dialysis patients / Mercia Ventures, Calculus Capital, Syensqo, University of Edinburgh’s Old College Capital, Scottish Enterprise Letta / $10M / USA (San Francisco, CA) / Generative AI / Felicis, Sunflower Capital, Essence VC, Various Angels MetOx International / $25M / USA (Houston, TX) / High-temperature superconducting wire / Centaurus, New System Ventures Jump / €11M ($12M) / France (Paris) / Freelancer benefits / Breega, Index Ventures, Raise Ventures Fal.ai / $23M / USA / AI-generated audio, video, images platform / Andreessen Horowitz, Kindred Ventures, Robin Rombach, Aravind Srinivas mbue / $1.8M / USA (Austin, TX) / AI-first construction tech / Techstars, Geek Ventures, 2045 Ventures, Spatial Capital, Factorial Capital David Energy / $23M / USA (NYC) / Grid technology / Cathay Innovation, Union Square Ventures, Keyframe Capital, Equal Ventures, BoxGroup HavocAI / $11M / USA (Providence, RI) / Autonomous uncrewed surface vessel technology / Scout Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, Outlander VC Kestra Technologies / $8M / France (Paris) / Event-driven orchestration platform / Alven, ISAI, Axeleo Capital, Various Angels Integrum ESG / £3.4M / UK (London) / ESG data insights platform / YFM Equity Partners Sparrow BioAcoustics / $13M / Canada (St. John’s) / Bioacoustic AI technology / Killick Capital, Klister Credit, Pelorus Ventures Vicebio / $100M / UK (London) / Novel vaccines for respiratory infections / TCGX, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Avoro Ventures, venBio GPDQ / £1.2M / UK (London) / Primary healthcare provider / IW Capital FluoRok / £7.7M / UK (Oxford) / Fluorochemical reagents and battery electrolyte salts / BGF, Green Generation Fund arqu / $10M / USA (San Francisco, CA) / Wholesale insurance brokerage / Crosslink Capital, Intact Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Foxe Capital, Nationwide Ventures GC Therapeutics / $65M / USA (Cambridge, MA) / Cell therapy-based medicines / Cormorant Asset Management, Mubadala Capital, Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health Alan / €173M / France (Paris) / Health insurer / Belfius Bank, Teachers’ Venture Growth, Temasek, Coatue, Lakestar Amnis Finance / $2M / USA / Liquid staking protocol on Aptos blockchain / OKX Ventures, Aptos Labs, Arkgrow Pte Ltd, Ambush Capital, Gate Ventures, Turneo / €2M / UK (London) / Travel tech startup / Bessemer Venture Partners, Underline Ventures Permissionless Labs / $10M / USA (San Francisco Bay Area) / Content delivery network (CDN) on Solana / Multicoin Capital, Robot Ventures, Sorted Wallet / $1.5M / Hong Kong / Cryptocurrency access platform / Tether Operations Limited

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As a founder, have you ever been curious about this whole angel investing thing? This week's findfunding.vc spotlight is on an investor who's an expert in it you simply have to know: Matt Wilson, MBA from Allied Venture Partners. He: 🇨🇦 Is Calgary based 😇 Manages one of Canada's largest angle investor syndicates (now at 1,800+ members!) 🏒 Worked as a professional ice hockey referee, which he says shares remarkable similarities with investing Amongst founders, Matt Wilson, is known for bringing empathy and perspective as a former founder himself. Aside from financial support, his goal is to be the 'right' investor - one that aligns with a founder's vision, shares his network, and provides strategic insights when asked. ✉️ Make sure to pitch him, invest, scout, advise and more at https://linktr.ee/alliedvc For more, check out our funder spotlight card below along with Allied Venture Partners' profile on findfunding.vc (link in comments).

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What are the AI investment trends in Canada? Check out this excellent analysis from the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) team

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THIS is one of the best analyses I've read on the VC ecosystem as of late. While John Rikhtegar spends the report covering the Canadian ecosystem, I find it as useful - and lots of parallels to the US VC ecosystem and where LP dollars went - for the broader global economy. It's a longer read, but I promise, worth every minute. Some of the notes that stuck out most for me: 1/ 50% of the past decade's exit values were generated in 2020 and 2021. Great liquidity for LPs, but that forced LPs to have an unprecedented amount of capital to redeploy, which made them redeploy quickly to VC, but caused a vacuum and left 2023 and 2024 years far drier for GPs fundraising in market. 2/ From peak in 2021/2022, there's been a 76% drop in exit value in the Canadian ecosystem, 85% drop in Canadian VCs fundraising, and a 77% drop in capital Canadian VCs invest into the ecosystem. 3/ The median exit age of for the top 50 Canadian companies is 12 years. The median time between first financing and its exit for the top 50 is 8 years, leaving a median time of 4 years from a company's founding to their first financing. As such, if a Canadian VC's deployment period is 4 years, it's right to assume as an LP, that you're not going to see the end of the fund till 12 years after you invest. Even if the GP pitches a 10-year fund. 4/ Not all exits are created equal. The top quartile of top 50 exits raised more capital than the lower quartile. The median exit capital efficiency for Canada's top 50 companies for was 7.7X. Meaning the median company exited for $7.70 on every $1 they raised. 5/ Median US exit values are 2X Canada's. That said, Canada is catching up. In the past decade, the US produced $2.6T in exit value, compared to Canada's $56B, only a 46X. Lowest delta on record.

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