Investor Profile: StandUp Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

StandUp Ventures is a Toronto-based seed-stage venture capital firm with a deliberately narrow mandate: it backs technology companies across Canada and the United States that have at least one woman in a C-level leadership position with an equitable amount of ownership. Founded in 2017 by Michelle McBane, a veteran of the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, it treats the systematic underfunding of women-led teams as an investment opportunity.

For founders asking how to get funding from StandUp Ventures, the bar is explicit before any pitch deck is opened: a seed-stage, for-profit technology company, led in part by a woman founder in a senior role with meaningful ownership.

Investment thesis

StandUp Ventures invests on the thesis that women-led companies think differently, recruit strong talent and serve bigger markets than the market gives them credit for. Its framing is blunt: women-led companies are undervalued because of bias in early-stage funding, and backing them is a returns strategy.

Sectors and stages

The firm invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A in technology companies across sectors, with its deal history concentrated in software, SaaS and artificial intelligence. It partners with founders across Canada and the US, with Canada as its home market. The common thread is stage and leadership, not industry.

Fund size and cheque size

StandUp Ventures launched in May 2017 with a founding commitment from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), its anchor limited partner. Its first fund passed C$18 million in commitments in May 2019, above an initial C$15 million goal, and reached a final close of just over C$21 million in March 2020. A second fund followed, with a reported goal of C$30 million later stretched to C$35 million. The firm's standard cheque size is not publicly disclosed on its site, so founders should confirm the ticket in conversation rather than inferring it from round sizes.

Notable portfolio

The portfolio named on the firm's own site includes GroundedAI, Velix and Hardline. Earlier bets include Bridgit, the job-site safety communication platform, backed in a C$2 million Series A in 2017 before a C$6.2 million Series B in March 2019, and TealBook, the supplier-data platform. Montreal-based My Intelligent Machines raised a C$2.6 million seed round in 2019 with the firm's participation. Institutional backers of the first fund included CIBC, Export Development Canada, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund II, RBC and Vancity, alongside BDC.

Programs and support

StandUp Ventures does not run a cohort accelerator programme; its support model is community and network. The firm describes its founders as developing genuine, reciprocal relationships that help them build best-in-class businesses, and it works with institutional investors to deepen the financing available to its companies. Founders get peer support and follow-on introductions rather than a fixed curriculum.

How to apply for funding

There is no always-open application portal advertised on the firm's site, so founders should approach StandUp Ventures through its website at standupvc.com and through a warm introduction, ideally via the Canadian startup ecosystem where the firm is best known — its founder's MaRS network is a natural route. Lead with the qualifying leadership test, the product, and early traction.