Northside Ventures, a Toronto-based venture capital firm, has successfully closed its first early-stage fund at $15 million CAD. This fund, led by founder and general partner Alex McIsaac, targets pre-seed and seed-stage startups with strong connections to Canada, focusing on sectors like artificial intelligence, SaaS, FinTech, and cleantech.
Despite challenging market conditions, Northside managed to secure investments from institutional partners such as Inovia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Intact Ventures, alongside notable individual investors from tech companies like Google, Uber, and Affirm. Northside aims to bridge the gap in pre-seed funding, often participating as one of the earliest investors in startups. The fund has already invested in 15 companies, with plans to expand its portfolio further over the next couple of years.
McIsaac’s approach is described as “institutional-grade” yet founder-friendly, focusing on agility and quick decision-making, drawing from his extensive experience in the VC world. The fund’s success is seen as particularly significant given the current downturn in venture funding, making it one of the few new funds to reach its target in such a tough environment.