Aashna Kumar

Big day at Toast! 👏 Bear with me, a lot of announcements in one post. (Bare? Bear.) Let me start by saying that building Toast has been the greatest privilege of my life. Since we started, we have put over $25 million directly into the hands of women through placements and compensation negotiations, and we are just getting started. My op-ed is live today in BetaKit and I will be honest, every time I share what is in it, people are surprised. The rise of AI in Canada is not gender neutral. Women's jobs are almost twice as likely to be exposed to generative AI disruption as men's. 29% of women's roles are at risk compared to 16% of men's. In Canada, women are nearly three times more at risk from automation than men. And globally, women make up just 22% of the AI workforce. The people most impacted by AI are the least represented in building it. That is a structural failure. At Toast we spend a healthy amount of time naming problems out loud. But we spend 10x more time solving them. The for-profit side of Toast continues to do what it has always done, placing women in tech roles and building the intelligence tools that help companies hire and pay equitably. Our benchmarking platform is in beta and nearly live. But we have always believed that recruiting alone cannot close this gap, and that is why today I am excited to officially introduce Toast Institute. Toast Institute is the not-for-profit arm of Toast, and something I am very proud of. Think of it as a think tank built for action, a place where we leverage data to drive and influence real, systems-level change for women in tech (work we’re already doing). It exists alongside the for-profit, each making the other stronger, one focused on getting women in the room and paying them fairly, the other focused on reshaping the systems that have kept them out. Here is what we are already working on: - We have partnered with Google to provide women with scholarships to Google Digital Academy (Skillshop), because skills access should not depend on who you already know or what you can already afford. - We are partnering with Lovable to get more women building and competing through coding access and hackathons, because hands-on technical experience is no longer optional. - Through our Champions program, we are partnering with Senior Researcher Siri Chilazi from the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education to dig deep into the data around sponsorship and mentorship and ask the questions that will hopefully shape ERGs and mentorship programs for years to come. One of our most exciting initiatives yet. We are just getting started and I invite you to join us. Link to the full op-ed shared below. Read it, share it, send it to someone who needs to see it. I looooove pointing out problems. But there is nothing I love more than solving them. Big thanks to my team and my board for the continued support and for always laughing at my jokes. Christine Tatham Jacqueline Jennings Angela Jackson

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RBC just released their 2025 VC fundraising report. The headline: Canadian VCs raised just over $2B last year. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲. But here's the part that matters more: only 42% of remaining dry powder is available for new investments. The rest is reserved for follow-ons. If you're a Canadian health tech founder, that means two things: 1️⃣ The next round is going to be harder to close. 𝟮️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲. Most leadership teams I work with know something is off post-sale. Customers aren't unhappy, but they aren't expanding. Renewals feel fragile. The team is busy, but you're not seeing the results you were hoping for. The instinct is to do 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲: hire faster, add process, spin up new initiatives. But when capital is constrained, that's expensive and often misdirected. The better move? 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝘁. That's what a diagnostic does. It makes the system legible. It shows you where momentum is breaking, why it's breaking, and what actually needs to change so you can spend precisely, not desperately. I run focused diagnostics for health tech teams with traction but capped growth. If you're in that position and want to talk through what a diagnostic might surface, DM me.

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𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐄𝐓: $𝟕𝟓𝟎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 🇨🇦 ‌ CPP Investments | Investissements RPC has expanded its long-running partnership with Northleaf Capital Partners, committing an additional C$750 million to back Canadian mid-market private companies through a dedicated domestic program. ‌ 🌎 Join the community—follow us. ‌ 𝓚ᴇʏ 𝗣ᴏɪɴᴛꜱ: 🔹 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐒, 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 CPP Investments is doubling down on Canada while others chase global yield. ‌ 🔹 𝐂$𝟕𝟓𝟎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄, $𝟑𝐁+ 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋 The latest commitment pushes cumulative allocations to Northleaf beyond C$3 billion since inception. ‌ 🔹 𝐌𝐈𝐃-𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐄 The mandate spans primary fund commitments, secondaries, and direct co-investments across Canadian buyouts. ‌ 🔹 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 Two decades of partnership signal long-duration confidence, not cyclical allocation. ‌ 🔹 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄 Exposure to ~900 Canadian companies through one of the country’s most active mid-market platforms. ‌ 🔹 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐃𝐃 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 A recent C$160m global secondary deal enhances vintage diversification and deployment speed. ‌ ❓ Is Canada becoming one of the few markets where long-term domestic private equity still scales cleanly? ‌ 👉 If pensions are leaning in at home, should other allocators rethink their geographic risk bias? ‌ Full article: https://lnkd.in/e5nhEPsv ‌ #privatemarkets #canada #privateequity #midmarket #pensions #institutionalinvesting #secondaries #capitalallocation ‌

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AI is reshaping how we all do business. Through our collaboration with Microsoft, MNP is helping Canadian organizations compete on a new playing field - powered by generative and agentic AI. Read the full release in the post below.

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🇨🇦 New Deal: Wealthsimple secures up to CAD $750 million in an equity round co-led by Dragoneer and GIC, positioning itself for accelerated growth in the Canadian fintech space. 🏢 Target: Wealthsimple 💼 Investor: Dragoneer Investment Group and GIC 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/dMzs764m #MergersAndAcquisitions #PrivateEquity #CanadianPrivateEquity #BusinessGrowth

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Montréal-based Novacap has closed nearly $3.8 billion USD for its seventh tech-focused private equity fund. Novacap says new investors contributed roughly 40% of the new fund’s value, and that about a third came from US investors. #CDNTech

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Read our exclusive ‘Early Insights’ report to learn how the 2026 Canadian proxy season is reshaping governance expectations. Key findings include shareholder activism up 28% y-o-y, and a growing focus on retail shareholder participation and AGM transparency. To find out if your board is ready, download the report: https://lnkd.in/gsVQKgTn #KingsdaleAdvisors #ProxySeason2026 #CorporateGovernance #ShareholderActivism

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Transaction data is still messy, inconsistent, and fragmented across payment rails, yet it sits at the center of fraud, rewards, personalization, and customer trust. Spade is building the foundational infrastructure layer that turns raw payment strings into clean, merchant‑verified data in real time enabling better decisions across the bank. NAventures and National Bank of Canada are proud to back and partner with Oban MacTavish, Tess Bloch, and the entire Spade team! Philippe Daoust Julien Marolleau Jonathan Dellar-Fernandes Joshuah Lebacq Laurence Boudrias

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𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 🤔 One thing I keep seeing is founders going into a raise with only a Plan A. That worked when markets were moving fast. It doesn’t anymore. Rounds are taking longer to close especially in Canada and assuming capital shows up on your timeline is overly optimistic. The founders handling this best are the ones thinking through Plan B and C early: tweaking raise size, pacing burn, and staying flexible on where capital comes from. Heading into 2026, the capital’s still there. You just need a few more contingency plans than you used to. #capitalraising #startups

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Glen Lougheed raises an important point, this isn’t an “angel vs. venture capital” conversation. Both are critical, and he’s right to highlight that. But the bigger issue goes beyond capital. Across ecosystems, we consistently see: • Weak pathways from idea → angel → venture → growth • Limited coordination between ecosystem actors • Entrepreneurs struggling to navigate available support As a result, strong ideas stall, or leave the ecosystem entirely. At IEC, we focus on addressing this gap by building structured, connected pathways between stakeholders, enabling better referrals, clearer journeys, and measurable impact. Because the real opportunity isn’t choosing between funding types… It’s making the system itself work better together. #canada #ideas #startups #enterprises #entrepreneurs National Angel Capital Organization (NACO)

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2025 was a big year for Float and our customers. 2026 promises to be even bigger. A really energizing overview from our CEO Rob Khazzam. Enjoy the read.

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A week ago at ALL IN, I had the chance to join a fun discussion on how Canada can turn its AI research strengths into global commercial successes. A few thoughts coming out of that conversation: - The burden of proof has shifted for founders. It’s no longer just about defining a problem space; it’s about getting something in customers’ hands quickly and learning from their feedback. - We should avoid the tall poppy trap. Celebrating wins and supporting entrepreneurship is how ecosystems grow. - Hard-won industry insight is more valuable than ever. Many “10-year overnight successes” are now breaking out because they know where AI creates leverage and where it doesn’t. - Canada’s advantage remains talent. What has changed in the last few years is that Lab leaders and researchers are not just publishing papers and joining hyperscalers, they’re founding companies and driving adoption. Excited to keep working alongside founders and peers to make sure the breakthroughs happening here translate into enduring, globally relevant companies.#ALLIN #AI #CompanyBuilders #Inovia Capital Big thanks to my fellow panelists - Sanjana Basu, Eleonore Jarry, Michael Buhr and Mathieu Dion

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Startup Visa Issue Delays of multiple years are fundamentally incompatible with the nature of early-stage entrepreneurship. This ineffective system: -Jeopardizes years of founder effort and R&D -Disrupts investor timelines and capital allocation -Damages Canada’s reputation as a global innovation leader -Discourages future founders from choosing Canada Start-ups cannot simply pick up where they left off after years of stagnation. Market opportunities, investor trust, and team momentum are lost. https://lnkd.in/g7gzM-T9

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A big milestone moment for Canadian fintech 🇨🇦💳 Calgary-based Neo Financial has raised $68.5 million in an oversubscribed round backed by more than 100 Canadian investors—and at a higher valuation than its $362M Series D led by Tencent last fall. What makes this round especially notable isn’t just the investor lineup (Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), Northleaf Capital Partners, Plaza Ventures, Sandstone, and more), but what Neo plans to do with the capital: launch Canada’s first fintech-led securitization program. It’s a capital-efficient model long used by big banks—and a clear signal that domestic fintechs are entering a more mature phase of scale. Powered by Neo’s AI-driven credit models, the move positions the company to expand lending while aligning with Tier 1 bank-style risk and capital practices—without relying solely on equity funding. 👉 Full breakdown on Fintech.ca, including why this round reflects growing confidence in Canadian-founded platforms operating at national scale. https://lnkd.in/g7wjnxcQ

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Today I asked 8 people across 5 top firms in Toronto one question. “What is the most consistent signal of a great founder or startup?” The answers revealed things I wish I knew sooner 🫡 . At RBCx, Chelsea Kingsbury said the best founders build companies that value people and talent. Matt R. pointed to coachability. The ability to learn and absorb opposing views. At Roynat Capital, (Scotiabank's Growth Capital Arm) Samuel Wang highlighted relentless drive and deep understanding of the business. Kate Currie emphasized track record, market insight, and strong investor relationships. At TD Innovation Partners, Noah L. focused on founders who can clearly sell their vision and truly understand their own company. At Forum Ventures, Toni Agbaje-Ojo stressed founder experience and clarity around the market they are tackling. Alejandro Pereda noted something interesting. Enthusiasm used to be enough. Now investors look for founders with real connections to the industry they are building in. At Golden Ventures, Vincent Xue pointed to deep market experience as one of the clearest signals. Different firms. Different perspectives. But one theme kept appearing. The best founders deeply understand the problems they are solving and stay relentlessly open to learning. Huge thank you to the Ivey Venture Capital Club for organizing the Toronto firm trip and to the teams who took the time to share their insights. Great day exploring the ecosystem with Ben Nakagawa, Shalin Ratti, James Guo, Arianna Tan, Se Yun Choi, Kyle Nathan, Jack Orr, and more!

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What long-term trends are shaping private equity?   Caitlin Gubbels, our Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Private Equity, discusses the rise of the secondaries market, her criteria for a strong partnership and how the Fund is backing Canada’s AI ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/gR5jfJKn

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Younger Canadian founders are raising expectations in this country. Not by complaining, but through what they are willing (or not willing) to tolerate. Many of them have already seen how banking works elsewhere. They grew up with products that move fast, stay online, and don't create bottlenecks for founders. They don't reset those expectations just because they're building in Canada. They demand better from our infrastructure. At our customer appreciation event last year, the conversations kept circling back to speed, control, and how much time gets lost to things that should be simple. The next generation won’t accept branch culture. Waiting hours to send a transfer or calling someone to make a simple change does not register as normal. It registers as broken. And they're correct. It's incredibly motivating to see how quickly this mindset spreads in Canada. As more founders operate this way, the market adjusts around them. Tools will either keep up or get replaced. The next generation of Canadian businesses will not grow into the systems we built decades ago. They will grow past them.

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In 2025, Float stopped being a product companies tried, and became the infrastructure they run on. Float now serves 6,000+ Canadian businesses across 20+ industries. We processed $3B in payment volume, grew our customer base over 60%, and saw multi-product adoption grow from 0% to 30% in 18 months. What made this possible? We built trust at scale. We invested heavily in world-class risk, compliance and fraud capabilities in-house. Today, most customers activate in under 24 hours and can access up to $100K in credit in less than a day. Our customer base grew, and our customers grew with us. This year proved that modern financial infrastructure isn't only for companies that look like typical disruptors. - it's universal. Construction, healthcare, hospitality and manufacturing are now among our fastest-growing verticals. I’ve included my full year in review below, which goes deeper on what we learned building a multi-product platform and why we believe 2026 is an inflection point. We're building Float for the long term, and we're just getting started.

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