Randeep Singh

Big cities don’t have a monopoly on great founders. Across our massive country — from the Prairies to Atlantic Canada and everywhere in between — we have builders with the potential to create the great companies of our lifetime. When early-stage capital and strong local networks are in place, companies can grow faster and compete nationally and globally. The founders of #SkipTheDishes showed what’s possible when Prairie angels backed a local idea. After their exit, they built their next venture, #NeoFinancial, now a 700-person company with more than $650 million raised. In St. John’s, #Verafin grew into a $2.75-billion company, helping anchor an innovation ecosystem that contributes about $1.8 billion a year to Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy and supports nearly 10,000 jobs. When early-stage capital is available locally, companies can grow where they start, and the economic benefits flow back into our communities and country. That’s why the federal government’s $750-million commitment to building 21st-century infrastructure for early-stage capital and networks is so important. It strengthens the conditions that allow more founders across the country to build and scale at home. These were some of the themes from my recent conversation with Bea Vongdouangchanh, published in Rural Prosperity.

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Y Combinator removed Canada from its list of acceptable incorporation jurisdictions in November 2025. They now only back companies formed in the US, Cayman Islands, or Singapore. Canadian startups can still join YC... YC Loves Canada! … BUT they must flip their structure first, making their Canadian entity a subsidiary of a new US parent company. This means the winter 2026 batch has zero Canadian-headquartered startups. YC historically accepted up to 15 Canadian companies per batch, with 144 total since 2005. Alumni include Vidyard, North, SRTX, and CoLab… collectively worth $35-45 billion in market cap after incorporating abroad. The reason is US VCs overwhelmingly prefer Delaware C-Corps …. US investors understand Delaware law, US tax treatment, and US equity structures. Canadian corporations add friction to diligence, term sheets, and exits… and to be honest, this wastes everyone's time. Singapore and Cayman Islands stay on the list because they're common holding company structures for international operations. Canada no longer serves that purpose - it's just another regional jurisdiction that adds complexity, especially when US/Canada relations are up for debate.

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35 exited founders in one room. 5 raised VC. 30 did not. Life-changing exits. Brice Scheschuk, CPA, CA shared this on Inside Startup Funding. He's part of an exited founder group in Canada — tech and telecom founders who built and sold their companies. The ratio is striking: 6 to 1 in favor of non-VC paths. 𝗪𝗵𝘆? It comes down to survival. The ones who bootstrapped or raised lean had lower velocity, but also lower risk. They built for 20-25 years on average — not 5. And they made it to the finish line. Brice isn't anti-VC. He's invested in 150+ companies and 47 VC funds. He was also co-founder and CFO of WinMobile, sold for $1.6B. But he sees what most founders don't: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵. You raise pre-seed at a $12M post-money cap. Your investor needs 100X. You just signed up for a $1.2B exit — with no additional dilution. Of 50 companies in a typical fund: • 40 will fail • 5-6 will return 1-2X • 2-3 will hit 5-10X • Maybe 1 will power law You're one punch on a 50-number lottery ticket. VCs aren't villains. They just have a business model that requires power law returns. If you're not on track for that, you're not getting their time. And founders need to understand that before they take the capital. His closer: "The best way to fund your business is with customer revenue." 🎧 Link in comments. If you're a founder trying to figure out what capital path makes sense — DM me. #startups #fundraising #venturecapital

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We’re excited to welcome three incredible entrepreneurs to the RiSC Capital team. Each brings deep technical experience and a founder’s perspective to help us support Canada’s most ambitious Deeptech companies: 🔹 Sam Macdonald – Senior Advisor, Defense & Dual Use Co-founder of Deep Trekker Inc., Sam built one of Canada’s top underwater robotics companies and brings unmatched insight into defense, dual-use, and frontier hardware ventures. 🔹 Kristina McDougall – Venture Partner, Talent Founder of Artemis Canada, Kristina is a trusted advisor to founders and boards across the innovation ecosystem. She helps Deeptech companies scale by building exceptional leadership and technical teams. 🔹 Chris Burns – Venture Partner, Energy and Materials Founder of NOVONIX, Chris earned his PhD in Physics, focusing on battery materials at Dalhousie University and is a recognized leader in advanced materials and energy storage. His experience taking deep-science companies from lab to market is a huge addition to our platform. At RiSC Capital, we continue to build one of Canada’s strongest Deeptech networks spanning AI, energy, defense, and materials science. Together, we’re accelerating commercialization and strengthening Canada’s technology sovereignty. Let’s build the future here! #Deeptech #CanadianVC #Commercialization #Innovation #BatteryTech #DefenseTech #Talent #TechSovereignty

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The hard truth about building startup ecosystems in emerging markets? 🎯 It's not about running more programs - it's about building genuine trust and delivering targeted support. Here's what we're learning from ecosystem builders across Canada: 1. Trust is Everything • One-on-one support outperforms generic programs • Local entrepreneurs need to see consistent value • Your reputation lives or dies with each introduction 2. Performance Drives Progress • Clear objectives must guide every interaction • External market validation is the true measure • Be prepared to graduate non-performing founders 3. Cross-Regional Collaboration Wins • Connect promising founders to established markets • Leverage innovation weeks strategically • Build mentor networks beyond your region The most impactful emerging ecosystems aren't chasing numbers - they're investing deeply in founders who show real progress. What's working in your regional ecosystem? Share your experiences below 👇 #StartupEcosystem #Innovation #FounderSuccess

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Thrilled to share that Vention has secured $110M USD ($150M CAD)  to accelerate the deployment of Physical AI across the manufacturing world. We are seeing a massive shift where hardware and software are converging. Vention is leading this charge with "Zero-Shot Automation”, a new paradigm where automation deploys seamlessly and works correctly on the first attempt, without the months of integration usually required. Fantastic to have NVentures (NVIDIA), Fidelity Investments Canada, Investissement Québec, and Desjardins Capital on the table. Their support validates what we’ve known at White Star Capital for a long time: Vention isn't just building machines; they are building the standard operating system for industrial automation. Huge congratulations to Etienne Lacroix and the entire team on this milestone! https://lnkd.in/eRR5W3tB

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From AI to quantum chemistry to health tech, startups from my alma mater are scaling globally – raising over US$10B since 2020 and reshaping industries. I’m excited to spotlight six founders from the University of Toronto ecosystem building game-changing companies: https://lnkd.in/gN9KBFHC These rapidly scaling companies include: - ada CX, an AI startup transforming customer engagement through intelligent, automated interactions. Version One Ventures has believed in Ada from the very beginning, backing the company as its earliest investor. - Xatoms, a tech startup harnessing quantum chemistry to accelerate water purification breakthroughs. - MedEssist, a health tech startup that’s equipping pharmacies with smarter tools to deliver personalized care at scale. Fueled by passionate entrepreneurs and world-class research, these companies are redefining industries and showing why the world invests at the University of Toronto. The numbers speak for themselves. U of T ranks in the top 20 globally for entrepreneurs (PitchBook, 2025) and is top 5 worldwide for university startup incubators. Explore the full list of startups: https://lnkd.in/gN9KBFHC

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We closed $1.1M to solve the most expensive problem in cross-border commerce: logistics inefficiency. The problem: Businesses scaling internationally hit a wall. Shipping takes too long. Costs are too high. Deliveries are unpredictable. This caps growth. What we built: Year 1-2: A marketplace connecting businesses to transporters. Got to 6,000+ businesses, 25,000+ transporters, clients like PepsiCo. Year 3: Adrian AI—turning logistics data into predictive intelligence. Every shipment teaches our models to match better carriers, predict better routes, optimize pricing. Result: 30% faster delivery, 20% cost reduction, 95% on-time rates. The unlock: Banks can't finance most of these businesses—no collateral, no credit history. But we have something banks don't: logistics performance data. So we built Boo$T—trade finance powered by shipment data. 80% of our users are now accessing capital they couldn't get before. Why this works: Fix the logistics problem first. Generate proprietary data as a byproduct. Use that data to solve the financing problem. Two revenue streams, one platform. What's next: Scaling our AI-powered logistics infrastructure and expanding embedded finance to more businesses. Grateful to Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures, Orbit Ventures, Digital Africa, Expert Dojo, Google for Startups and several other notable angels for backing this vision. To the Ridelink team: I'm incredibly proud of what we've built together. Your relentless execution made this possible. This is just the beginning. To our customers and partners: Your trust and feedback shaped this platform. Thank you for growing with us. Let's keep shipping. Full story: https://lnkd.in/dgeDP3gw

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