Q1-2023 has been a tumultuous time for our industry, marked by the fall of SVB. Despite the challenges, we encourage everyone to maintain a long-term perspective and look beyond the current market swings.
Over the past few months, we’ve continued to focus on supporting our portfolio companies’ operational needs with access to valuable insights through several Inovia roundtables on Gen AI, talent management, marketing & communications, and finance. We also launched the Revenue Execution Model, a framework providing a practical roadmap for executive teams to understand the interplay between strategy and execution and optimize their revenue engine for growth.
In February, we announced our partnership with Real Ventures and Panache and relaunched Founder Fuel, Canada’s leading Accelerator. As a full-stack Canadian VC firm, we’re proud to fuel the next generation of top Canadian tech companies by participating in this program. Our team has traveled across Canada and identified some of the most promising companies; we are excited to announce those selected for the 2023 cohort. Stay tuned for the big reveal!
New year, new team members! We recently welcomed four new Inovians: Gabi Piccininni and Manpreet Deol, Investment Analysts; Abhith Gopalakrishna, Manager Data and Analytics; and Mohamed Musbah, EiR. We are excited to have them on board. We are also proud to announce that we promoted our very own Mike McGraw and Mia Morisset to Principal in January!
Inovia hosted some of our portfolio’s incredible women leaders at our International Women’s Day event. Inovia EiR Kristine Steuart spoke to the group about women and building confidence, and it was an opportunity for these leaders to connect. Our Partner, Patrick Pichette was honorary co-president at the Reseau Capital Annual Convention in Montreal, where Mia Morisset and Magaly Charbonneau were panelists and shared their thoughts and experiences.
Finally, our investment team has been busy working on closing new investments and supporting great Company Builders. We will be sharing more details over the coming weeks. Until then, enjoy the Spring Season ahead!
Portfolio companies in the news
M&A and Partnerships
- AppDirect Acquires TBI to Expand Offerings for Technology Advisors I Betakit
- Life House Leverages Mews API to Realize Unrivaled Operational Simplicity and Profitability I Mews
Hiring, Talent Movement and Board Appointments
- Megan Wang named CEO of theBoardlist I theBoardlist
- Bench Appoints Senior Sales and Marketing Leaders I Bench
- Sonder Holdings Inc. appoints Dominique Bourgault as Chief Financial Officer I Business Wire
Other Exciting News
- Vidyard Sets Sights on $1B in Revenue as it Bolsters Go-to-Market Efforts I Betakit
- Neo4j on the insideBIGDATA IMPACT 50 List for Q1 2023 I insideBIGDATA
- With Signal 1, Tomi Poutanen is using AI to tackle Canadian Healthcare I Betakit
- Travel Disruptors: Sonder’s Francis Davidson on the Future of Hospitality I McKinsey
- 2022 Hotel Visionary Winner: Life House I Hospitality Technology
- As ChatGPT Hype Hits Fever Pitch, Neeva Launches Its Generative AI Search Engine Internationally I TechCrunch
- Cybersécurité: développer le «fait au Québec» avec Mathieu Lavoie, cofondateur de Flare Systems I Les Affaires (article in French)
- Signal 1 in the Power List: Top 10 Health Care Innovators I Maclean’s
- OTTO Motors’ Autonomous Vehicles Help Industrial Customers Cope with Global Trends I Communitech
- Wealthsimple Partners to Launch Private Credit Fund for Retail Investors I The Globe and Mail
- Disco Named One of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Education I Fast Company
- OTTO Motors Named to Fast Company’s 2023 List of Most Innovative Robotics Companies I Fast Company
- Online Background Checks Available in the United Kingdom I Certn
Podcast
- Decoding Content Creation: Harry Stebbings on Creating Standout Content I AppDirect
Inovia Thoughts
Blogs
- Beyond the Cart: Commerce Enablement I Andrew Biddell
- Beyond the Cart: Post-Purchase Thesis I Andrew Biddell
- Beyond the Cart: Perspectives on Tech-Enabled Marketplaces I Andrew Biddell
- Beyond the Cart: Key Shopify Developments I Andrew Biddell
- Introducing the Revenue Execution Model I Kristine Steuart & Hugues Lalancette
Inovia News
- Celebrating our Growing Talent: Mia Morisset and Mike McGraw promoted to Principal I Inovia
- Why did Inovia Discovery Program decide to invest in Founder Fuel 2023 I Prem Kalevar
Founder-to-Founder
- Founder-to-Founder: Kristine Steuart, Founder of Allocadia, on Empowering Women to Lead and Scale Tech Companies I Inovia
Podcast
- Views from the Valley: Is The Worst Over for Tech? with Chris Arsenault & Andre Charoo I RBC Disruptors
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
- BDC Launch of New ESG Reporting Template I Press Release
- Inovia Awardee of the Top 20 DEI Initiatives of 2022 I Newswire
- “More Stuff Means Less Happiness”: Twitter’s Former Board Chair Patrick Pichette Strives for a Simpler Life I Financial Post
- Real Ventures Partners with Panache, Inovia to Relaunch FounderFuel Accelerator I Betakit
- De nouvelles voies pour le capital de risque I La Presse (article in French)
- La place à prendre des femmes dans le capital d’investissement I Les Affaires (article in French)
- Silence over future of Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian operations frustrates tech sector I The Logic
- First Citizens agrees to buy much of Silicon Valley Bank I The Globe and Mail