April 12, 2023: Techs Newest Angels

What is Staircase Ventures?

Staircase Ventures leads seed-stage investments into Canada's highest potential B2B software companies.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

Founders are the bedrock upon which companies are built. By offering unparalleled support for founders' growth and development, we can dramatically enhance founders' performance and business success.

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

Staircase Ventures has been very well received by both fund investors and entrepreneurs. The Fund had a first close of $22 million within four months of starting the fundraising process.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

I am committed to helping founders accelerate their own development and achieve their visions.

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

The tremendous support that I have received from the entire tech ecosystem.

The core team at Staircase

What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?

Build the Staircase Ventures brand and invest in 4 high potential B2B software companies.

What is your proudest accomplishment outside of your company?

Raising my 17-year-old son to be a great human being.

Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like?

• PartnerStack - power up your ecosystem

• League - digital health platform at the forefront of CX transformation

• BenchSci - resolving the complexity of disease biology

• Plum - make better talent decisions with proven science

• Mejuri - redefining expression

Learn more about Janet and her journey here

Janet will be taking the stage at our upcoming TechTO: Together event on May 1!

Tickets are selling fast - reserve your spot to learn more from Janet in real life!

Alex and Alex dove deeper into the latest headlines including more on the recovery of the funding market in the most recent episode of Quick Takes:

Quick Takes returns LIVE with a brand new episode tomorrow April 20 at 1:00 pm ET/10:00 am PT across the TechTO platforms.

Catch up on past episodes here, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Need a meeting or event space for a few hours? A day? A week or more? We can help.

Introducing StartWell - the happiest place to bring your people together in downtown Toronto.

Whether you need space for a board meeting, all-hands, AGM, evening social, live-streamed conference, or anything else, our range of rooms gives you a dependable single-source solution for meeting space.

We’re sure you and your guests will enjoy StartWell’s premium boutique hotel-style experience from the moment they step into our buildings on King Street West. With a complimentary espresso bar at reception, our friendly baristas will welcome and orient your guests whilst preparing their favorite beverages.

Once in your booked suite, you’ll find everything you need to collaborate happier – including easy-to-use presentation materials, turn-key audio-visual technology, and video conferencing tools. In addition to bookable space, our campus offers a wealth of call booths, lounge areas, and hot desks - so your guests can always leave the room to stretch their legs, take private calls or enjoy a barista-crafted coffee from our complimentary reception cafe.

Unique in Toronto, StartWell’s boutique meeting space campus occupies three buildings and includes an in-house and full-service media production company - with studio spaces for producing hybrid event live streams as well as beautiful-looking and sounding video podcasts, software walkthrough videos, and high-end photography.

We would love to have you over for a coffee and meeting - enjoy a massive 50% discount on your first booking at StartWell. Use the discount code when booking or mention it: 'TechTO'

See you on campus soon!

• #ICYMI - Catch up on past newsletters if you hadn't yet subscribed!

• Canadian Startup news of the week >> LEARN MORE

• Raise News: LayerZero Labs, a two-year-old Vancouver startup whose messaging protocol lets users send different types of messages between blockchains, like cross-chain interaction, eliminating the need for intermediaries, raised a $120m Series B round at a $3b valuation, a 3x increase over the valuation it received just 13 months ago >> READ MORE

• Meet the newest Ontario Angels now accepting applications >> READ MORE

Director of Engineering, rose rocket (Toronto, ON)

Why is this cool? Rose Rocket is a market leader in Transportation Management Software. They’re a startup going after the $700+ billion dollar trucking industry, leading the shift to SaaS while revolutionizing the way trucking companies sell, service, and innovate. They're looking for their first Director of Engineering to lead their foundational group of teams. You will be responsible for leading the technical strategy and execution across Infrastructure and Data >> APPLY HERE

Senior Software Engineer, OpenUnit (Remote)

Why is this cool? Platform engineering is a core group at OpenUnit focused on maintaining and improving their core components, and they are looking for a Senior level engineer to help them do it. In this role, you’ll be working with a team of engineers committed to building OpenUnit's product suite, which enables self-storage operators to better integrate their online store with their physical presence >> APPLY HERE

Multiple Roles, Plum (Remote)

Why is this cool? Plum, a fully remote company in the talent lifecycle management space just raised $8M of new funding and is hiring for Senior Software Engineers, Software Engineers and an Enterprise Solutions Consultant (Remote)

*Reply to this email and let us know the jobs you'd like to see

Check out the interesting content, events, and happenings for the community here:

• *EXCLUSIVE TECHTO INSIDERS SOCIAL: April 13, 2023 >> Learn more about how to attend on our website >> LEARN MORE

• TechTO Together RETURNS TO MONTREAL: April 25, 2023 >> Hear from the top leaders and innovators from the Montreal tech ecosystem. Ticket includes food and a drink! >> REGISTER HERE 

• TechTO Together is back at OneEleven: May 1, 2023 >> The same TechTO networking, programming (and After Parties) you love >> EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE

Want to showcase your company, events, and opportunities to 60,000 subscribers across the Canadian Tech Eco-system? Reach out to [email protected] to learn more!