Our Managing Partner, Janet Bannister, recently participated in the Ivey Business School at Western University's Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management conference, speaking on the topic of "Navigating the Economic Landscape of AI through Venture Capital". Moderated by Blake Goldring, C.M., O.Ont., CFA, and alongside other panelists Richard Black and Rick Nathan, Janet spoke about trends in the venture capital landscape, the importance of early-stage venture capital in Canada, and the need for founders to evolve their leadership approach as their companies grow.
Staircase Ventures
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Toronto, Ontario 2,483 followers
Staircase leads seed-stage rounds with unparalleled dedication to founder development & performance.
About us
Staircase Ventures leads seed-stage rounds into Canada’s highest potential tech companies with unparalleled dedication to accelerating founders’ development and performance. Staircase offers a 5-pillar Founder Development Platform – a comprehensive offering to advance founders’ personal development and successful leadership of their ventures. With the 5-pillar Founder Development Platform, Staircase Ventures founders have access to: 1. CEO coaching: An experienced, one-on-one executive coach to support them with their personal development objectives. 2. Peer support groups: Confidential, facilitated, stage- and function-appropriate peer groups with other founders across North America. 3. Health & wellness program: A dedicated Cleveland Clinic Canada health coach to help them enhance their physical and mental health. 4. Personal financial advisor: An experienced financial advisor who specializes in supporting early-stage tech founders. 5. Family stipend: A cash stipend to cover unexpected childcare, elder support, or other family needs. In addition, each founder receives carry in the fund so that when the fund does well, all founder benefit. Staircase Ventures is managed by Janet Bannister, a veteran of the Canadian tech industry with deep experience as a founder, operator, and investor. Founders also benefit from a set of Advisors, each of whom have launched and scaled $1B+ businesses.
- Website
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www.staircaseventures.com
External link for Staircase Ventures
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Toronto, Ontario
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2023
- Specialties
- Venture Capital, B2B Software, Entrepreneurship, and Start-up Capital
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Employees at Staircase Ventures
Updates
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On September 11th, Staircase Ventures Founder and Managing Partner, Janet Bannister, will be speaking to Young Canadians in Finance members. Janet will be sharing her journey and providing advice for people aspiring to be successful in the world of finance - or any other field. Register today: https://tinyurl.com/WL0911
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Staircase Ventures is thrilled to announce that Robbie Marks has been promoted to Senior Associate! Robbie joined Staircase Ventures a year ago and has been an integral part of the Staircase Ventures team, evaluating investment opportunities, supporting our portfolio companies, and working on Firm initiatives. In addition, Robbie lives our values of give-first mentality, positive & high energy, drive & hard work. Congratulations Robbie!
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Congratulations to Staircase Ventures portfolio company, Rhenti, and its founders Erin Chan and Tomas Ronis, for being selected to join the esteemed C100 Fellows program. The 26 companies in this program were selected from several hundred applicants, and represent some of the most promising early-stage tech companies in Canada.
🚀 Announcing the 2024 #C100Growth and #C100Fellows Cohorts! Join us in welcoming the 12 scaling companies representing the best in Canadian tech innovation to our Growth Program and the 26 early-stage Canadian founders building category-defining companies to our Fellows Program. These companies and founders were selected from a pool of hundreds of applications and have the potential to shape the future of the Canadian tech ecosystem. The Growth Program is designed to support rapidly scaling Canadian companies with $10M+ in annual revenue. The 12 companies in the cohort exemplify the best of tech innovation in Canada. The cohort comprises pioneers in B2B SaaS, fintech, health tech, cleantech, and AI. 2024-2025 Growth Program cohort companies include 7Gen, Arteria AI, ContactMonkey, e-Zinc, Humi, MY01, Phoenix (YC W21), Rebelstork, Relay, RetiSpec, Stan, and Uride. Now in its 15th year, the re-energized C100 Fellows Program (with 1:1 mentoring and an additional “48Hrs in the Valley” event) continues its tradition of identifying and supporting early-stage companies that showcase ingenuity, technological advancement, and a commitment to social impact. This year’s cohort of 26 startups – the largest ever – is characterized by its diversity, spanning B2B SaaS, deep tech, health tech, fintech, legal tech, and beyond. 2024-2025 Fellows Program cohort companies include Adauris, Agentnoon, Blanka, Bounce, Cascade Debt, CruxOCM, Cybrid, Endor Health, Friendlier, Hyper, Kento Health, MarineLabs, NiaHealth, Numr CXM, Optimotive, GoVeyance, Rhenti, Rootd, Swap Robotics, Taiv, TeamLinkt, Tengiva, Ubenwa Health, Unified.to, Youthfully, and Zown. C100’s Growth and Fellows Programs are central to C100’s mission of empowering Canadian entrepreneurs to build domestic and international category leaders. Congratulations to all! 🎉 We are thankful for the support of our Legacy Partners, Scotiabank and BDC, and look forward to continuing to work with them to support these companies. #CDNtech #entrepreneur #scale
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Janet Bannister, Founder & Managing Partner of Staircase Ventures, will be speaking at TechExit.io on October 29th in Toronto. Janet will be speaking about avoiding pitfalls and optimizing the process for founders navigating an M&A process.
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On September 19th, Staircase Ventures Founder and Managing Partner, Janet Bannister, will be speaking at Communitech alongside Caitlin MacGregor, Co-Founder and CEO of Plum. Sign up today for a fascinating conversation about navigating the VC and investor landscape, building strong investor relationships, and navigating a successful fundraise. Janet led Plum's seed round and sat on Caitlin's board for many years. They will discuss: their shared journey and history, what Janet looks for in a startup, Caitlin's $19 million fundraising journey, and lots more! Register here: https://lnkd.in/gPH3xccf
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Mike Wessinger co-founded and led PointClickCare to become one of Canada's most valuable tech companies. Staircase Ventures and our portfolio companies are extremely fortunate to have Mike as an Advisor. This blog post captures some of his incredible wisdom including finding product market fit, building culture, and addressing the biggest challenges founders typically face. https://lnkd.in/g9Ys3aEF
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Read our latest Advisor Series blog post with Staircase Ventures Advisor Ahmed Khaishgi. Ahmed was the co-founder and CEO of SquareTrade, growing it to be one of the world’s largest consumer electronics warranty companies, with over 150 million policies, before exiting to Allstate in 2020 for $1.4 billion. In this interview with Robbie Marks, Ahmed talks about the founder journey, raising capital, execution, and leadership. Some wisdom he shares: "I think many CEOs don’t spend enough time understanding the metrics and how the machine works. Nor do they spend the time making sure everyone in the company also understands it." "The first thing is to focus, focus, focus. Cutting out extraneous things is probably the greatest thing a CEO can do." https://lnkd.in/ghJFdqwn
Interview with Ahmed Khaishgi, Staircase Ventures Advisor, on the Founder Journey, Operating Metrics, and Leadership | Staircase Ventures
https://staircaseventures.com
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Janet Bannister, our Founder & Managing Partner, spoke with Nancy Harrison about what makes a great investor. When asked what the top 1% of investors have in common, Janet responded: - An intense desire to help founders be successful - A deep care for founders - The ability to build trusted relationships that are the foundation of a successful partnership Thanks to Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) for filming this clip at #InvestCanada2024 in Montreal last week.
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Interesting in learning more about launching and growing an online marketplace? Read our latest blog post, written by our Managing Partner, Janet Bannister, who launched and built Kijiji.ca and helped transform eBay.com into a mainstream marketplace. https://lnkd.in/gcZM74BJ
Launching and Scaling a Marketplace Business | Staircase Ventures
https://staircaseventures.com