Northside Ventures' second fund passes Fund I at US$17 million

BetaKit reported that Northside Ventures, a Toronto venture capital firm, has launched its second fund for Canadian tech founders at the pre-seed stage, the earliest round of funding, often before they have built products. Fund II targets US$30 million by early 2027 and already has US$17 million committed across two closes, more than the US$11 million of Fund I. Fund II is co-anchored by CIBC Innovation Banking, a first-time limited partner (an investor who supplies a fund’s money), and returning investor Intact Private Capital.

Fund II will put an average of US$500,000 into each start-up’s first round, more than twice the US$225,000 from Fund I. Northside also plans to back 40 companies, 10 more than Fund I, and to double its follow-on reserves, kept for top performers, to 20%. Through Fund I, Northside backed 30 companies over three years, and nine have since raised priced rounds at higher valuations.

Alex McIsaac, who founded Northside in 2023, argued that Canada lacks enough pre-seed funds compared with the deeper US market. For context, Toronto’s professional, scientific and technical jobs rose from 249,000 in 2006 to 532,000 in 2024, according to Statistics Canada.

Sources: BetaKit · Statistics Canada