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Fund profile / Canada

Staircase Ventures Fund II

Geography
Canada
Stage
Pre-Seed
Fund size
C$50M
Focus
AI/ML and SaaS
Signals
Published
Share
N°01 / About

About Staircase Ventures Fund II

Toronto-based early-stage fund. Oversubscribed $50M CAD Fund II (target was $40M) focused on pre-seed and seed Canadian AI-leveraging startups. $1-2.5M initial checks with 40% follow-on reserve. LPs include BDC Capital, University of Alberta, InBC, RBC.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionCanada
Funding StagePre-Seed
Industry Focus
AI/ML
SaaS

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Canadian AI-leveraging technical founder at pre-seed/seed with early PMF, global outlook

Canadian AI-first
pre-seed/seed
product-market fit
LLM-core startups
founder alignment
enterprise software
workflow/content tech
infrastructure tech
global-from-day-one

Bullish Signals

Oversubscribed $50M CAD close in under four months signals strong LP convictionblog
Fund I delivered 50%+ net IRR, top 10% of North American vintage fundsblog
BDC Capital LP participation signals institutional endorsement of strategy and managerblog
Carry-sharing model creates rare structural alignment between GP and foundersblog
Portfolio co Fillip expanding to US after Canada partnershipslinkedin
Fillip landed Circle K & TELUS — enterprise traction pre-US launchlinkedin
Active founder community: joint customer events, Slack channels, biweekly callslinkedin
Portfolio includes Galatea Technologies & Ultimarii Ltd growing in Calgarylinkedin
KINO investment: enterprise workflow platform with leading North American studioslinkedin
KINO co-founders have deep domain expertise, networks, hustle and ambitionlinkedin
Ultimarii Series A led by Staircase, reinvesting at $13M valuation — portfolio follow-onlinkedin
Ultimarii tackles infrastructure permitting with AI, expands globally with enterprise customerslinkedin
Portfolio founder exits demonstrate scaling beyond seed-stage, validation of thesislinkedin
Janet Bannister keynoted Canada Investment Summit — elevates fund visibility globallylinkedin
Global institutional investors signal strong appetite for Canadian tech companieslinkedin

Contrarian Signals

All-AI portfolio creates concentration risk if AI valuations compressblog
Solo-GP model limits scalability beyond current $50M fund sizeblog
Canadian-only geography limits addressable deal flow and exit optionsblog

Founder Do's

Show early evidence of product-market fit before approaching
Be a Canadian founder building an AI-leveraging or AI-core product
Engage with the carry-sharing network — be a collaborative portfolio member
Expect and leverage wraparound support: coaching, health, financial advisors
Target pre-seed or seed stage with a $1–$2.5M check size in mind
Participate in biweekly Leader calls and founder Slack channels
Bring deep domain expertise and multi-founder teams with complementary skills
Target enterprise/government/regulated customers early
Build with global ambition from inception — Canada as launch pad

Founder Don'ts

Don't pitch if you're not Canada-based — geography is non-negotiable
Don't approach without any AI integration in your core product or operations
Don't expect broad spray-and-pray capital — fund is disciplined, conviction-driven

32 signals on Staircase Ventures Fund II

15 bullish · 3 contrarian · 9 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 2 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund SizeC$50M
Saves0
Website
LinkedIn
People

Key People

Janet Bannister

Janet BannisterFounder & Managing Partner
Andrew TiffinOperating Partner
Backers

Known LPs

Northleaf Capital PartnersFund-of-Funds
RBCBank
BDC CapitalPublic / State institution
+4 more LPs in LP Radar
N°04 / See also

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