Staircase Ventures Fund II

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.

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 signals

Canadian AI-first

pre-seed/seed

product-market fit

LLM-core startups

founder alignment

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

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

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

Key GPs & Partners

Janet Bannister

Founder & General Partner

ex-founderthesis-drivencommunity-builder

Andrew Tiffin

Operating Partner

hands-onmetrics-driven

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Fund Overview

Fund SizeC$50M

Saves0

Website

Key People

Janet Bannister

Janet BannisterFounder & General Partner

Andrew TiffinOperating Partner