Canadian venture builder Simple Ventures has raised $15 million to accelerate the creation of new companies at home and entice Canadian founders abroad to return.
The round drew backing from TD Innovation Partners (TDIP), Sun Life, Sobeys, and high-profile founder-operators including Mike Katchen (Wealthsimple), Harley Finkelstein (Shopify), and Joanna Griffiths (Knix), alongside other prolific investors and family offices.
Canada has 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than it did 20 years ago, despite a population increase of more than 10 million. Nearly one-third of immigrant entrepreneurs leave for the U.S., citing limited support for scaling businesses. Simple Ventures aims to change that by sourcing ideas, validating them, and co-creating ventures with Canadian leaders.
“We’re issuing a call to action: bring Canadian talent home,” said Rachel Zimmer, Co-Founder and CEO of Simple Ventures. “This funding will help us build Canadian-headquartered companies at a time when it matters most.”
Unlike traditional venture capital firms that invest only in existing startups, Simple Ventures builds companies from the ground up, funds them to scale, and de-risks the founder journey through its network and community. Backers include leaders whose companies represent a combined market capitalization of more than $750 billion CAD.
To date, Simple Ventures has launched three companies: Alma Care (maternal health), Harvest (SMB invoice collection), and Zero Collective (sustainable luxury fashion). Together, these ventures have already created more than 100 jobs in just 18 months.
“Simple Ventures is tackling Canada’s biggest economic gap: the lack of new company creation,” said Joe Canavan, a veteran investor and entrepreneur. “By uniting Canadian talent and encouraging founders abroad to return, they’re giving the next generation the support they need to succeed.”
“Canada has the talent and ambition to lead globally in innovation,” added Mike Katchen, Co-Founder and Chair of Simple Ventures. “But that only happens if we commit to building world-class companies here.”
Looking ahead, Simple Ventures has set an ambitious goal: to launch 25 Canadian-headquartered companies by 2030, each designed to strengthen Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and raise the bar for future generations.
Leave a Reply