Real Ventures

Five years ago, the Rep Matters Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize launched at Startupfest with a clear goal: put real capital behind Black-owned tech businesses. This year, that $100K investment prize went to Emmanuel NGUE, P.Eng, M.Eng, MMP of EN Solutions Hydro. Big congrats to him! We can't wait to see how this investment helps advance the company's mission. We also feel it's worth pausing to reflect on how far this prize has come. It's done more than fund great companies. It's helped bring more #Blackfounders onto the #Startupfest stage, and into the rooms, conversations, and investor relationships that shape the ecosystem. It's also created opportunities for collaboration for organizations committed to supporting Black entrepreneurship in Canada, including Startupfest, BKR Capital, DMZ, Black Founders Network, Futurpreneur, Nobellum, and more, all working toward the same goal. Much of this is made possible by our colleague, Phil G. Joseph, who spearheads the prize through #RepMatters. We get to see up close how much heart Phil puts into this work and how much it means to him to see this community grow. Real Ventures is a proud supporter of Rep Matters, and huge kudos to you, Phil, on your dedication and the positive impact you're making for #BlackEntrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem as a whole. Five years in, and the ecosystem is stronger for it.

Congrats to Niraj Mathur, Co-Founder and CEO of Blumind, on his appointment to the Board of Directors of Canada's Semiconductor Council, where he'll also chair the AI Chips Working Group. Niraj and the Blumind team have spent years pushing the boundaries of ultra-low-power analog AI inference. This appointment is a reflection of that work and the credibility it's earned across the industry. We're proud to be supporters of Niraj and the Blumind team, and excited to see where his leadership takes this next. #CanadaSemiconductor #AI #Semiconductors #CanadianInnovation ________________ Félicitations à Niraj Mathur, cofondateur et PDG de Blumind, pour sa nomination au conseil d'administration du Conseil des semi-conducteurs du Canada, où il présidera également le groupe de travail sur les puces d'IA. Niraj et l'équipe de Blumind travaillent depuis des années à repousser les limites de l'inférence IA analogique à ultra-faible consommation. Cette nomination reflète ce travail et la crédibilité qu'il a bâtie dans l'industrie. Nous sommes fiers d'appuyer Niraj et l'équipe de Blumind, et avons hâte de voir où son leadership mènera la suite.

Day one of Startupfest is in the books, and it was a good one! Our Partner Katy Yam, ICD.D took the stage at BDC's Women in Tech Bootcamp for the VC Lightning Hotseat Panel, trading unscripted questions with fellow investors Lise Birikundavyi, CFA, Mona Minhas, and Catherine Ouellet-Dupuis. She also hosted #FundFest in the Sky stage in the afternoon programmed by Marianne Dubois, head of Discovery Fund by Inovia Capital x Northleaf Capital Partners 😊 Mohannad El-Barachi from Wrk (a Real Ventures portfolio company) shared the stage with Ahoy holdings, who announced they're launching a new headquarters in Montreal, bringing over 200 new jobs to the ecosystem. Genuinely exciting news for the city! And over at the Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize space, set up by Rep Matters, we caught some sharp pitches 🚀 Lots of good conversations, interesting ideas, great pitches, and a reminder of why this ecosystem is bursting with creativity and ingenuity. Our team is on-site through the rest of #Startupfest. Find us in the #Braindates!

If you've ever wondered what's actually going on in an investor’s head, this panel is a rare chance to find out.  That's the premise behind the VC Lightning Hotseat Panel at BDC's Women in Tech Bootcamp during Startupfest this Wednesday. Each panellist will ask 3 tough questions to their peers, with zero prep and three minutes to answer ⚡️ Our own Katy Yam, ICD.D will be in the hot seat alongside Lise Birikundavyi, CFA, Mona Minhas, and Catherine Ouellet-Dupuis. Expect real answers on how they evaluate teams, navigate hard calls, and the kind of decisions that shape a partnership long after the term sheet. 📅 July 8th, 11 AM, Sky Stage

Founder Camp is back July 6, and we're cheering it on alongside BKR Capital. Hosted by Rep Matters (organizer of the 100K Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize at Startupfest), expect a free day of coaching, pitch practice, and real talk for #BlackFounders gearing up for #Startupfest, investors, or their next raise. Spots are limited, applications close on Friday, July 3. Details below 👇

Congratulations to Alison Hirukawa and the entire DropGenie team on closing their Seed+ financing round, announced this morning at #BIOInternational in San Diego. We're glad to continue as investors alongside Skeleton Key, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, CQDM, and Anges Québec. As Alison put it: the most powerful insights in biology come from watching how a living system responds when you change one thing. #DropGenie's platform makes it possible to do exactly that on primary patient cells, by miniaturizing #geneediting workflows and significantly reducing the cells and reagents needed per experiment. This round funds the full commercial launch of their first product, building on early validation already underway with pharma, biotech, and research customers. We're looking forward to what comes next 💫 #Biotech https://lnkd.in/gUtkrtHy

Some exciting things happened in Montreal on Monday night. The Canada Startup Association brought its Road to Dubai Roadshow to Ax.c, and our own Lisa Séguin was there as a guest judge alongside Theresa Evanoff (Global Angel Investor Network), Simran Kanda (elantech), and Suchit Ahuja सुचित (Concordia University Applied AI Institute) . Congratulations to the evening's winners, AiVALON Health Technologies, KnowMediQ- Healthcare Technologies Inc, PhoenixCare, and BrainScores, all heading to GITEX events later this year. Wishing them all the best as they take their ideas to new markets and audiences on the global stage. Hats off to all the startups who participated 💫

Quand des ados pitchent leurs idées devant des juges avec cette clarté et cette assurance, ça donne le sourire! Notre collègue Phil G. Joseph était parmi les juges au pitch final de l'Atelier innovation et entrepreneuriat du Collège Sainte-Anne la semaine dernière, et il est reparti franchement impressionné. Des projets concrets, des idées bien défendues, et une créativité qui s'est développée sur plusieurs semaines de travail sérieux. Bravo aux étudiant·e·s pour leur persévérance, et merci au Collège Sainte-Anne, à Créativité Québec et à Ax.c pour avoir créé cet espace et accompagné ces jeunes à chaque étape du parcours 💫 #entrepreneuriat #éducation #pitch #startup

We are so happy for our own Phil G. Joseph, recognized today as part of BetaKit #MostAmbitious 2026 👏👏👏 Through Rep Matters, Phil has spent years doing the quiet, essential work of #buildingcommunity, creating trust, and making sure #Blackfounders in Canada have access to the connections, capital, and support they need to thrive. All while showing up fully as a core member of our team at Real. In a moment when Canada is looking to its builders, this recognition feels especially fitting. Congrats, Phil! This recognition is well earned 🙌 Proud to also see Real Ventures portfolio companies Xanadu, Nord Quantique, and Nectar Technologies among this year's honourees! Congrats on this well deserved recognition 💫 ➡️ Read more about all the remarkable honorees and the work they're engaged in: https://lnkd.in/gjjuTJD7 ________________ Nous sommes tellement heureux pour notre collègue Phil G. Joseph, reconnu aujourd'hui parmi les BetaKit Most Ambitious 2026 👏👏👏 À travers #RepMatters, en parallèle avec son travail chez Real, Phil se consacre depuis des années à un travail discret mais essentiel : bâtir une communauté, créer un climat de confiance, et s’assurer que les fondateur·rice·s noir·e·s au Canada ont accès aux connexions, au capital et au soutien dont ils ont besoin pour prospérer. Dans un moment où le Canada se tourne vers ses bâtisseur·euse·s, cette reconnaissance tombe à point. Félicitations, Phil! Tu l’as bien mérité. 🙌 Nous sommes également fiers de voir les entreprises de notre portefeuille #Xanadu, #NordQuantique et #NectarTechnologies, parmi les lauréat·e·s de cette année. Félicitations pour cette belle reconnaissance si méritée ! 💫 ➡️ En savoir plus sur tous les lauréat·e·s remarquables et le travail qu’ils accomplissent : https://lnkd.in/gjjuTJD7

Congratulations to the Nord Quantique team on closing a $30M round at a $1.4B valuation 🎉 This investment will support their continued progress toward fault-tolerant #quantumcomputing by 2030, building on a genuinely differentiated approach to quantum #errorcorrection that has earned them recognition from investors and institutions alike. We're proud to be investors and we look forward to seeing where this next chapter takes them ⚛️ ➡️ Learn more : https://lnkd.in/ebFtC4pe ________________ Félicitations à toute l'équipe de #NordQuantique pour la clôture d'un tour de financement de 30 M$ à une valorisation de 1,4 G$ 🎉 Cet investissement viendra appuyer leur progression vers l'informatique quantique tolérante aux pannes d'ici 2030, en s'appuyant sur une approche véritablement différenciée de la correction d'erreurs quantiques qui leur a valu la reconnaissance d'investisseurs et d'institutions de partout. Nous sommes fiers d'être parmi leurs investisseurs et nous avons hâte de voir où ce prochain chapitre les mènera ⚛️