Venture firm raises $15 million from tech leaders to support new Canadian businesses

By: Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

TORONTO - A venture firm backed by a who's who of the tech industry says it's raised $15 million in funding with the aim of building a new generation of Canadian companies.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2025 (378 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – A venture firm backed by a who’s who of the tech industry says it’s raised $15 million in funding with the aim of building a new generation of Canadian companies.

Simple Ventures says the cash came from a division of TD Bank, insurer Sun Life Financial Inc., grocer Sobeys, Wealthsimple founder Mike Katchen and Shopify Inc. president Harley Finkelstein.

Rounding out the list of backers is Knix founder Joanna Griffiths, serial investors Joe Canavan and Sam Duboc and an unnamed group of Canadian angel investors and family offices.

Wealthsimple's chief executive officer Michael Katchen is photographed at the company's Toronto office on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Wealthsimple's chief executive officer Michael Katchen is photographed at the company's Toronto office on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Simple Ventures hopes the funding will help develop businesses that otherwise wouldn’t exist because it will allocate the cash toward entrepreneurs creating new Canadian companies.

Katchen, a co-founder of the venture firm, and Finkelstein have been vocal in recent years about the need to support homegrown businesses and repatriate talent that has fled to other countries.

Business Development Bank of Canada data released in 2023 showed the country had 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than it did 20 years ago, despite the population increasing by more than 10 million during the same period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP, TSX:SLF, TSX:TD, TSX:EMP.A)

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Golden touch

Morning-show veteran swaps microphone for macchiatos at new Corydon café

David Sanderson 9 minute read Preview

Morning-show veteran swaps microphone for macchiatos at new Corydon café

David Sanderson 9 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Good news if you were used to having your morning coffee with Terri Gale, who earlier this summer signed off from CTV Your Morning, after 15 years on the job.

Gale, the three-hour program’s longtime weather expert, and her husband Rob Gale, the ex-head soccer coach of Valour FC and co-founder of the Northern Super League’s new Winnipeg franchise, are the owners of Golden Hour Café and Bar at 775 Corydon Ave.

Gale (formerly Apostle) nods when she is asked who would know more about caffeinated beverages than a person who, for the last decade and a half, set her alarm to go off in the wee small hours.

“I do love coffee and take mine black. Except because I hate burning my tongue — not a good thing when you speak for a living — I got into the habit of throwing a couple of ice cubes in my cup, to be on the safe side,” Gale says, seated on the second level of their attractive, 2,100-square-foot premises, which officially opened in mid-September.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
Supplied Canada Packers cutline please

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

BRANDON — Canada Packers has strengthened its business and laid the foundation for future growth during its first year as an independent company, its president says.

The Brandon-based pork producer, separated from Maple Leaf Foods in October 2025, established its own leadership, strategy, systems, culture and identity while continuing operations across its hog production farms and regional hog barns in southern and eastern Manitoba.

The company’s first year was focused on building a successful standalone business while continuing to serve customers, communities and shareholders, president Dennis Organ said.

“Market conditions over the past year have been more challenging than we anticipated when we became a separate entity,” he said in an email. “Despite that, we continued to execute against our priorities, including increasing processing volumes, maintaining disciplined operations and strengthening the business.”

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES Six programs in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League folded before the start of the 2026-27 season once the Hockey Manitoba U18 AAA ban took effect.

Six high school hockey programs ceased operations following new Hockey Manitoba policy

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Preview

Six high school hockey programs ceased operations following new Hockey Manitoba policy

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

She lived the best of both worlds.

For the last three years, the 17-year-old wore a sweater for two different hockey programs — her high school team and AAA club in the Manitoba Female Hockey League — and was preparing to flourish in both colours again this winter.

Recently, however, the blue-liner was disappointed to learn she is no longer eligible to play her Grade 12 season with her school owing to a new policy imposed by Hockey Manitoba that bans players from participating in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League if they are rostered on a U18 AAA team.

The rule applies to all athletes who play for both Winnipeg-based and rural AAA teams.

Read
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026
Alessandra Tarantino / Invision Files Susan Sarandon

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Caution! Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions until after 6:30 p.m. today. After that, the moon moves from Cancer into Leo.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Don’t expect much co-operation from partners, spouses and close friends. This is why you might feel cut off from others or a bit lonely. There’s the sense a gulf exists between you and everyone else. But this is temporary. Courage!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT

News briefs for Sunday, October 4, 2026

2 minute read Updated: 6:25 PM CDT

A collection of breaking news briefs filed on Sunday, October 4, 2026

Shooting suspect arrested after nearly 4 years

4:45 PM

A suspect has been arrested in a January 2022 shooting in Winnipeg.

INSTAGRAM Prediction contracts let you ‘invest’ in whether Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry will get married.

Broadening prediction-market gambling a bad idea

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Broadening prediction-market gambling a bad idea

Editorial 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Let’s make a prediction: sooner or later, when Canadian governments find a way to take their own cut of the action, prediction-contract gambling on everything from sports to entertainment to political decisions is going to come to Canada.

And that’s a horrible, dangerous, pernicious idea.

Unless you have particular access to information — either inside information or strategic information based on skills or education — you’re not likely to make money at it. In fact, structurally, you’re likely to lose. In prediction markets, you basically pay an amount, plus fees from the company involved, to bet on whether something will or will not happen within a certain time frame. The amount you pay for your contract depends on how other people are also betting.

As Wealthsimple describes it, “You buy whichever side you think is right. Prices move with demand, so if the market leans towards one outcome, the more that side costs. If a lot of people are backing the TSX to finish above 38,000, yes gets more expensive and no gets cheaper.”

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT