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