An Overview Of Canvas Ventures As A Leading Series A & Series B Stage Fund

21 Jun 2022 · 2 min

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This content was created by Max Brun. This content was uploaded by Max Brun. This is a YouTube excerpt (published June 21, 2022) in which a representative of Canvas Ventures provides an overview of the firm: they're on their third fund, have ~ $800M+ AUM and are investing from a $350M vehicle, typically leading Series A/B rounds. The speaker describes sector focus (marketplaces, fintech, digital health, proptech and marketplace-style food tech), cites portfolio examples (e.g., Fly Homes, Darwin Homes, Brace Mortgage, Keyway, Rescue), and explains the firm’s hands-on, founder-oriented approach (taking board seats, helping with recruiting, strategy and fundraising).

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So could you kind of give us a high-level overview of Canvas Ventures as a fund? Yeah, happy to. So Canvas Ventures is a— we're on our 3rd fund now. We were founded, you know, less than 10 years ago. We've got about over $800 million total assets under management. We're currently investing out of a $350 million fund where we lead Series A and B investments. in marketplaces, fintech, and digital health companies. That includes— I've done a lot of like prop tech, real estate software and tech, like Fly Homes, Darwin Homes. We've also invested in Brace Mortgage, Keyway, and others. Those are under the kind of fintech prop tech umbrella. I also do a lot of food tech if it's a marketplace or software-based business like Rescue. Not so much food tech like synthetic biology. Sometimes I say food tech and And that also refers to trying to create alternative meats and stuff like that. I'm not a biologist, so I don't spend as much time there, but definitely on the marketplace side. So those are the kinds of things we do, and we'll typically take a board seat, lead the Series A and B. We're all actually former founders and operators, have helped start and build companies. And so we really like to roll up our sleeves and do the work and be there for the founder, really be on the ground, help them with hiring, you know, so recruiting, building the company strategy, fundraising, of course, we're really available in there and kind of, you know, pick up the phone and help them see around corners. That's kind of our style.