Panache Ventures
Fund · Montreal · panache.vc
A pre-seed and seed fund with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver that writes first cheques of up to $1.5M to Canadian tech founders in any sector.
Panache Ventures is a pre-seed and seed venture fund with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. It set out in 2018 to back Canadian founders across the country at the earliest stage. It says it is often the first institutional investor on the cap table, and it takes no board seats.
Its leadership team is Patrick Lor, Prashant Matta, Mike Cegelski and Geneviève Tanguay. It says it has backed 100+ founders.
Founders apply through the form on its Pitch Us page, with a pitch deck file or link. It says it reviews every submission, and does not review one without a deck.
What it invests in
Pre-seed and seed, often as the first institutional investor
First cheques of up to $1.5M from its $100M Fund II
Technology founders in all sectors
Portfolio sectors include AI and infrastructure, B2B SaaS, climate tech, deep tech, fintech, health tech and proptech
Founders across Canada, from offices in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver
Location
1 Place Ville-Marie, Suite 3000, Montréal, QC H3B 0E7
Links
News & coverage
VC fund coverage (9)
Backing Canada's pre-seed founders and building the next decacorns
Prashant Matta's keynote excerpt at Elevate Nrth (2026). In 2018, we set out to back Canadian founders across the country at the earliest stage. Eight years later, the thesis is proven, and it has given us an eight-year head start. This quarter, two companies we backed at seed hit major milestones: OpenAI led a round that made Biossil a unicorn, and Grindr agreed to acquire PurposeMed. In his k…
The Case for Early-Stage Venture Capital in Canada
Every year, over 2,000 tech startups launch in Canada, and the next unicorn is already among them. Yet, only 6% find the early-stage capital they need to scale. Meanwhile, Canada has access to world-class AI talent, valuations well below US comparables, and limited capital in competition for the best companies at formation. The gap is an opportunity for private investors.
Genevieve Tanguay sur SaaSpasse
Aujourd'hui, on jase avec Geneviève Tanguay, partner chez Panache Ventures, un des fonds pre-seed les plus actifs au Canada.
Patrick Lor on Investing in What Matters
Patrick Lor, co-founder of iStockPhoto and Managing Partner of Panache Ventures, shares his journey from bootstrapped entrepreneur to seasoned investor and mentor.
Why We Doubled Down On InstaSwitch
Panache Ventures backed InstaSwitch in their pre-seed round because the team had identified a structural shift that no one was building for and had the operational depth to build the wedge. Since our first cheque, InstaSwitch has gone from concept to production with live customers, and is actively moving deposits and creating primary relationships.
From Arriving in Canada at 18 With No Network to Running a $100M Pre-Seed Fund | Make it Click
Prashant came to Canada at 18 with no network and no money. Today he runs Panache Ventures, Canada's only nationwide pre-seed fund. It has backed 100+ startups, including Tailscale, Clutch and Certn, and is usually the first money in. On this episode of Make It Click, Wilson Cross asks him what it takes to get funded at the idea stage. Prashant explains why he skips board seats and why making l…
Investing in Women Founders at Panache
We’re excited to release our 2025 Startup Formation Report — a data-driven look at new startup activity across Canada.
Inside CEO Summit: 6 Lessons from the Frontlines
At CEO Summit 2025, some of Canada’s most forward-thinking founders gathered to share what it really takes to build — not just companies, but cultures, conviction, and momentum. From carbon removal to regulatory disruption, from remote rituals to fundraising fundamentals, the conversations were honest, unfiltered, and refreshingly actionable. Here are the key takeaways and hard-won insights tha…
Backing Nmbr: Transforming Payroll with Modern, Embedded Solutions
By Karim Gillani & Khrystyna Penyk, September 24, 2024 We are thrilled to announce our investment in Nmbr, a Toronto-based company that is revolutionizing payroll with its modern and scalable embedded payroll platform. We led this $7.6M seed round alongside Motivate Venture Capital, out of Chicago, with participation from Golden Ventures and Panache Ventures. Payroll is the largest expense item…
Waterloo Region startups backed by Panache Ventures (1)
From the fund's own portfolio page and public announcements of its rounds. Only Waterloo Region companies in the directory are shown.
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