Builderloo
All funds

Velocity Fund

Fund · Waterloo · velocity.fund

Visit website

A Waterloo pre-seed fund, anchored by the University of Waterloo endowment, that backs technical founders from Waterloo and beyond.

Velocity Fund is a pre-seed venture fund in Waterloo, Ontario. Its general partners, Akash Vaswani and Ross Robinson, are University of Waterloo alumni who built their first companies at Velocity. Its offices are at the entrance to Velocity Incubator, and the University of Waterloo endowment is an anchor investor.

Its portfolio page lists 74 companies, backed since its first investment in 2019 through Fund I, a rolling fund and Fund II. Its current fund, Velocity Fund II, says its first close of $10M is complete.

Founders apply by email through the Apply button on its site, with a short blurb on the company and its founders and the pitch deck attached. It promises a term sheet or a clear no within two weeks of the first meeting.

What it invests in

Pre-seed rounds for technical founders

Scout cheques of $25K and core cheques up to $1M

Leads rounds, taking 5 to 7.5% ownership

Waterloo founders make up about 70% of its portfolio, and technical teams from anywhere with early signal about 30%

Sectors on its portfolio page: SaaS, AI and machine learning, health tech, deep tech, fintech, climate, gaming and consumer


Waterloo Region startups backed by Velocity Fund (20)

Scispot LabOS

scispot.com

Connect instruments, apps, samples, workflows, quality, and AI in one governed lab operating system. No rip-and-replace. No lock-in.

Velocity · Communitech
51-200 employees2016
View profile

Voltra

voltra.com

Connect, monitor, and control devices and sites across vendors. Voltra gives people and AI tools one software foundation for energy systems.

Velocity
11-50 employees2024
View profile

Ground News

ground.news

Top Stories from around you and around the world. Compare how different news publishers frame the same news

Velocity · Communitech · University of Waterloo
11-50 employees2018
View profile

Page

withpage.com

The new standard for government relations software, designed for the AI era. Page reads everything governments publish across over 80 jurisdictions and tells you what matters in minutes. Trusted by Burson, Manulife, GreenShield, and more.

Velocity · Communitech
51-200 employees2018
View profile

Scribenote

scribenote.com

Scribenote is the veterinary AI scribe trusted by 6000+ vets. Automatic SOAP notes in 2 clicks, custom templates, PIMS integration. Free plan available!

Velocity · Accelerator Centre
2020
View profile

Ceragen

ceragengrow.com

Using advanced DNA and viral sequencing we help growers understand what is happening in their systems at the microscopic level. From bacteria and fungi to oomycetes and viruses, we identify everything in your system so you can detect disease earlier, confirm the effectiveness of treatments, and…

Velocity
2021
View profile

RunQL

runql.com

RunQL is a free, open-source SQL IDE or extension for VS Code. Run queries, auto-document schemas, generate ERDs and charts, and save everything as Git-ready files.

11-50 employees2023
View profile

Clockwork

clockwork.energy

Clockwork helps EV charging operators detect, diagnose, and resolve charger reliability issues to improve First Charge Success and operational performance.

Velocity
11-50 employees2024
View profile

Pronti

pronti.com

Reduce stress and get outfit inspiration from your own closet with Pronti AI outfit maker all while using what you already own!

Velocity · Accelerator Centre
2001
View profile

1Mentor

1mentor.io

Partnering with colleges and universities to prepare students for the future of work. You can empower your students and your career advisors to help cultivate a career-ready workforce — book a demo with one of our experts to see our AI platform.

Velocity · Accelerator Centre
2018
View profile

Equator

equatorstudios.com

Equator empowers housing professionals with accurate site data from hundreds of sources. Experience a competitive edge in land development

Velocity · Communitech · Accelerator Centre
2019
View profile

Agilicus

agilicus.com

Zero-Trust for Critical Infrastructure and Industrial Control Systems. Give any user, on any device, secure access to any resource they need—without a client or VPN.

Communitech
1-10 employees2018
View profile

LSK Technologies

lifesci-key.com

LSK Technologies creates low-cost, portable plate reader for ELISA and LAMP tests. Our product, PLUM-HT™, is an affordable and easy-to-use reader that provides quantitative analysis on biological and chemical reactions.

Velocity
2019
View profile

Poppy

talkpoppy.com

Wi-Fi voice messaging and calling that lets children safely connect with friends and family.

11-50 employees2024
View profile

SmartRecover

getsmartrecover.com

SmartRecover plugs into your CRM and has real people text your abandoned leads 1:1 to win them back. You only pay for closed revenue. $240M+ recovered for leading healthcare brands.

Velocity
2022
View profile

Qidni Labs Inc.

qidni.life

Up to 10 million patients with kidney failure have no access to dialysis

Velocity
View profile

Liquid Energy

liquidenergy.world

Liquid Energy builds NanoDC: factory-built, off-grid AI compute that carries its own solar power. Solar in, tokens out.

Velocity
2023
View profile

Evolved.Bio

evolved.bio

At Evolved.Bio, we’ve taken a groundbreaking leap beyond traditional cell sheet technologies, which were first developed in Japan in the 1990s. Our unique approach, Anchored Cell Sheet Engineering, refines and extends this foundational technique to meet the needs of regenerative medicine.

Velocity
2022
View profile

cobionix.com

cobionix.com
Velocity · Communitech · University of Waterloo
View profile

Feel Good Interactive

feelgoodinteractive.com

Feel Good Interactive builds AI infrastructure for family-friendly IP. FEEL is the safe way to bring characters and stories to life with AI. Kids create. Characters stay true. Character-creators stay in control.

Velocity · Accelerator Centre
2026
View profile

From the fund's own portfolio page and public announcements of its rounds. Only Waterloo Region companies in the directory are shown.

The Weekly

One email every Monday from weekly@builderloo.ca: new startups, funding, events and roles. Unsubscribe anytime.

Log In