At BCF Ventures, we are thrilled to celebrate the transformative journey of Class8 (formerly FleetOps), a trailblazing AI-powered logistics platform for the trucking industry. Class8’s USD $22 million Series A, led by Xplorer Capital with support from Inspired Capital, Commerce Ventures, and BCF Ventures marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to revolutionize fleet logistics. As one of the earliest investors in Class8’s pre-seed round, we recognized the company’s potential early on and proudly maintained our commitment during their recent Series A funding, leveraging our pro-rata rights.

Class8 is tackling one of the world’s most vital yet underserved markets — the $1.5 trillion North American trucking industry — with precision. With direct OEM connections, their AI-driven platform processes over a billion daily data points from 227,000 trucks, delivering actionable insights that optimize dispatch, reduce downtime, and maximize profitability. This approach doesn’t just enhance operational efficiency — it fundamentally transforms the role of trucking data, turning it into a catalyst for clarity, control, and growth.

Class8’s platform blends OEM data and AI to turn trucks into dynamic, profit-driving assets. Key features include:

1. Dispatch Optimization: eliminate operational uncertainty with automated dispatch updates to ensure that trucks are always moving and operations remain agile.
2. Load Optimization: automate load planning, adapting to market shifts, and maximizing profit through predictive insights.

Graduating from the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Artificial Intelligence stream in Toronto, Class8 exemplifies the innovation and resilience that we at BCF Ventures strive to support. We are excited to witness their continued growth as they redefine logistics, making data-driven solutions accessible and profitable for trucking businesses everywhere.

Class8 isn’t just navigating the challenges of trucking — it’s rewriting the playbook. At BCF Ventures, we’re proud to be part of this journey, championing bold solutions that reshape industries. Congratulations to Class8 on this remarkable achievement! We’re proud to stand behind Chris Atkinson and his team as they redefine what’s possible in fleet management.

For more information about Class8, visit their website here.

Canada is entering a golden age of innovation with an influx of new money and a reputation for AI expertise. As Silicon Valley becomes outrageously overpriced, tech giants and startups are flocking to Canada as an affordable alternative. In fact, over the last five years, Canada added more tech jobs than Silicon Valley.

“The Canadian tech ecosystem has soared to new highs with funding rounds reaching new records. The Canadian Venture Capital Association reported over $4.5bn across 196 deals in the first quarter of 2022,” Bonnie Chau, portfolio manager of BCF Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of law firm BCF, told Global Corporate Venturing. The Canadian Venture Capital Association is a non-profit Canadian organization that represents the professional association for the venture capital and private equity industry, with the goal to advocate on behalf of the industry to fuel the Canadian economy.

More money is coming into the system following the government’s announcement last week of a new $450m fund of funds called VCCI (Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative), expected to seed a substantial number of Canada’s venture funds with public money.

Corporate investors are also becoming increasingly active in the system, with a record $4.8bn invested in 2021. That said, there are still relatively few active Corporate VC (CVC) funds in the region and they are poorly understood. Unless the CVC ecosystem develops, corporations could end up missing out on Canada’s tech boom.

AI expertise

“Canada is recognized as the worldwide artificial intelligence epicenter because of the presence of the top global AI deep-learning pioneers,” said Sergio Escobar, managing director for BCF Ventures.

“Canada’s leading position is also supported by the country’s national AI strategy and talent value proposition. Canada’s ecosystem includes more than 800 AI companies and 670 AI startups. Montreal has the highest concentration of scientists and students of deep learning in the world, while Toronto has the highest concentration of AI startups.”

Five innovation superclusters

Apart from AI, Canada is known for its diverse tech scene, Chau said. “The country has also a mosaic of distinctive ecosystems, many of which are unique in the world. We have five leading innovation superclusters regrouping academia, scientist and the private sector spaced throughout the country.”

Chau continued: “These high-tech hubs are in Ontario for the advanced manufacturing, Nova Scotia for the ocean supercluster, Quebec for AI, Alberta and Saskatchewan for the protein industries, and British Columbia for health and digital technology.

“Canada’s diverse, highly educated, and growing tech talent pool continuously attracts investments from global businesses, including the world’s 10 largest technology companies. With more than 2.8 million STEM graduates and the world’s highest educated workforce, the depth and quality of Canada’s tech talent pool are undeniable.

“On top of that, Canada’s friendly immigration policies implemented the ‘Global Skills Program’ aiming to bring in highly skilled workforce in as little as two weeks.”

Although Silicon Valley in the US remains the mecca of the global tech ecosystem, Canada provides a more affordable alternative, according to Escobar. “Everyone knows Silicon Valley has become outrageously expensive to live and there is a huge lack of talent to build and grow a technology-based company. Canada is a much more cost-effective alternative for tech giants and startups.

“Over the last five years, Canada had added more tech jobs than Silicon Valley.”

Canada is among the global innovation leaders, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021, a report produced jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization. The country took the 16th place in the GII global ranking, coming first in market sophistication and fifth in institutions.

Talent war hits Canadian El Dorado

Due to Canada’s friendly immigration system for highly skilled workers, Escobar noted, the country has experienced a dramatic “brain gain” of tech workers coming from the US and Europe. He said: “Many US and European tech giants have landed to take advantage of this ‘Canadian El Dorado’. Canada is now rated as North America’s fastest-growing job market.

“While the Canadian tech sector is red-hot right now, this situation has generated a dramatic increase in valuations (that is, more than 40-times yearly sales) as well as an increased competition within investors. On the other side, Canadian startups have also been struggling to scale and retain talent as engineers tend to leave to join the tech giants for higher salaries and better conditions.

“In this context of high valuations and the war on talent, rather than aggressively competing on deals considered super expensive on valuations with other funds, our corporate VC fund has remained prudent by implementing a multi-stage strategy to reinvest in its existing portfolio of companies.” BCF Ventures focuses on seed to series B-stages, noted Chau. “To date, this multi-stage strategy has been super effective on metrics related to financial returns for the fund and has proven to be resistant against ups and downs from the market.”

CVC education needed

Despite the rising number of deals, corporate venture capital funds are still rare in Canada, Escobar said. “Most of them work isolated and are quite discreet in their activities, so the ecosystem requires a lot of education to understand the difference between a traditional financial VC fund versus a corporate VC fund.”

BCF Ventures, for example, has deployed a variety of initiatives to educate stakeholders across the country, said Chau. “We partnered with Canadian accounting firm MNP to deploy a nationwide pitch competition putting entrepreneurs in face of global CVCs and VCs.”

Escobar added: “We also created the Corporate Innovation Program with the goal to accelerate AI-based startups with Canada’s Scale AI supercluster — a co-investment and innovation hub with government funding matched by contributions from the private sector.

“Thanks to this initiative and many others from the Supercluster Scale AI, they finance Canadian corporations to deploy commercial POCs with startups to foster innovation. We also partnered with Founder Institute pre-seed accelerator to foster the incubation of AI-supply chain based companies. Lastly, our team actively mentors with Canadian startup accelerator programs like Creative Destruction Lab in AI and supply chain.”

Challenges and Opportunities

Canada had a vibrant early ecosystem of CVCs from pension funds, banks, telecom companies and OEMs prior to the 2010s financial crisis but lack of meaningful financial returns, lack of experienced managers and employee churn led those corporations to close their units.

Canadian corporations took close to 10 years to slowly reignite the practice of having CVC units. Over the last decade, global corporate VC funds from the US, Japan, South Korea and Europe were the ones taking advantage of this fertile land by investing and acquiring Canadian startups with incredible success.

But in the last year, three big CVCs have been deployed in Canada with funds of more than $100m in size. They are Deloitte Canada Ventures ($150m, January 2022), Thomson Reuters Ventures ($100m, October 2021), and Spin Master Ventures ($100m, October 2021).

BCF Ventures has been testing the CVC-as-a-service model to support corporations in their efforts to launch Canada-based CVC units. We need to revive the Canadian CVC ecosystem. The ball is certainly in our court to double down on our success. Canada’s tech sector is booming right now. If we don’t nurture and develop our Canadian CVC ecosystem to link Canadian corporations with startups, we could be at the edge of Canada’s biggest tech drain of talent and intellectual property.

To read the full article on GCV’s website, which is only available to subscribers, please refer here https://globalventuring.com/corporate/innovative-region-canada-2022/

May 31, 2022 • Written by Edison Fu, Global Corporate Venturing, Sergio Escobar and Bonnie Chau, BCF Ventures

Corporates risk missing out in Canada’s tech boom was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

BCF Ventures is excited to support Athennian’s Series B round. Our multi-stage strategy has always been to re-invest more capital in the top companies that have the best potential to succeed at vast scale.

Taking an excerpt from the popular book Zero to One written by Peter Thiel (a highly recommended book for any entrepreneurs and investors):

“The biggest secret in venture capital is that the best investment in a successful fund equals or outperforms the entire rest of the fund combined. This is why investors typically put a lot more money into any company worth funding, especially those who successfully go from 0 to 1.”

Following the Power Law in venture capital, BCF Ventures focuses on the single-minded pursuit of the very few companies that can become overwhelmingly valuable. Having the ability to provide value and to build the 1-on-1 relationship with the founding team of each portfolio company have proven to be a successful way for us to jump in as their best investment partners as the company seeks more capital to accelerate growth.

Just like our approach to FightCamp’s Series B round, we are proud to emulate the same strategy in Athennian’s Series B round. BCF Ventures is the only Canadian VC investor that has continuously invested in each of the subsequent investment rounds in Athennian, as the company keeps soaring to a new height. We had first written a small check in their Seed round in 2019, and we continued to invest in the Series A round in 2020. We are further convinced by the quality of the management team and the level of traction that Athennian has attained today, so we are fully committed to back them again at the Series B round. We are looking forward to partner with the lead investor of this funding round, Centana Growth Partners, a growth equity fund with a focus on fintech and enterprise technology based in Palo Alto and NYC. Many existing investors, including Arthur Ventures, Touchdown Ventures, BCF Ventures, and even Clio’s CEO and co-founder Jack Newton have participated in this round.

“We’re excited about this new investment round as it will help us support more clients and meet the increasing need for digital automation and corporate transparency demands required by governments and stakeholders.” said Adrian Camara, co-founder and chief executive office of Athennian. For the official company press release, read more here.

What is Athennian?

Athennian is a modern, cloud-based entity management platform, helping you to centralize registration, governance, ownership, tax, and compliance data for corporate entities.

Launched in 2017 by CEO Adrian Camara, Camara saw a need for cloud-based tech after working as a lawyer in corporate finance and noticing “archaic” practices around managing data and information. Betakit has covered about their most recent raise here.

Athennian’s entity data management software is used by hundreds of top law firms (Dentons and Torys) and in-house legal teams of Fortune 1000 Companies (Shopify, Kruger) across North America, to manage all their entity data within a single platform. Whether you are a law firm managing over 25,000 entities, an in-house legal department with less than 50, or a family office managing wealthy families, Athennian’s entity management software enhances your legal operations.

One of the biggest reasons why law firms are switching to Athennian has been the cloud-based solutions. Many customers are moving away from legacy players that are hiking prices to a new level.

“I kind of call this the final sort of short squeeze into the cloud,” said Camara. “Where you have all these legacy vendors [that] are cranking places and trying to squeeze the last juice out of the orange on these legacy systems, and it’s sort of pushing the people who have been slow to adopt cloud … into the cloud.” Betakit wrote all about it here.

With the new funding, Athennian has opened its new office as the main headquarter in Calgary. The company is now hiring remotely for any team player who is ready to contribute meaningfully to a high-growth company.

BCF Ventures is always looking for the next big technology. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have a big idea that disrupts the market.

Athennian raises $ was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

After a successful year, BCF Ventures is now officially announcing the recruitment of the program for the second year, and we are excited to make it even bigger this year! See below to find out about the latest changes that we have added to our program this year, and hear from the founders of the first cohort.

Thanks to Hakim Merah, Senior Manager at Scale AI, for supporting our program and highlighting the advantages of the program in a few words:

“The Corporate Innovation Program’s strong focus on Intellectual Property offered immense values to founders. Each startup had its own 1-on-1 session with an experienced IP expert, a personalized session highly focused on the startup’s needs that encourage the founders to get an in-depth understanding of their own company and create an IP strategy. Promoting the development, protection and commercialization of IP is highly valuable for AI startups to strategize their competitive edge, and this program is leading the way in Scale AI’s portfolio of initiatives.”

Another important angle is the network connection with Corporations and Investors. Some of the startups have successfully raised their rounds following their participation. Scale AI is extremely proud to support this initiative in 2022 for a second edition.

Scale AI is an investment and innovation hub to accelerate the rapid adoption and integration of AI with supply chains across industries, and contributes to the development of a world-class Canadian AI ecosystem.

What did the founders say about the program?

We have selected 11 companies to join our first cohort, which had occurred in 2021. Some of our participating founders had shared what they thought about the program after having participated themselves:

Stephany Lapierre, CEO and Founder of Tealbook

“I had the pleasure to join the Corporate Innovation Program because I was attracted by the business development opportunities when they were matchmaking us with the corporations. We got connected to the Chief Procurement Officer at one of Canada’s national telecommunications companies. The program itself is very time-effective and highly professional because the organizers are respectful of the time commitment from the founders, and you get immediate value from the program’s structure.”

Tealbook is a leading supplier data foundation that autonomously enhances supplier data and powers e-procurement technology. The Toronto-based startup has recently raised a $50M USD in Series B funding to further expand their footprint after achieving 350% revenue growth in the past year.

Hugo Fuentes, Founder, CEO and Co-Founder of The Owl Solutions

“We had a great call with the IP expert during the IP session. The advice provided by the IP expert was very practical and relevant to our business case. We also received support for our company’s fundraising during the program, which is always a bonus for founders.”

The Owl platform is a supply chain management software that contains a powerful library of data analytics that help manufacturers and distributors track the performance of their operations and how it relates to achieving business goals. The startup counts Canada Goose, Jamieson Laboratories and Eneos as clients. The Owl Solutions was recently ranked as one of top analytics startups coming from Waterloo, Ontario, based on the company’s performance on growth and innovation. Hugo was also profiled by the Supply Professional magazine, the most trusted and read source of information for Canada’s supply chain community, to talk about how The Owl Solutions can change supply chain organizations.

Frederic Scherer, Founder and CEO of Jitbase

“I was in the middle of raising a round for my company, and the Corporate Innovation Program has helped me to connect with Venture Capital firms that invest in supply chain. I got connected with a Corporate VC who was the venture arm of the largest auto company in the world. I was glad to meet other investors outside of Canada and the program has accelerated my fundraising activities.”

Jitbase is a smart manufacturing software that calculates the optimal sequence of machinist activities on the manufacturing floor. The Montreal-based company has raised a Seed round of $650,000 from strategic partners, such as the aerospace manufacturing company Leesta, and other VC investment firms.

What is the Corporate Innovation Program?

We have the goal of supporting entrepreneurs by providing a 5-month part-time and remote program. Thanks to the renewed partnership with Scale AI, an innovation hub that spearheads AI integration in the supply chain industry, we are looking for AI-based companies in Supply Chain.

We are excited to offer the program that is entirely FREE — no admission cost or ownership equity from the startup.

What will you benefit from the program?

For a second year in a row, startups will be granted the opportunity to benefit from the following core pillars:

1Have a 1-on-1 session with our Intellectual Property experts to discuss about your company’s potential for IP strategies — Due to high demand from the last cohort, we are bringing back the IP experts who will highlight the important aspects that a company should focus on. In today’s digital world, it is crucial to understand the importance of IP strategies and data privacy practices when scaling a business. Founders have a chance to get an in-depth understanding of their company and learn about how IP can be used as a competitive advantage tool. *NEW* this year: our IP expert will do a proper assessment of your company and offer a Freedom-To-Operate (FTO) report, which is an effective and preventive method for anticipating possible third-party infringement of patents or industrial designs. Such FTO report usually comes at a hefty cost but we are very pleased to sponsor this report for free, as part of our goal to offer only the highest valued benefit to our participants.

2Matchmaking with Corporations for business development opportunities — Depending on the startups’ solutions, we will matchmake startups with corporations for possible pilot trials and future paying customers. *NEW* this year: we will offer a masterclass on how to pitch to corporations.

3Introduction to Investors for your fundraising activities — Have the potential to secure funding from BCF Ventures and our extensive network of co-investors. *NEW* this year: we will offer a masterclass on how to pitch to investors.

In addition, the renewed partnership with OVHcloud, Europe’s leading cloud provider, means that participating startups can get up to $150,000 CAD of free credits for its cloud services and 20+ hours of technical advisory services in the form of office hours.

How to reserve my spot?

Interested AI-based supply chain entrepreneurs can apply here at F6success. The application should take an hour at most. We urge you to apply soon, as we are only accepting a limited number of startups this year. The application deadline is Monday, February 28.

For any further questions about the program or any interest to collaborate as corporations and investors, you may send an email to bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc

We hope to count you in!

The Return of The BCF Ventures & Scale AI’s Corporate Innovation Program for Supply Chain Startups was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

About the NextSteps Program & Pitch Competition

The BCF Ventures x MNP NextSteps Program & Pitch Competition is an exclusive program aimed at helping early-stage Canadian technology companies achieve their growth objectives through connections to strategic mentors and a well-suited investor.

With our program, BCF Ventures, MNP, our group of sponsors, and our global network of investors set out to do one thing: Deliver the resources and support entrepreneurs’ need to achieve their NextSteps.

For some, this may be getting their first round of funding to advance a capital-intensive project. For others, it may be commercialization or increasing inventory. We all committed to making sure our NextSteps winner found the right partners for sustainable growth — from initial investment and beyond.

As part of the NextSteps Program, MNP and BCF Ventures presented our thirty-four participating companies with valuable guidance on the key pillars of their business — giving them the capacity to focus on their technology. We provided companies with targeted information about building bulletproof pitch decks, protecting intellectual property, and accessing financial resources through the Canadian government and large financial institutions.

“The caliber of companies that participated in our NextSteps Program this year were second to none — a true testament to the innovative tech ecosystem that we have in Canada,” said Massimo Iamello, Partner at MNP. “We had a diverse set of companies participate with representation from across the country and across industries. These companies were ready to scale internationally from day one; it was very difficult to select one winner.”

“The NextSteps Program is a great addition to our startup ecosystem, and we are well positioned to support and accelerate the growth of technology-based companies across Canada and beyond,” said Sergio A. Escobar, CEO at BCF Ventures. “We are delighted to be able to leverage this fruitful partnership in an attempt to offer participants of this program unfettered access to some of the industry’s brightest minds,” said Bonnie Chau, Portfolio Manager at BCF Ventures.

About Michael Collins and Periculum

Periculum promises to be a game changer in the lending and risk analytics sector. The technology company harnesses machine learning and predictive analytics to create more accurate and comprehensive credit profiles for historically underserved markets in Canada and around the world.

Michael Collins is the Founder and CEO of Periculum. As a first generation Nigerian Canadian, and a former employee in the consumer banking sector, Michael has a firsthand perspective of the economic challenges that arise from having poor credit or a credit history that’s difficult to measure.

Through Periculum, Michael wants to create more opportunities for underbanked communities in Canada — as well as throughout markets in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. He hopes to use the mentorship and financial support he’s unlocked through the NextSteps prize to grow his business globally and eventually toward an initial public offering.

A word of thanks to our finalists, investors, and sponsors

Standing alongside Michael Collins on pitch day were the six amazing finalists who were chosen by a selection committee. Each entrepreneur built incredible business concepts, developed extremely innovative technologies, and represented themselves admirably:

• Chloe Ryan | Acrylic Robotics
• Louis-Philippe Noël | BioTwin
• Joshua Montgomery, Matt Dobbs, and Graeme Smecher |t.0 technology
• Ashish Agrawal | Eon Media
• Jason Zhao | Local Key
• Angela Wong, Dr. Leonard Levin, Oliver Wu Martinez, and Jeremy Zwaig | Remote Optical

The NextSteps Program and Pitch Competition would not have been possible without our esteemed global investor panel who faced the seemingly impossible task of evaluating each pitch:

• Marina Cortes, Hike Ventures (Ontario, Canada & Tokyo, Japan)
• Matthew Gittleman, Blu Venture Investors (Virginia, USA)
• Mano Kulasingam, Good News Ventures (Ontario, Canada)
• Will Bricker, Hustle Fund (California, USA)

We’d also like to thank our sponsors who provided the tools our companies need to succeed:

• OVHcloud, a French cloud computing company, and one of the largest hosting providers in the world. Special thanks to Amy Pollard for having sponsored the big prizes of our program.
• Startup Canada, Canada’s leading entrepreneurship organization connecting founders to their local startup ecosystems. Special thanks to Kayla Isabelle for having promoted our program from coast to coast.
• BCF Law, a Canadian business law-firm, and the corporate arm of the BCF Ventures fund. Special thanks to Julien Lacheré from the Intellectual Property team for the support.

Apply for next year!

The past several months have been a whirlwind and it’s hard to believe our first NextSteps Program has already come to an end. As we say farewell to this year’s inspiring cohort of entrepreneurs and investors, we’re already looking forward to meeting a brand-new group of innovators and change makers.

Think you have a game-changing technology business that could use a boost to achieve its NextSteps?

>> Click here to begin the application process

For any questions about the program, and for any investors wanting access to the deal flows of the cohort, please reach out to Bonnie Chau at bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc.

About MNP & BCF Ventures

MNP is an entrepreneurial firm built for entrepreneurs. We are proud to support Canadian businesses and entrepreneurial business leaders. MNP is truly dedicated to Canada’ mid-market and understands the complex challenges and opportunities for technology companies starting their business journey. Through our focus on the Technology, Media & Telecommunications sector, we have provided dozens of Canadian entrepreneurs with the accounting, tax, and business consulting advisory they need to succeed and stand apart from the competition.

BCF Ventures is a pioneer in the Canadian investment scene and one of the first corporate venture capital funds to be launched by a law firm. BCF Ventures benefits from the expertise, resources, and insights of its parent law firm and invests jointly with other successful funds across North America and Europe.

Introducing the inaugural winner of the NextSteps Program and Pitch Competition was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) is a renowned media publication and data provider for the corporate venture capital industry. Throughout the decade, GCV has become the go-to networking platform as they continuously provide research and host multiple global events, with flagship conferences in Silicon Valley and London attracting the participation and membership from Fortune 1000 Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) firms across the world.

To get nominated, GCV has been tracking the performance of over 5,000 deals, and filters the performance of CVC funds over eight metrics through the Power Index. The selection process also takes into account strategic and leadership measures, such as thought-leadership, vision and motivational abilities in the Managing Partners of the fund. Through this initiative, GCV releases a Powerlist highlighting the top leaders of the corporate venture funds.

The past winners have included one of Canada’s CVC funds TELUS Ventures (Rich Osborn, Managing Partner), the China-based Tencent Investment (Jeffrey Li, Managing Partner), the Japanese fund Softbank Vision Fund (Rajeev Misra and Marcelo Claure), and many other Fortune 1000 corporate venture capital funds across the world.

This year, we are truly delighted to announce that BCF Ventures and the fund’s CEO and Partner, Sergio Escobar, are recognized in the 2021 GCV Powerlist. The official announcement can be found here.

“Our team at BCF Ventures and I are very grateful. As a first-time fund manager, being recognized among the top performing CVCs validates our tremendous efforts. The entrepreneurial spirit from our LPs’ is the core driver in our belief that good deals will come to those who know how to best support the founders.” — Sergio Escobar

This recognition places BCF Ventures within the top 0.5% of the best performing CVC funds. Irrespective of the trials and tribulations of the global pandemic, our team at BCF Ventures has been relentless and the team’s pursuit at excellence has never wavered. We strongly believe that our success stems from our funds fundamental principles.

BCF Venture’s Fundamental Principles: The Trifecta Effect

From a strategic standpoint, our multistage investment focus has proven successful and can be denoted by the Trifecta Effect. First, risk mitigation through the prioritization of equity investments over multiply stages of investment rounds. Second, resource utilization of BCF Business Law to facilitate due diligence and proof-of-concepts in the B2B Enterprise SaaS. Third, optimization of the extensive network of corporate partners in efforts to expand customer growth of portfolio companies and create co-investment opportunities. In turn, investing in specific verticals has achieved top returns, facilitated portfolio support, and reduced operational costs.

Partnership Across The Ecosystem

As a spin-off from BCF Business Law, we are committed to capitalizing on synergies and value-added propositions between BCF Business Law and BCF Ventures. As our portfolio companies continue to grow and scale exponentially, this fruitful partnership has allowed us to support their growth development. We further seek the collaboration of IP experts at BCF Business Law for due diligence at the technical level, given their expertise in assessing some of the largest AI tech companies in the world.

By leveraging business development and relationship building, we have partnered with Canada’s leading AI hub for supply chain, Scale AI, to launch the first ever Corporate Innovation Program and will host a second program in a near future. Our joint initiative connected leading early-stage startups with select corporations and Corporate VC investors interested in deploying capital in the supply chain space. All in efforts to accelerate the growth of leading Canadian startups in supply chain.

This year, we also partnered with MNP, a national chartered professional accountancy and business advisory firms, to launch the NextSteps Program and Pitch Competition as part of our initiative to collaborate with another Canadian corporation in supporting the momentum of the Canadian startup ecosystem. The program is meant to deliver top-quality workshops that cover the grounds of legal, financing, and pitching for early-stage startups. With the national exposure and the mentorship from the subject matter experts, the participating startups will have a chance to further strengthen their fundamental bases.

Furthermore, our fund has continuously upheld strong relationships with the ecosystem players such as Traction Conference, Lazaridis Institute, LAUNCH and Boast.AI to organize free virtual webinars accessible to the startup community (with exclusive and notable guests ranging from Jeff Lawson at Twilio to Michelle Romanow, a Dragon’s Den Superstar and Co-Founder of Clearco).

By fostering a growing network of institutional partners, co-investors and entrepreneurs, BCF Ventures continues to be recognized favorably on a regional, national and international scale within the Corporate Venture Capital ecosystem.

We remain thankful for the recognition received by the GVC Powerlist and remain excited for what lies ahead and are grateful for the ongoing support.

BCF Ventures Team

BCF Ventures receives recognition in the GCV Powerlist Awards 2021 was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

BCF Ventures a le plaisir d’annoncer, en partenariat avec MNP, l’un des principaux cabinets d’experts-conseils en comptabilité, fiscalité et affaires au Canada, le Programme Virtuel “NextSteps” et le concours de présentation adjacent. L’écosystème technologique canadien est saturé de talents, mais la logistique entourant la création d’une entreprise peut sembler écrasante. Ainsi, l’on propose une initiative visant à connecter les startups dans le domaine de la technologie avec les experts adéquats qui permettront aux entrepreneurs de naviguer la complexité de démarrer une entreprise et d’atteindre leurs objectifs.

NextSteps est un programme exclusif visant à mettre en relation les startups technologiques canadiennes avec des conseillers stratégiques et des investisseurs fournissant des opportunités de capital. Tout cela, pour but de permettre à ces startups de se développer et d’atteindre leurs objectifs de croissance.

Si vous êtes un fondateur ou une équipe fondatrice cherchant des partenaires qui vous permettront de grandir, appliquer dès maintenant pour participer au Programme NextSteps. Vous travaillerez avec des mentors et des partenaires stratégiques de BCF Ventures et de MNP alors que nous partageons nos connaissances, notre expérience et un accès au capital qui rehaussera votre entreprise!

5 raisons de participer!

NextSteps est un programme tout-en-un fournissant des réponses aux questions difficiles que font face les fondateurs. Non seulement le programme fournit-il un réseau interpersonnel solide, mais il octroie également aux startups technologiques la possibilité de développer une solide compréhension des notions fondamentales entourant l’entreprise, de consolider leur positionnement sur le marché et d’en apprendre davantage sur les concepts clés pour l’optimisation des opérations de leur entreprise.

Voici 5 avantages et raisons de participer à notre initiative :

1Apprendre sur les stratégies et les pratiques de propriété intellectuelle dans votre domaine technologique — Nos experts en propriété intellectuelle mettront en évidence les aspects importants sur lesquels une entreprise devrait se centrer leur attention. De plus, ils sont disponibles pour répondre aux questions concernant votre plan de match en propriété intellectuelle.

2 Renseignez-vous sur les ressources financières canadiennes disponibles pour les startups — Il y a une panoplie de ressources financières à votre disposition, et ce, par l’intermédiaire du gouvernement canadien et des grandes institutions financières. Au cours d’un séminaire, nos experts vous aideront à les naviguer. Notamment, vous aurez l’opportunité d’apprendre sur le Programme canadien de recherche scientifique et de développement expérimental (RS&DE), source de $3B par an de capital sans endettement et non dilutif soutenant l’innovation et la croissance des startups canadiennes.

3 Apprenez à construire un pitch deck qui saura épater les investisseurs en capital de risque — Notre équipe chez BCF Ventures mettra en évidence les aspects importants examinés par les investisseurs lorsqu’ils envisagent d’investir. En plus, à travers leurs critiques vous avez l’opportunité de développer de solides compétences de pitch.

4 Opportunités de réseautage — Nous croyons fermement qu’être entouré de personnes possédant l’expertise et les connaissances adéquates est la clé du succès d’une entreprise. Votre participation vous permettra de créer un réseau de soutien fiable et robuste.

5Notre programme est GRATUIT et requiert peu de temps — Votre participation au programme est GRATUIT. Ainsi, recevoir des conseils précieux sur les principaux piliers de votre entreprise sera fait de manière efficace et rentable. Effectivement, l’événement se déroule en trois sessions d’une heure, et ce, sans frais.

Lieu & chronologie

Le Programme se tiendra virtuellement du 13 septembre au 11 octobre. Les trois premières semaines présentent un “Bootcamp” et la quatrième semaine consiste en une journée de Présentation de pitch finale (Final Pitch Day).

Les 3 premières semaines proposent un Bootcamp qui vise à faciliter les introductions entre les participants et les experts, et ce, à travers des séminaires à propos de sujets différents. Au cours de ces événements, les meilleures startups seront sélectionnées pour présenter lors du dernier Pitch Day le 11 octobre.

• 15 septembre— Construire un pitch deck
• 22 septembre — La propriété intellectuelle Intellectual Property
• 29 septembre— Les ressources financières canadiennes (SRED, iRAP, bourses, subventions, prêts, etc.)
• 13 octobre— Pitch Day

Les entreprises sélectionnées à présenter lors du Pitch Day seront mises en contact avec des investisseurs et des praticiens spécialisés dans leurs secteurs technologiques respectifs . Cela leur donne accès à des professionnels qui comprennent la complexité de leur entreprise qui les aidera à naviguer les défis auxquels ils peuvent être confrontés.

Prix à gagner🎉

Le gagnant du Concours de Pitch final se verra attribuer plusieurs prix, tels que :

• Une somme brute de 2000 $
• Un crédit OVHcloud — Des crédits technologiques pour accéder à des ressources, formations et conseils exclusifs de l’équipe Cloud Infrastructure
• Une consultation individuelle avec des experts en propriété intellectuelle de chez BCF Business Law
• La participation financière d’un investisseur directement intéressé par le marché vertical de l’entreprise
• Un mentorat, des conseils et un encadrement professionnels dispensés par un membre de l’équipe Technologie, médias et télécommunications de MNP
• Un mentorat, des conseils et un encadrement professionnels dispensés par BCF Ventures et un accès au réseau d’investisseurs et de sociétés de capital-risque de la société
• Une visibilité en ligne par l’intermédiaire des plateformes Web et des réseaux sociaux de MNP et BCF Ventures

Comment s’inscrire?

Si vous êtes une startup technologique canadienne en démarrage, fondée et basée au Canada, ne manquez pas cette opportunité ! La date limite d’application est le vendredi 13 août à 12pm ET.

👉 Click here to sign up now

Pour plus de questions, n’hésitez pas à contacter, Bonnie Chau, gestionnaire de portefeuille chez BCF Ventures à l’adresse suivante: bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc.

Qui sommes-nous?

MNP est un cabinet à la culture entrepreneuriale conçu pour les entrepreneurs et fier de soutenir les entreprises canadiennes et les dirigeants mus par un esprit d’entreprise. L’équipe MNP se consacre au marché des petites et moyennes entreprises canadiennes et comprend bien les besoins complexes des sociétés technologiques canadiennes en début de parcours.

BCF Ventures, une société distincte du cabinet BCF Avocats d’affaires, est une pionnière en matière d’investissement au Canada et s’illustre comme un des premiers fonds de capital de risque corporatif lancé par un cabinet d’avocats. BCF Ventures profite de l’expertise, des ressources et des conseils du cabinet et investit conjointement avec d’autres fonds à succès en Amérique du Nord et en Europe.

MNP x BCF Ventures inaugurent le premier Programme Virtuel NextSteps & son concours de Présentation was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

BCF Ventures is pleased to announce their launch of a Virtual NextSteps Program & Pitch Competition in partnership with MNP, a leading national accounting, tax and business consulting firm in Canada. The Canadian tech ecosystem is filled with talent, while navigating the logistics of building a company may seem overwhelming, the right guidance and feedback is the missing puzzle piece to seeing Canadian startups thrive!

NextSteps is an exclusive program aimed at helping Canadian early-stage tech companies in achieving their growth objectives through guidance from strategic advisors and connection with a well-suited investor to provide capital.

If you are a founder or a founding team seeking to find the right growth partners to achieve your next step, apply now to participate in the NextSteps Program and Pitch Competition. You will work with mentors and strategic partners from BCF Ventures and MNP as we share knowledge, experience, and access to capital that will elevate your business.

5 Reasons to Participate

NextSteps is an all-in-one program providing answers to founder’s most jarring questions. It gives tech startups the opportunity to develop a sound understanding of business fundamentals, solidify their market positioning and learn more about key concepts that will protect and optimize the operations of their new venture.

Here are 5 benefits and reasons for participating in the program:

1 Learn about effective IP strategies and practices — The IP experts at your disposal will highlight important aspects a venture should focus on and are available to answer questions concerning your startup’s IP road map and process.

2 Learn about available Canadian financial resources available to startups — Our experts at MNP will help you navigate different financial resources at your disposal through the Canadian government and large financial institutions. Notably, learn more about the Canadian Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program, which is a $3B/yearly source of non-debt & non-dilutive capital supporting innovation and growth of Canadian startups.

3 Learn how to a build bulletproof pitch deck from a VC’s perspective — Our team at BCF Ventures will highlight important aspects that investors look at when considering to invest, while simultaneously building and refining your current pitch skills.

4 Networking opportunities — We strongly believe that being surrounded by individuals who have the adequate expertise and knowledge is key to a company’s success. Participating will enable early stage companies to create a supporting and reliable network.

5 It’s FREE and time-efficient — The participation is FREE of cost to you. Receiving valuable guidance on the highlighted key pillars of your business is efficient and cost effective, since the event will be streamlined in three sessions of one-hour. If you are already seeking to find these subject matter experts, then the event will be to your advantage at no cost from your end.

Location & Timeline

From September 13th to October 11th, 2021 — Join our program as it will consist of a structured VIRTUAL multi-week initiative beginning with a 3-week Bootcamp and a final Pitch Day.

The Bootcamp aims to boost knowledge between the participating ventures and the subject matter experts. After the Bootcamp, the top startups will be selected to present at the final Pitch Day on October 11th.

• Sept 15th — Building a pitch deck
• Sept 22th — Intellectual Property
• Sept 29th — Financial resources (SR&ED, IRAP, grants, loans, etc.)
• Oct 13th — Pitch Day

Prizes 🎉

The winner of the final Pitch Competition will be granted multiple prizes:

• A $2000 cash prize from our friends at OVHcloud
• OVHcloud Credit — Technology credits to access exclusive resources, training and advice from the Cloud Infrastructure Team
• One-on-one consultation with practicing IP experts at BCF Business Law
• Professional mentoring, guidance and advice from BCF Ventures — and access to their network of investors and VCs
• Professional mentoring, guidance, and advice from an MNP Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Partner
• An investment from an investor who has vested interest in your vertical of tech.
• Online exposure through MNP and BCF Ventures’ web and social platforms

How to Apply?

If you are an early stage Canadian tech startup headquartered in Canada, do not miss out on this opportunity! The application deadline is Friday, August 13th at 12pm ET.

👉 Click here to sign up now

For any questions, please contact Bonnie from BCF Ventures at bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc.

Who are we?

MNP is an entrepreneurial firm built for entrepreneurs who are proud to support Canadian businesses and entrepreneurial business leaders. MNP is truly dedicated to the mid-market industry in Canada and understand the complex needs of technology companies starting their business journey in Canada.

BCF Ventures, a spin-off of BCF Business Law Firm, is a pioneer in the Canadian investment scene and one of the first corporate venture capital funds to be launched by a law firm. BCF Ventures benefits from the expertise, resources, and insights of the law firm and invests jointly with other successful funds across North America and Europe.

MNP x BCF Ventures Launches the Virtual NextSteps Program & Pitch Competition was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

ROOTS FROM MONTREAL, CANADA:

BCF Ventures, a multi-stage Canadian Corporate VC fund, is a proud investor of FightCamp. As part of our multi-stage approach, we wrote a small discovery check at the pre-seed round, and we then deployed a much larger check size in the follow-on rounds. By the time FightCamp has reached the Series A stage, we have invested a check size that was a multiple of 20x from the initial discovery check. Thanks to this multi-stage approach, BCF Ventures remains one of the only few investors that continued to reinvest, including the current Series B closing, since the inception.

We are happy to share a few moments about FightCamp’s origin story that many people do not know about. We had the unique chance of witnessing the birth of FightCamp from their humble beginnings in Montreal and their unique connection with Canada.

Khalil Zahar, Founder and CEO of FightCamp, is a Tunisian-born entrepreneur who moved to Quebec City at a young age. In 2015, Khalil had joined a Montreal-based pre-seed accelerator program called Founder Institute, which was managed by the same CEO at BCF Ventures — Sergio Escobar. The company was initially operating under a different name called Hykso, and it was later changed to FightCamp for re-branding purposes. Khalil was playing with the idea of building a connected sports product in the realms of mixed martial arts. During the four arduous months of the program, they had built the first version of the tracker sensors embedded in the boxing glove, including the algorithms. They were many other “firsts” for the company throughout the program — for example, pitching to mentors and potential investors, marketing to beta users, building the first prototype under a very limited budget, receiving hard feedback from mentors, etc. One life-changing moment for FightCamp was the onboarding of Patrick Chandler when Founder Institute had partnered with the McGill University to recruit student developers for an internship role. Patrick had joined as a developer and he was later promoted to the Chief Data Scientist as he had largely contributed to the development of the algorithms for the motion tracking sensor. Patrick is now the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at FightCamp, and is leading the marketing channel to scale the company at the international level. A fun fact is that Patrick had to quit McGill University one semester before graduating from a degree in Mechanical Engineering due to his decision to start working full-time on FightCamp. In a few short months, FightCamp was still in the prototype stage. But more importantly, they had landed a sweet partnership to assist both the US and the Canadian boxing team in preparing for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. Right after Founder Institute, we had referred and supported FightCamp to join the Y Combinator program in the US.

At the time of investment with BCF Ventures, FightCamp had launched a pre-sale campaign reaching revenues of $1M USD in 90 days as a trial to target the B2C consumer. This was the tipping point and the customer validation that we had wanted to witness for an investment at the pre-seed stage. It showcased an early sign of a potential product-market fit.

Additionally, we had invited one of our Limited Partners, the family office of Mitch Garber and Anne-Marie Boucher, to participate in the investment round, and to write larger checks as FightCamp moved to larger rounds. Mitch Garber, a serial Canadian entrepreneur with roots from Montreal and the ex-CEO of Caesars Entertainment, had introduced FightCamp to one of the greatest professional fighters in mixed martial arts and the UFC Hall of Famer, Georges St-Pierre, another proud Montrealer, to invest at the current Series B round.

When FightCamp had joined Y Combinator, the company was then required to reincorporate into an American company. So the founding team had decided to relocate to California permanently. Although FightCamp has moved its HQ to California, many Canadian-based angels and VC investors had continuously supported FightCamp. Over the years since Founder Institute, we have been tracking their progress, and we are extremely impressed by the execution level of the founding team. It has been an eventful journey to work with Khalil and the executive team. We are honored to be co-investing along with some of the most prominent US-based VC firms, and we would like to extend our gratitude to FightCamp for the years of trust in our relationship. We hope you enjoyed an uncovered Montreal tech story!

Today, FightCamp, the at-home Boxing and Kickboxing leader in connected fitness, announced $90 million in funding backed by a group of celebrity investors and venture capitalists. The round was led by global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Connect Ventures, an investment partnership between leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and NEA, and celebrity investors rooted in the world of Boxing and MMA including Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Georges St-Pierre, and Francis Ngannou. With the round of funding, FightCamp plans on expanding to the Android platform, launching internationally, and increasing the depth of its interactive content to help users dive deeper into the sport of Boxing, Kickboxing, and Martial Arts.

“FightCamp takes me back to the basics with a heavy cardio focused regimen. It was a cool way to introduce Boxing to my kids and now I can’t keep them off it,” said Mike Tyson, FightCamp investor, and former undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Instead of focusing on having the widest list of modalities, FightCamp differentiates itself within the at-home fitness market by delivering a deep, authentic dive into the sport that replicates a genuine Boxing and Kickboxing gym at home, and develops real skills that engage members’ minds and bodies. Its winning combination of cutting-edge technology, studio-grade equipment, and trainers with real fight experience has proven successful with members throwing more than 1 billion punches since the start, and sales growing 30 times over the last two years.

“The at-home fitness category was accelerated last year. Now, as more consumers adopt the trend as their permanent routine, we have an even greater opportunity to give people a taste of Boxing and Martial Arts culture in their own home,” said Khalil Zahar, Founder and CEO of FightCamp. “The growth we saw during our first two years before the pandemic started proves that the connected fitness industry is here to stay long after the pandemic is over, and getting the best professional fighters as investors in FightCamp is another step toward giving consumers the most authentic Martial Arts experience from the comfort of their home.”

According to a Consumer Trends report from The New Consumer published earlier this year, 81% of people under the age of 40 prefer to exercise at home, and FightCamp found that 85% more people stick with their routine longer if they use equipment than those who simply stream workouts. Not only do consumers prefer at-home workouts, but Boxing was one of the top 7 most popular fitness classes taken on ClassPass in the US, and outside of the US, Martial Arts was the number one fitness class taken with friends on ClassPass. The appetite for at-home workouts has never been higher, and FightCamp has successfully brought a favorite workout into consumers’ homes — this funding will allow them to continue to do so on a larger scale.

“In 2019, Boxing and Kickboxing classes had 33 percent more participation than cycling classes in the USA, yet the connected fitness space has been saturated with cycling options and other look-alike products. With so much opportunity in the Boxing and Kickboxing segment — arguably the most effective and enjoyable fitness discipline — FightCamp has emerged as a clear market leader, and stands alone in its category,” said Harley Miller, Founder and Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, a preeminent firm for B2C investments. “We spent time with nearly every relevant player in the connected fitness market and found the market to be filled with expensive products and copycats selling into the same affluent audience. In FightCamp, we saw a truly unique product format and experience, which both captured the spirit of the fighter, while providing an authentic entry point to all levels.”

“FightCamp’s overall efficiency and competitive advantage are what made the company an attractive investment for us,” said Rick Yang, General Partner and Head of Consumer Investing at NEA, lead investor in this funding round. “FightCamp has gone above and beyond the basics of interactive cardio by incorporating advanced motion tracking. Boxing, kickboxing, and other combat sports are huge cultural drivers, and this team knows what it takes to have a solid advantage over any competitors entering this space. Innovation aside, the customer base grew 30 times over two years, with demand outstripping supply, all while burning through minimal capital. This is the type of team and company we love to partner with, and this capital will give them plenty of fuel to continue their rapid scaling.”

Offering wearable punch trackers that display the number of punches and output of each punch thrown and studio-grade equipment, including a bag, base, premium Boxing gloves, quick wraps, and a mat, users are able to learn the necessary skills of the sought-after sport alongside real fighters that teach the authentic skills of Boxing and Kickboxing. Recently, FightCamp launched its Versus Mode that offers users the option to virtually fight against themselves and others on the leaderboard.

FightCamp’s Boxing and Kickboxing experts and certified trainers have carefully curated more than 1000 classes, drills, and trainings to help build the strength and skill of each FightCamp fighter. FightCamp trainers include: Tommy Duquette, former US Boxing team member and Co-Founder of FightCamp; Shanie “Smash” Rusth, a professional MMA competitor; Aaron Swenson, former member of the USA National Kickboxing team; Flo Master, a life-long martial artist and dancer who has worked with many celebrities including Usher, Ciara, Jennifer Lopez, and Will Smith; and PJ Shirdan, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Certified MMA Strength and Conditioning Coach.

“One of the most intriguing aspects of FightCamp is its consumer engagement. While many users simply begin FightCamp for fitness reasons, they quickly become focused on their form and technique, watching fights, reading fighter bios, and really becoming fans of the sport and ultimately part of its culture,” said Michael Blank, Head of Consumer Investments at CAA. “FightCamp’s goal is to bring the training techniques of one of the oldest sports in history to mainstream audiences, and we look forward to accessing our reach and resources in both sports and entertainment to further grow the business into a worldwide leader in at-home fitness.”

Additional investors include: IVP; Y Combinator; Ilkka Paananen, Founder and CEO of Supercell; Fritz Lanman, CEO of ClassPass; Mike Tyson, former WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight champion; Floyd Mayweather, recently named Fighter of The Decade by the BWAA; Georges St-Pierre, UFC Hall of Famer; Francis Ngannou, reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion; Usher, platinum recording artist and dancer; and Katheryn Winnick, actress known for her role in Vikings and 3rd Dan Black Belt holder in Karate and Taekwondo.

ABOUT FIGHTCAMP:

Founded in 2016, FightCamp offers consumers the best connected Boxing and Kickboxing experience led by world-class trainers in the comfort and safety of their own home. The FightCamp iOS app holds over 1000 workouts, drills, and trainings, and adds more than 12 new classes each week, allowing users to access each class at their own convenience. Designed to keep users engaged, focused, and in the zone, its uplifting beats, motivating trainers, and powerful technology makes each and every workout exciting. Regardless of Boxing experience, FightCamp builds the skills and strength of all its users from first-timers to advanced fighters.

MEDIA CONTACT:

For Canadian media, please reach out to Bonnie Chau, Portfolio Manager at BCF Ventures at the email bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc

For US media, please reach out to Nicole Brandfon, Account Supervisor at Max Borges Agency at the email nicolebrandfon@maxborgesagency.com

FightCamp Raises US $90 million to Bring Its Interactive Boxing and Kickboxing Gym to Masses was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Given OVHcloud’s commitment to its strong ecosystem of customers, integrators, and suppliers, they present an ideal partner for BCF Ventures and ScaleAI in setting the stage for innovation and community growth through this partnership.

BCF Ventures is a leading Corporate Venture Capital Fund with seasoned investment expertise in diverse industry verticals. With a vision to accelerate collaboration between AI-based supply chain start-ups and corporations, BCF Ventures developed the Corporate Innovation Program in partnership with Scale AI, Canada’s leading artificial intelligence supercluster. The Corporate Innovation Program provides entrepreneur-centric advice that responds to the challenges of business development, legal due diligence, scalability and funding. By prioritizing the ideal matching of startups with relevant corporations, the Corporate Innovation Program places a strong emphasis on relationship building, customer management and the all-important “human element” necessary for success in commercial dealings.

OVHcloud is a global player and the leading European cloud provider operating 400,000+ servers in its own 32 data centers across 4 continents. Servicing 1.6 million customers worldwide, OVHcloud offers an impressive array of trusted solutions, drawing on four universes: Bare Metal Cloud, Hosted Private Cloud, Public Cloud and Web Cloud. In fact, for over 20 years, OVHcloud has leveraged its integrated model in the realm of supply chain operations. From designing servers to building data centers and deploying its own fiber-optic global network, OVHcloud has solidified its place as a leading global cloud provider with solutions that ensure security, performance and data sovereignty.

By undertaking to join BCF Ventures and Scale AI’s Corporate Innovation initiative, OVHcloud will act as a useful support system for program participants. In addition to graciously providing start-ups with up to $150,000 CAD of free credits for its cloud services, OVHcloud will equally offer up to 20 hours of technical advisory services in the form of office hours. Startups will enjoy mentorship from experienced professionals and access to co-marketing opportunities through OVHcloud’s global network. With a strong historical presence in Europe, OVHcloud is the perfect gateway for startups that would like to expand and benefit from OVHcloud’s expertise and coaching in this highly regulated environment.

“BCF Ventures and Scale AI are doing amazing work for our ecosystem and are well positioned to support and accelerate the growth of AI companies across Canada and beyond. Drawing on a deep belief in open innovation and freedom of choice, OVHcloud is excited to join forces with such high caliber individuals to help build the future of global supply chain.”

Amy Pollard, Startup Program Manager — Americas at OVHcloud.

“OVHcloud is an ideal partner in our quest toward innovation and value creation within the startup ecosystem. We are delighted to be able to leverage this fruitful partnership in an attempt to offer participants of the Corporate Innovation Program unfettered access to some of the industry’s brightest minds and market-leading technology.”

Bonnie Chau, Portfolio Manager at BCF Ventures.

Partnerships such as the latter are the cornerstone of growth and scalability within the startup ecosystem. Pro-activity and collaborative efforts by corporations such as OVHcloud go a long way toward achieving the overarching goal of innovation and industry disruption.

For more information on participation in the Corporate Innovation Program or potential partnership opportunities, please contact Bonnie Chau at bonnie.chau@bcfventures.vc.

OVHcloud joins BCF Ventures x Scale AI’s Corporate Innovation Program was originally published in bcfventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.