Welcome to Who Are These Startups?

podcast shorts featuring founder interviews of Canadian startups.

So, Startup Coach here and I'm down at collision.

I'm talking to Daniel Graham from the Firehood.

How are things at the Firehood?

Amazing.

We just came back from a national tour in Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Atlantic Venture Forum in Halifax.

So, tell us a little bit about the Archangel Network and the Firehood.

So, we have a fund in Waterloo called Archangel Network of Funds.

It's leveraged as a back-end system to support multiple emerging managers who have their own funds.

So, we have four currently, Adrenaline, Starforge, Axion and Phoenix Fire.

The one that focuses on women is Phoenix Fire, so we have an LPGP structure for that fund.

But with the Firehood, it's a broader network of women angels and we're able to actively connect with and build programs within the community.

And what types of startups do you invest in?

So, women-led startups don't have a sector-specific focus, although we do tend to invest in MedTech, CleanTech, Cybersecurity, AI machine learning and digital transformation.

Mainly because of the focus of a lot of our angels who have that subject matter expertise.

And normally you're partaking in collision, doing running competitions, speaking that kind of stuff.

What brings you to collision this year?

So, usually we work with local, Canadian-based initiatives like SAS North, Startup Fast, Elevate and Uniting the Prairies.

So, we'll see all women entrepreneurs pitching us for a 100k check that will write on the spot as part of the announcements at the end of the conference.

For collision, it's been great just to circle around, meet other investors from around the world and sometimes participate in their startup showcases.

Although, because we're very Canadian-focused, we find that a lot of the companies we need to meet are at our local conferences.

And you're a big part of Startup Fast.

You want to tell us what's going on with Startup Fast this year?

Yes, well, we're thrilled to offer the Women in Tech Prize again for the third time this year.

So, we'll have a whole host of angel investors from around the country join us in a VIP space on the docks and we'll be able to see any female founders who want to pitch us on the spot.

And if people, who should reach out to talk to you?

Obviously, women entrepreneurs, even if you're raising your first round and you haven't had a lot of experience, we do have a program focused on investment readiness with Elevate called Elevate Women Plus.

And applications are currently open until close to the end of July.

And that program has seen two cohorts with multiple, multiple closes.

Over 50% of the companies in each cohort have closed their pre-seed rounds.

That's fantastic.

And if people want to find out more about you or the fire hood, where do they go?

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn, Danielle Bruin-Grim, and we also have an intake form through the firehood.net website.

I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day at Collision to talk to us today.

Great to see you again.

Thank you.

This has been Who Are These Startups?

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