Garage Capital

Garage Capital is a Waterloo-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments, primarily in Canada and select U.S. regions. The fund was founded by entrepreneurs from the local engineering community and is deeply embedded in the Waterloo ecosystem, while also actively investing in companies coming out of the Y Combinator program. Their portfolio includes prominent names like Substack, OpenPhone, ApplyBoard, and Clearco, reflecting a strong focus on SaaS, fintech, robotics, and productivity tools. Garage Capital’s strategy emphasizes backing pre-seed and seed-stage startups, with an eye on building category-defining companies. The fund is particularly hands-on, leveraging its founders’ operational experience to mentor early-stage companies. The team, led by Michael Litt and Mike McCauley, prefers to lead investment rounds and typically writes checks in the $500k to $1M range. They focus heavily on companies based in or connected to the Waterloo region but extend their reach to high-potential startups in San Francisco and beyond. The fund’s leadership, with its roots in scaling startups like Vidyard and BufferBox, offers a unique blend of technical expertise and market insight, making Garage Capital a sought-after partner for tech-driven founders. For entrepreneurs, approaching Garage Capital is best done through warm introductions or participation in key ecosystems like Y Combinator.