StandUp Ventures

StandUp Ventures is a Toronto-based seed-stage venture capital fund founded by Managing Director Michelle McBane to back high-growth Canadian and US technology companies with at least one woman in a C-level leadership position and equitable ownership. The firm's thesis is that women-led companies recruit stronger talent and serve larger markets, and it partners with ambitious founders to break through from pre-seed to Series A across B2B SaaS, digital health, and marketplace categories. McBane is a venture capital veteran who also mentors founders through the Health Innovation Hub at the University of Toronto; Principal Lucas Perlman (CPA) brings early-stage experience across Canada and East Africa. The firm leads rounds with typical checks of approximately $500,000. StandUp has raised two funds: Fund I closed at C$21.5 million raised between 2017 and 2019, while Fund II exceeded its initial C$30 million target to close at approximately C$35 million, backed by a broad institutional LP base including CIBC, RBC/RBCx, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, Teralys Capital, Vancity, BDC Capital, and Export Development Canada. Across the platform StandUp has made 65 investments. Named portfolio companies include Bridgit (construction workforce software), Arteria AI (fintech document automation), Cognito Health, ODAIA, Reusables, and Jombone (human capital services). The most recent disclosed investment is Pluvo (financial software) in February 2026. StandUp's gender-lens mandate is a deliberate commercial thesis: by concentrating on the cohort of founders that institutional VC has systematically underweighted, the firm accesses proprietary deal flow and backs teams building for the full market. Its institutional LP base -- including Canada's major banks -- underscores that the strategy has attracted mainstream validation.