Feb 16, 2012
After a 2 year hiatus, we’re going to try and bring together Founders & Funders in Toronto again.
The Founders and Funders dinners are a series of invitation-only dinners that are held across Canada several times a year. They are a sort of summit on the state of each community and we do our best to make sure that the best startups possible have a chance to meet the most respected and active investors who are doing deals in those cities. There is always a mix of locals and people who come in for the event as a way to get connected.
We believe that if you cannot sit down and have dinner with someone, then you probably shouldn’t invest in or take investment from them. This is a great chance to apply a social filter to the dealflow in any one place.
What is it?: An invitation-only 3 course dinner. Cocktails before, cocktails after….
Who is coming?: The top investment-ready startups and active investors in Canada.
Where is it?: Downtown Toronto
When?: February 16th, 2012 at 6:30pm
How much is it?: Tickets range from $125 (startups) to $500 (service providers)
We are now accepting requests for invitations and the first round of invitations will go out this week.
We have also decided to include a brief fireside chat with Daniel Debow at this dinner. We rarely do this sort of thing at a Founders and Funders but 2011 was such a great year we thought it would be fun to look back on the ups and downs of Rypple through the years and how they got to their eventual exit, some of which was written about in Forbes this week.
Daniel and Rypple have also been a big part of the Canadian startup community and he has also been an active angel investor recently.
We are excited to hear what he has to say about how we can help build more great Canadian companies and how to build awareness in Silicon Valley when your HQ is back here in Canada.
We hope you will join us as we kick off another great year for the Toronto and Canadian startup community.
We will be announcing Founders and Funders dinners in other cities soon as well.
Family Day – Rescheduling
We’ve had some feedback about hosting Founders & Funders on Feb 15, 2010 (Family Day). And the feedback has been, I love the event, but can you do it on a different day. We like to think this is all about entrepreneur enablement. So if no entrepreneurs show up, it’s pretty hard to do the enablement part.
We are finalizing a new date with the venue. I’m leaning towards Monday, March 1, 2010. I’d like to connect with everyone before SxSWi & Mix.
Once the new date at the venue is finalized, I will begin sending out personal invitations. How do you get an invitation? Step 1 is to let us know that you are interested. We have begun reviewing applications (and in case you’re curious, we make everyone tell us why they should participate: Founders, Funders, a limited number of Service Providers – Jevon made Jonas and me justify our participation 
I am hoping to finalize the venue and date this week, with the first round of invitations sent out by Friday.
Toronto on Feb 15, 2010
Wow, as I’m writing this, it has been 18 months since the last Founders & Funders in Toronto. There have been a plethora of other events like StartupEmpire, Canadian Innovation Exchange, DemoCamp and others. It’s time we do this again.
Founders & Funders Toronto is booked for Februrary 15, 2010.
How do I attend?
Founders & Funders is by invitation only. We are actively seeking new talent. That means new companies, new startups, new founders, new entrepreneurs. We are looking for new funders. How do I get an invite if I’m new? Well, you should apply to attend.
How much does it cost?
The price is $100/founder, $200/funder and $500/service provider. We’re also looking for separate wine sponsors.
Who is attending?
Details of the funders, founders and everyone else attending will be added shortly. One of the reasons for the changes to the application process is to help gather information to share with attendees. This should be a great social event.
Ottawa – Dec 3, 2009
Allan Isfan and Rick O’Connor are hosting another Founders & Funders – Ottawa on December 3, 2009. This is a great event for the Ottawa community. The goal continues to be connecting the people who start companies with the people that fund them. It’s a very simple piece of the social fabric in the emerging technology ecosystem. And it’s fantastic to see the Ottawa crew being significantly more active.
The event is “invitation only” and is limited in terms of availability. That is there are a limited number of available spaces, and Allan and Rick are currating the guest list like any good dinner party. If you are a startup in Ottawa, or you are a funder drop them a note.
Just a sidebar on “funder”, this means active funders, not necessarily just high net worth individuals. The event is best for individuals that are active, i.e., have deployed capital in the past 18 months. And if you haven’t deployed capital, you have a very good reason (waiting for previous investments to mature; trying to hit an earn out, etc.).
If you’re in Ottawa on December 3 (and not at DemoCamp Toronto #24), here’s how you get involved.
The event is “by invitation only’ and is limited in terms of availability. If you would like to attend, please send Allan Isfanallan.isfan@favequest.com or Rick O’Connor rickoco@theottawanetwork.com a note and let them know who you are and why you should participate.
