Golden Ventures FAQ

Golden Ventures FAQ

Understanding how different venture capital funds operate is unnecessarily difficult for founders. We know because we've been on the other side and had to ask the same questions. In an effort to be more transparent and open, we're sharing qualitative and quantitative data about how we invest, operate, and hold ourselves accountable.

Summary

  • Golden Ventures is a seed-stage and sector-agnostic venture capital fund
  • We are headquartered in Toronto and invest throughout North America
  • We are currently investing out of Fund IV, a $100M USD Fund
  • We are targeting 25-30 core investments out of our current fund
  • A portion of the fund is allocated towards angel investments in companies that may not meet our core investment criteria but where we have a strong belief in the founders and the opportunity.
  • We target initial commitments of $500K - $2.5M for between 8-15% of a company, and we reserve capital to follow on into companies based on progress.
  • We are comfortable leading, co-leading, or participating in rounds
  • Get to know us:
    • ‣
    Investment Team
    ‣
    Post-Investment Team
  • We are motivated to move quickly and maintain transparency during the pre-investment process
  • How we promote DE&I internally and externally
  • To support our portfolio companies, we focus on the initiatives we believe have the greatest overall impact: talent, down-stream capital, and support with company building

Fund Overview and Strategy

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What stage(s) do you invest in?
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What sectors and business models do you invest in?
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What geographies do you invest in?
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How big is your fund?
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How many investments do you typically make?
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Do you have valuation targets for your initial investment?
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How much do you initially invest and what percentage ownership do you target?
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Do you lead, co-lead or participate in the round?
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Do you invest in pre-revenue companies?
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After the initial investment, does the fund continue to invest in the company?
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Are there sectors or industries that you cannot, or will not invest in?
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How do you discover or meet the companies you invest in?
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Do you accept cold pitches or intros?
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What is your portfolio graduation rate (which companies go on to raise additional capital)?
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Who are your Limited Partners (LPs)?
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Who will we interact with from the fund?
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How do you promote Diversity and Inclusion in your fund and in the companies you back?

Working With Us

Pre-investment

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What are the steps in your investment process?
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What are your key investment criteria?
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What do you look for in founding teams?
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How do you deal with potentially competitive opportunities with your existing portfolio?
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Who can lead a deal at your fund?
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How do I know which investor at your firm is best suited for my company?
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How can I reference the fund and/or potential person I want to work with?

Term Sheet

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Do you care if it's a priced round, convertible note or SAFE?
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In discussing terms, did you mean pre or post-money?
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What terms typically require more discussion and why are they there?
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Why do you care which service providers (lawyers, accountants, etc) we use?
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How should I think about other potential investors as a part of the round?

Post Investment

We understand that founders and their teams are the driving force behind the transformational companies we have the privilege to partner with. We spend a lot of time thinking about how best to support our portfolio, and have developed programs with that in mind.

To learn more about our platform, take a look at our Post-Investment page.

Post Investment Support