Kauffman Fellows Summit Comes to Canada

We’re bringing 400+ of the world’s top venture capitalists to Montréal, Canada, in September 2024

Kauffman Fellows is excited to announce that we have selected Montréal, Canada, as our next destination for the Annual Kauffman Fellows Summit, taking place September 15–18, 2024.

Every year, Kauffman Fellows hosts a Summit that attracts hundreds of venture capitalists and LPs from over 45 countries interested in investment and partnership opportunities in the region. This invite-only regional tour promotes cross-border investments, highlights the strength of the local ecosystem, and strengthens the community and relationships among our network. 

_{KF Summit Objectives}

• Create opportunities to make meaningful connections through the largest gathering of Kauffman Fellows of the year. 
• Provide exposure to the Canadian VC ecosystem.
• Build and strengthen relationships between LPs and GPs globally.

_{‍Focus on the Canadian Tech & Venture Capital Ecosystem}

This year, Kauffman Fellows is thrilled to partner with BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs, to host the Summit. ‘’At BDC, we firmly believe that venture capital serves as an important catalyst for innovation and productivity within our country, and we’re thrilled that Montréal will host the Kauffman Fellows Annual Summit this Fall, ‘’ said Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO, BDC. ‘’By continuing to deepen our collaboration with Kauffman Fellows, our aim is to forge impactful connections at the international level and building an even more robust ecosystem around Canadian innovators, which is key to our role as development bank.’’

The Canadian venture capital ecosystem has progressed significantly over the past decade, with total VC investments growing 3.5x since 2014. Canada is home to some of the most innovative and resilient entrepreneurs and investors supported by:

• Access to highly skilled technology professionals, supported by Canada’s favorable immigration policies.
• A robust education system and the presence of accelerators nurturing talent and innovation.
• Government support and funding initiatives, especially for startups and scale-ups at the early stage.

^{Summit Speakers & Key Themes} 

• Canadian entrepreneurial success stories with Harley Finklestein (President of Shopify), Christian Weedbrook (Founder & CEO of Xanadu AI), and Katherine Homuth (Founder & CEO of Sheertex).
• Frédéric Lalonde (Co-founder of Deep Sky and CEO and Co-Founder of Hopper) and Amanda Hall (CEO at Summit Nanotech) will be discussing Climate Tech.
• Martin Kon (President of Cohere) and Raquel Urtasun (Founder & CEO of Waabi) will share their perspectives on the future of AI. 
• Canadian LPs, including Ian Carew (Northleaf), Senia Rapisarda (Harbourvest), and Isabelle Hudon (BDC), along with more than a dozen Fellows, will join panels focused on LP/GP relationships.

_{‍Summit Committee}

The Kauffman Fellows organization greatly appreciates our Canadian Fellows Summit Committee, who have designed the content, venues, and experiences available to our attendees during the Summit.

About Kauffman Fellows 

Kauffman Fellows is a lifelong learning community for people who represent the future of venture capital. We believe that venture capital is one of the most powerful tools for economic development and prosperity. Our mission is to ensure our Fellows, through our education programs and network, acquire and create new skills rooted in venture capital excellence and use those skills to lead meaningful positive change. In the 29 years since inception, we’ve grown to over 940 Fellows from over 60 countries representing 650+ venture firms.

Annual Summits are a reunion of the entire KF investor network in some of the most vibrant ecosystems across the globe, with the most recent hosted in Kenya, Mexico, UAE, Japan, Israel, Singapore, and Brazil.