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Keith Ippel shared thisWelcome to Blended Finance Canada Three and a half years ago, Tracey Robertsonertson called me to ask the question - how can we get Blended Finance to ignite in Canada. We called Kristi Fairholm Mader and we started to put in the work. Over the past three years, we ran 3 Blended Finance Summits, two Blended Finance primers, two Foundations in Blended Finance courses, documented several case studies, and ran several interactive webinars. The mailing list grew well past 500 and the community across Canada became connected. That leads us to today. Last week at Victoria Forum, we announced Blended Finance Canada - the evolution and expansion of this work and the addition of UVic Impact Investing Hub as a partner with Scale Collaborative's Scale Institute and Spring. Here’s what to expect: Blended Finance - from Education into Action via the Blended Finance Summit, Webinars, Deeper Dive learning and support opportunities, regional in-person learning labs, documented case studies, and more This would not have been possible without the visionary support in the first three years of Boann, Catalyst Community Finance, Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union, Definity Foundation, Genus Capital Management, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Realize Capital Partners, and SVX. And thanks to Tracey, Kristi, Basma Majerbi, Tasha Truant, Laurel Sabur, Kariann Aarup, Nicolae Zaharia, MBA, PMP for all of your team leadership. If you are interested to learn more and to collaborate with us, check out the website and sign up for the newsletter to learn more. https://lnkd.in/gJJuUjj7 #blendedfinance #impactinvesting #structuredfinance #catalyticcapital #canada
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Keith Ippel shared thisCongratulations to the New Ventures BC Top 10! Yesterday, the finalist list was released and they reflect the breadth and depth of early stage venture quality in BC. Founders with bold visions who are unlocking growth, scale, and impact. Companies that are preparing to or actively raising A special congratulations to Spring companies selected! Amin Sharifi and Enya Learning Ashley Sarauer and Ontoly Melissa L.r and Ontoly Melissa L., Edan Wolk and VEGAIN Nutrition Congratulations to all of the Top 10, the companies that made it through stages 1, 2, 2.5, and 3. A huge shout out to to Angie Schick and the entire NVBC team for pulling together another powerful group of BC based ventures. For investors, considering coming out to the Top 25 pitch night! https://lnkd.in/e6SPMAu4 #britishcolumbia #preseed #seed #edtech #cleantech #cpg #fundraising #raisingcapital #angelinvesting
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Keith Ippel posted thisThis is a big weekend for Canada, the tariff situation, and the future of our economy. Primer Minister Mark Carney was fully justified to walk away from a bad trade deal with the US and Trump. a classic move made by Trump to say on Tuesday that the deal was basically done, then change the terms. Carney always said there was work to be done - and he was right. Now, Trump today hints at annexation comments saying that we want all the benefits of being a part of America. Now, let's be clear - NO. For some of us, we may see lower taxes or broader access to capital as benefits. However, when you weigh that with massive wealth inequality, rampant gun violence and racism, violent political polarization, unaffordable healthcare, untenable levels of mental health and addiction issues - NO. Today I stand with all Canadians, and with Carney, as we reinforce our values independence. However, as Canadian business leaders, we must not rest on what we have and pretend that there are not areas to improve. There are a number of common complaints and shortcomings in Canada, and we can address them. One example is the often quoted issues from founders that there is not enough capital in Canada. So, in the spirit of stepping up and into this situation, we are creating an Airtable that will be the single go-to source for sources of early stage (pre-seed to B) capital in Canada. I am calling on all early stage funders in my community and across Canada to fill this out. We will then make this publicly available to enable Canadian founders to not only find capital, but to identify what is aligned by sector, stage, capital type, geography, and nuance details not found in an AI search to ensure potential fit. Let's help Canadian founders thrive, and give them more reasons to stay. https://lnkd.in/g47PEpfK #canadastrong #canada #tariffresponse #preseed #seed #venturecapital #angelinvesting
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Keith Ippel shared thisThis is a very un-Canadian post. Canadians are modest and we are often apologetic - enough that it's a trademark of Canadians both here and on a the global stage. However, as we are knee deep in Spring's team retreat, I have to share this. With pride. This is what our team accomplished with Scale Ready - in one year. From July 2025 to July 2026. From Zero. 424 founders, raising $28million+, and with a 9.3 NPS across 12 cohorts of Build, Elevate, Grow Venture Studio, and Invest Together. Spring is one of the, if not the, most active national organizations supporting purpose driven founders, and catalyzing more pre-seed and early seed capital than any other. The core Scale Ready team has be inspiring - relentless in their passion, commitment, determination, and ambition to help founders and investors alike to change the world. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Natalie Youssef, Naomi Boon, Shantanu Mehta, Tarika Vijayaraghavan, Ph.D., KJ Viola, Rachelle Cheng, Fabíola da Rocha Borba, Gina El Kattan, and the enduring support and leadership from Caroline von Hirschberg, Crystal Lo, Tina, and Helen Aareskjold. This team kicks ass - every single day. This is made possible by our incredible expert network - a powerhouse community of leaders, advisors, and investors who empower our founders to scale and thrive - thank you! Our gratitude extends to our partners including DLA Piper, MNP, The Discovery Foundation, RBC, Ink LLP, EY Ripples, Pacific Economic Development Canada | Développement économique Canada pour le Pacifique, National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada, RBC, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, Innovate BC, Propel Impact, Sales Primer, and more. Your support makes all of this possible. https://lnkd.in/gVvhiAES #impact #bethechange #preseed #seed #fundraising #raisingcapital #angelinvesting #canada
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Keith Ippel reposted thisKeith Ippel reposted this🏆 Happy Tuesday, it’s time for another round of Founder Wins! This week, Spring founders are building new partnerships, securing investment, earning recognition, growing their teams, and celebrating major milestones. 🚀 ✨ Indiegraf + Erin Millar + Caitlin Havlak is partnering with News Revenue Hub to help independent newsrooms build sustainable revenue. ✨ OHME! Foods + Jenny Yue + Han Yue are currently hiring a Brand Ambassador. ✨ 7 Summits Snacks has been recognized as a Top 10 company by Edmonton Unlimited for Edmonton Startup Kickoff Week this October. ✨ Tenzr Health + Lukas-Karim Merhi + Gautam Sadarangani is joining the new envisAGE cohort to help advance safer at-home recovery for older adults. ✨EH! by TrailMix Technologies + Jessica Glowacki celebrated their one-year launch anniversary. ✨ Sonaro + Karina Gasbarrino, PhD + Kashif Khan, MD, PhD has secured investment from Anne Marie Bianchi. ✨ PragmaClin Research Inc. + Bronwyn Bridges is celebrating another major milestone, with its founder named one of just eight 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Fellows by Northeastern University. Join us in congratulating these incredible founders and teams on another exciting week of milestones! 👏 Want more founder wins, opportunities, ecosystem updates, and upcoming events delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to the Spring newsletter. https://lnkd.in/gpRrvVZD Have a milestone, opportunity, or hiring announcement you’d like us to celebrate? Tag us or share it in the comments below. 🚀 #FounderWins #CanadianStartups #ImpactEntrepreneurship #StartupJobs #Innovation #SpringCommunity
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Keith Ippel shared thisPutting out the call to my community - Spring is hiring! Fabíola leads community at Spring, and her family is expecting a new addition in November!! As such, we are hiring a parental leave replacement on an initial one year term. This role will be the champion of our community of founder, investors, and expert participants and alumni. They will weave together our community to ensure that each person is able to connect, be empowered by education, identify the right opportunities and scale businesses and impact together. Naomi, Natalie, and I are excited to meet you and share this opportunity. Please share with folks you know in your community who may be interested. We are accepting applications from across Canada. https://spring.is/careers/ #hiring #careers #community #communitymanagement #impact #impactentrepreneurs #impactinvesting #preseed #seed #canada
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Keith Ippel shared thisCatching my breath after three inspiring days with the fund team. Earlier this week, Olivia, Larissa, Graham, and I met to reflect on Spring Impact Capital Fund 1, map the next year, and begin to contemplate Fund 2. Throughout our time together, there were a few things that struck me. Now, more than ever, we need to be doing this work. The world is, literally, on fire. There are a multitude of opportunities to address the world's biggest challenges, and innovation will need to be bold and at scale to help us ensure a sustainable and resilient future. Canada is a key place to do this work. As we look across our portfolio, and how Canada is leading (or emerging) in key sectors such as decarbonization, circular economy, adaptation and resilience, wildfire management, blue economy, and more. We bring exceptional technical talent, breakthrough innovations - and now we require the right capital and supports to ensure the outcome. Spring's strategy is a winner. Building an organization that spans capital (Fund), capacity building (Spring), and talent (Propel Impact + capital - more coming soon) is an ecosystem approach that will help to not only catalyze innovation, but help it to grow and thrive in Canada. This team is awe-inspiring. Smart, driven, passionate about the mission, and deeply caring of our founders, ventures, and investors. I couldn't be more proud of them. I can't wait to continue this journey of impact and share all that is happening and coming up. #impactinvesting #venturecapital #canada #cleantech #climatesolutions #blueeconomy #preseed #seed
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Keith Ippel shared thisCapital is returning to sustainability, agriculture, climate, and impact. The following list highlights 5 recent and significant fund closes in Europe. Across the full spectrum of sustainability, these funds highlight a few critical trends and observations. First, the need to invest in a new and better climate future is real. To do so, it must span a diverse set of problems and opportunities - from energy to food to the impact of tech on the planet. Second, our approach needs to span communities, whether nationally or globally. This is especially critical for investments in solutions and regions that include smaller and remote communities and in developing countries - both that are often most impacted by climate change. Third, investing in experienced fund managers and growth capital is an essential portfolio strategy. This is core to Benjamin Bergen and Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) are advocating for in the Canadian context. Fourth, to ensure this becomes sustainable and futureproofing, investing and making portfolio construction appropriate investments in early stage funds and organizations is critical to ensure that not only current growth businesses are funded, but that the next generations continue to advance and accelerate a sustainable energy, food, and climate future. Fifth, that Canada needs to continue to step up, requiring bold investments, strong investment managers, and coordinate co-investing to scale our capital, our ecosystem, and the impact we have on our country and the planet. #investing #angelinvesting #venturecapital #growthinvesting #impactinvesting #canada #foundations #communityfoundations #familyoffices Thanks to Yonca Braeckman and Impact Shakers for compiling and sharing this list.
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Keith Ippel shared thisBlended Finance continues to be incorporated by more investors and organizations developing sound, balanced portfolios that embrace the spectrum of risk, return, and impact. There are three upcoming opportunities to learn more about blended finance, explore approaches, and meet investment leaders and co-investors who have successfully embraced blended finance for their portfolios. August 12th (online) - the Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) as Catalytic Capital webinar is happening, with Cindy Willard of Impact Charitable It's hosted by the Blended Finance Working group, co-led by University of Victoria Impact Investing Lab, Spring, and Thrive Impact Fund ha https://luma.com/4iui2jz0 August 22-25th (Victoria, BC) - the Victoria Forum returns, with an expansive agenda on investing, systems change, impact investing, and blended finance. It's a highlight event on the annual impact investing conference, with the support from TELUS, University of Victoria, and many others. Speakers include Andrew Chunilall, Arti Freeman, Lasse Gustavsson, Laurel Sabur, Mike Rowlands, and many others. https://victoriaforum.ca/ October 15th-November 26th (online) - Foundations in Blended Finance, designed and delivered by Spring with the generous support of Coast Capital, is a seven session deep dive into Blended Finance that empowers investors, family offices and foundations, corporate leaders, financial advisors, and fund managers to map blended finance into a portfolio approach to investing for returns and with purpose. https://lnkd.in/g7Dn_xNk #blendedfinance #impactinvesting #portfolioapproach #DAFs #donoradvisedfunds #systemschange #responsibleinvesting #canada
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Keith Ippel liked thisKeith Ippel liked thisREQUEST FOR SERVICES: We're taking proposals from experienced consultants to explore and advise on the feasibility and design of a potential philanthropic Data & AI Fund. This fund would help shape how data and AI can be harnessed for social good, ensuring people and communities facing disadvantage benefit. Proposals due 25 September 2026. Learn more 👉https://loom.ly/Ns1w3C4
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