Most startups on the East Coast and around the world view raising capital as a top priority. And with good reason, you can only boot-strap your startup so far. Cash is almost always the fuel for growth. But it is important to be strategic in your efforts to raise capital. Too little capital, or even too much, can create serious problems that will reduce your odds of success. The startup community here on the East Coast is still in its early days. The same can be said for our approach to raising capital. (Disclaimer – this post is meant for startups…

Rob and I are happy to welcome AirVM to the Build portfolio. We recently took part in the company’s $8 Million Series A round, which was led by RHO Canada Ventures, ourselves, as well as previous investor Wesley Clover. AirVM was founded in Saint John, New Brunswick by Josh Vautour and Jamie Pitt as an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider, hosting virtual machines for enterprise clients. Josh and Jamie became intimately aware of the pain points IaaS vendors had in running their businesses and transitioned to a product company with the launch of  AirSembly in 2013. Jamie heads up the R&D…

“We like what you’re doing, come back and see us when you have traction.” Every startup founder in search of seed, late seed or Series A funding has been on the receiving end of this statement from a venture investor. In fact, most have likely heard it more than once. It’s easy feedback for the potential investor to give because (they hope) it preserves the option to invest in future rounds. Yet it’s frustrating for founders who are left wondering what traction really means. The answers are typically vague. Sometimes an investor will suggest a few common benchmarks:  $100K MRR…

Atlantic Canada is wonderful place to launch a startup. It has a supportive and collaborative startup community, great accelerators and strong universities. But it doesn’t have a lot of customers, partners, or investors when compared to other more mature ecosystems. You can start a successful business here, but you will never reach scale within the region. That’s just a simple fact. The reality is that you must get on a plane and travel to larger places if you want to build your business. Our little region has a population of less than 2.5 million people. Individually each province is about…

Finding capital is one of the biggest challenges facing startups, in Atlantic Canada or around the world. Most traditional lenders are leery of investing in unproven startups, and friends and family support will only take you so far. At Build Ventures, our focus is on identifying and investing in Atlantic Canadian startups with clear potential. Still, not every startup is right for every venture capital firm. Here are the six big things we look for when considering an investment: People First and foremost, we are looking for outstanding founders. We want to see people with unique technology or a novel…

We are happy to welcome InteraXon to the Build Ventures’ portfolio. We recently invested in the company’s $10 million Series B round, which was led by OMERS Ventures with participation from existing investors Felicis Ventures, Horizons Ventures and Flextronics Lab IX. As we dug into the company, we got excited about the product and its potential, the traction to date and the depth of the management team. InteraXon has developed Muse, a brain fitness tool that measures a user’s brain waves using seven finely calibrated electroencephalography (EEG) sensors – two on the forehead, two behind the ears working together with…

It’s hard for Rob and I to believe but Build Ventures just had its two year anniversary. There was a surprising amount of ‘administrivia’ involved in setting up a first fund and a lot of fundraising meetings which took the fund from $48.5M when we launched to $65M today. Most importantly, of course, was getting out across the region to meet companies and begin building our portfolio. To date we’ve made six investments: Introhive, Affinio, Smart Skin, Resson  and Celtx. For those counting, the sixth just closed and will be announced soon. One thing which clearly got neglected was our blog. There…

Build Ventures is entering Newfoundland and Labrador with a major investment, supporting Celtx — a startup whose software is being adopted by companies in film, video and theatre around the world. With CEO Mark Kennedy at the helm, the St. John’s-based company began 15 years ago with the simple idea of taking a range of film production processes—from script writing, to production notes and set designs—and moving them from paper to digital. “This is a tremendous opportunity,” says Kennedy. “We’re reinventing how an industry does its work, and it’s a global business. We make 95 percent of our money outside…

The Atlantic Canadian regional venture fund unveils its name and brings on Rob Barbara as a managing partner. Halifax, NS, May 14, 2013 — Build Ventures, the new venture capital fund based in Atlantic Canada, launched today with almost $50 million in committed capital at first close, and announced Rob Barbara will join as a partner. Barbara and fellow partner Patrick Keefe have already begun the process of finding and vetting high-growth companies in the region that need investment to grow. They are also in talks with other venture capital funds throughout North America that are interested in backing the…