De-mystifying Early Stage Fundraising

Founders Inspire Us

Two potentially investable startups pitch to investors. One closes a $350K deal with referrals to other angel groups and VCs, and the other doesn't get invited to a second meeting.

Investable startups often miss their closing moments due to common avoidable missteps and missed confidence reinforcing opportunities.

We are inspired by the creativity, potential, ambition and calibre of Canadian startups.

We believe more founders can close bigger deals, faster. 

We BELIEVE

Only 7% of Angel investment applicants receive angel funding in Canada. Although the process is competitive, we believe there's room for more promising Canadian startups to meet the high bar. 

While it's not uncommon to hear a founder say they met with 100 investors to close one, what if 12 of every 100 Angel investment applicants closed their Angel deals instead of 7?

CANLABS was created as a first step to increase the % of potentially investable startups closing Angel deals efficiently. 

Megan Cornell is a partner in the Corporate and Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies practice groups of the Dentons Ottawa office.

Her practice focuses primarily on transactional and commercial matters. Megan advises on mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, governance, commercial agreements, joint ventures and other commercial relationships, public and private financings.

Megan has a business owner mindset and a love for technology and process optimization. She is a strong team leader who aims to provide legal support that helps close transactions and sales, while also identifying and mitigating risks. She is a true partner to her clients, supporting them in their growth and development objectives.

 Prior to joining Dentons, she founded and operated a boutique business law firm in Ottawa

Dr. Brian Whitestone is a retired Oral/Maxillofacial surgeon.

Brian recently helped create the Tay River Medical Centre in Perth, Ontario which is a growing community of Physicians and related healthcare professionals serving this region.

He has also been active in the Capital Angel Network for over 6 years, having personally made over 15 investments in early stage companies, while serving on the Board of Realize Medical, a local Ottawa based medical imaging startup.

Brian loves to dive deeply into researching topics related to Angel investing and frequently presents 'The Art of Valuation' as it pertains to companies in their early stages.

Susan Richards, FCPA, FCMA is an entrepreneurial accountant with 20 years of financial leadership experience in the Ottawa tech sector. Over the past 20 years Susan has served as CFO and/or Financial Advisor to over 50 start-ups.

An entrepreneur at heart, Susan is co-founder of Numbercrunch which provides outsourced financial services to startups and scaling businesses.

Susan’s previous companies included co-founding online marketplace, Givolopy.com, which was sold in 2018.

Susan is a community champion having recently served on the Boards of Invest Ottawa, Bayview Yards and Kanata North Business Association.