VC, Founder & Startup Operator | Product Geek (B.Eng) Latest Update: April 2022

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<aside> 👋 About: Raphael is a VC, Founder & Startup Operator and Adventure Enthusiast, who is currently working on diverse projects, advising and consulting for new investment funds and important ecosystem players. He spent the past 7 years building new types of investment vehicles and raising VC funds to invest in Canada’s most promising tech founders.

Raph Co-Founded Front Row Ventures, Canada’s first university-focused venture capital firm; and up to late 2021, he was the CEO of the firm. He’s a product geek that is, first and foremost, passionate about creating outstanding technologies that enhance people's lives, especially consumer-centric ones.

An entrepreneur since childhood, Raph went from owning a car garage to a window-cleaning business to a tech startup — all before he hit twenty. A software engineer who is passionate about creating outstanding technologies that enhance people's lives, Raph has also been advising and mentoring founders through programs like VentureLAB, NextAI, CDL, MindFrame Connect, and tech-focused events, including Startup Weekends, and hackathons.

He also worked on Real Ventures’ early-stage investment team for almost 5 years, from 2017 to late 2021. Real is Canada's most active seed venture capital fund. The firm invests throughout the life cycle of early-stage companies and provides stage-appropriate capital and support for the founders it backs.

Prior to FRV, Raph was a Product Manager partnering with forward-thinking startups and companies. When he’s not working on building startups or the tech ecosystem, Raph can be found skiing, snowboarding or coding his newest product idea.

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Experiences

Metacommerce.app

Head of Product & Operations [Toronto]

2022 - NOV. 2022

Supported the 2 other Co-Founders in raising a $2M USD pre-seed round from leading investors in Canada, the USA, and Singapore. (Before joining full-time in March 2022)
Grew the team from 3 to 10 FTEs.
Led all operations efforts: from hiring/sourcing to basic company processes.
Led non-dilutive fundraising efforts: government grants and Canadian SRED/R&D programs.
Led product efforts: Built product roadmap, led product sprints (bridging the company’s ambitions with CTO & the engineers) and collected user/market feedback.
I left as my vision for this company was not aligned with the CEO’s (culture clash).

Strategic Advisor,

Investor-in-Residence (Fundraising Advisor), and/or Mentor

(Collaborateur/Consultant)

2021 - PRESENT

Advising and investing in Canada’s top tech startups.

Advising companies, new investment funds, governments, para-gov. organizations, and well-establish VC firms on various strategic topics.

To Various Companies/startups and firms:

Inovia Capital
Axelys
Espace CDPQ
Asylum & Affordance Studios
ventureLAB
NextAI
MindFrame Connect
Front Row Ventures
Real Ventures
Reseau Capital
District3 (Accelerator)

Front Row Ventures

Board Member

2021 - PRESENT

After spending 6 years building and scaling FRV across Canada as its National Managing Director, I am stepping down while maintaining my role of Board Member — to make space for a new Managing Director of Front Row Ventures. It’s time for a new adventure: both for me and for FRV.

Co-Founder & CEO [Montréal & Toronto]

2016 - 2021

I’m the Co-Founder of Front Row Ventures, Canada's premier university-focused venture capital fund investing in Canada's most promising university founders. We back Canada’s most promising university founders – those leveraging cutting-edge technologies to create and redefine industries.

Real Ventures

Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Focused on exploring Web3) [Montréal & Toronto]

AUG. 2021 - NOV. 2021

Exploring & Building something new in Web3
Helping Real/FRV’s portfolio companies with their Fundraising
I left as their focus on web3 was not align with my ambitions

Early-Stage Team [Montréal & Toronto]

2017 - AUG. 2021

Real is Canada's most active early-stage venture capital firm that backs entrepreneurs and builds the ecosystems in which they thrive. Real backs world-class entrepreneurs building game-changing companies. The firm invests throughout the life-cycle of early-stage companies and provides stage-appropriate capital and support for the founders it backs.

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