Northside Ventures

# Northside Ventures: Canada's Pre-Seed Champion for AI and Infrastructure

High-Level Overview

Northside Ventures is a Toronto-based pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm focused on backing exceptional Canadian founders building software, AI infrastructure, and frontier technology companies.[1][2] Founded in 2023, the firm operates with a mission to invest in founders at the earliest stages—often before product-market fit or revenue generation—recognizing that enduring ventures begin with extraordinary people capable of executing ambitious visions.[1]

The firm's investment philosophy centers on founder quality over idea validation. Rather than waiting for proven traction, Northside deploys capital at the point of company inception and ideation, providing initial checks ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.[2] Beyond capital deployment, the firm positions itself as an extension of founders' networks, connecting them with design-partner customers, strategic guidance, and pathways to subsequent funding rounds.[1] This approach reflects a conviction that the earliest stage of company formation—when founders are still crystallizing their vision—represents the optimal moment to identify and back exceptional talent.

The firm concentrates its investments across four core sectors: artificial intelligence, vertical SaaS, fintech, and cleantech.[2][3] This focus on categories with transformative potential allows Northside to leverage founder insights as a competitive advantage while targeting markets where technical innovation can create durable advantages for legacy industries, SMBs, and enterprises.[1]

Origin Story

Northside Ventures emerged in 2023 from the conviction that Canadian founders deserved dedicated early-stage capital and operational support.[2] The firm was founded by Dehdan Miller, who serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer, alongside General Partner Alex McIsaac.[6] Miller's background provides crucial context for the firm's thesis: he previously spent three years at Global Founders Capital as its first and only Canadian partner, where he deployed approximately $40 million across 30 Canadian startups, backing companies including AutoLeap, Aviron, Clutch, Disco, Float, Ledn, Pine, Secoda, Shakudo, and Wombo.[4] Before that, he served as a principal at BDC Capital's Women in Technology Venture Fund and Seed Fund.

This operational experience—having invested in and worked alongside dozens of early-stage founders—directly shaped Northside's investment model. Rather than building a traditional institutional fund, Miller and his team created a founder-first community designed to provide both capital and strategic partnership from day one.[1]

The firm's fundraising trajectory demonstrates rapid market validation. In September 2023, Northside announced its initial close at $6.25 million USD, with a target fund size of $15 million.[5] By September 2024, the firm had closed its Fund I at $15 million CAD, securing commitments from a diverse LP base including institutional investors, funds-of-funds, corporate VC arms, other venture funds, family offices, and experienced tech founders and operators.[4] Notable LPs include Inovia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Intact Ventures, Notable Capital, Golden Ventures, FJ Labs, Bling Capital, Coolwater Capital, and Garage Capital.[4]

Core Differentiators

Pre-Inception Investment Thesis

Northside's most distinctive characteristic is its willingness to invest before product exists or revenue is generated. While most seed funds require some form of traction, Northside explicitly targets founders at the ideation stage, recognizing that exceptional founders often create exceptional outcomes regardless of initial idea quality.[1] This "investing in founders before ideas" approach requires deep conviction in founder quality and execution ability rather than market validation.

Operator-First Approach with Network Leverage

The firm positions itself as more than a capital provider. Northside actively partners with founders to chart a path from "-1 to +1"—acting as an early sounding board, supporting product iteration, and connecting founders with first-design-partner customers and strategic investors.[1] This reflects Miller's background as an operator who has worked alongside founders through critical early stages.

Canadian Founder Focus with North American Reach

Northside specifically targets Canadian founders or founders with strong Canadian connections building in both Canada and the United States.[4] This geographic focus creates a differentiated niche: while many venture firms chase Silicon Valley-based founders, Northside has built conviction around Canadian talent and positioned itself as their first institutional investor. As of mid-2024, approximately two-thirds of Northside's portfolio consisted of Canadian companies, with the remainder representing Canadian founders building south of the border.[4]

Thematic Investing in Transformative Categories

Rather than adopting a pure generalist approach, Northside concentrates on artificial intelligence, vertical SaaS, fintech, and cleantech—sectors where founder insights can drive durable technical advantages.[1][3] This thematic focus allows the firm to develop deeper expertise and pattern recognition within specific domains while maintaining flexibility to back exceptional founders across these categories.

Portfolio Deployment and Follow-On Support

By September 2024, Northside had deployed approximately 40 percent of its Fund I across 15 investments, backing companies including Datacurve, Switch, Terminal, and Veritree.[4] The firm planned to make another 15 to 20 investments over the subsequent one to two years, with at least half targeting Canadian-based startups. This measured deployment pace reflects a quality-over-quantity approach aligned with the firm's founder-first philosophy.

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Northside Ventures operates at an inflection point in Canadian venture capital. For years, Canadian founders faced a structural disadvantage: while they could access seed capital domestically, the most ambitious founders often needed to relocate to the United States to access the scale of venture capital and network effects necessary for building category-defining companies. Northside's emergence addresses this gap by providing pre-seed capital and operational support that allows Canadian founders to remain in Canada during the critical early stages while maintaining optionality to expand into US markets.

The firm also reflects a broader maturation of the Canadian venture ecosystem. Rather than viewing Canadian venture capital as a secondary market, Northside's LPs—including sophisticated institutional investors and established venture firms like Bain Capital Ventures—signal confidence that exceptional founders and returns can originate from Canada. This vote of confidence from established venture players legitimizes the Canadian startup ecosystem and creates a flywheel effect: as more capital flows to Canadian founders, more exceptional talent chooses to build in Canada rather than immediately relocating.

Northside's focus on AI and infrastructure also positions it at the center of one of technology's most significant secular trends. The shift toward AI-native applications and infrastructure represents a genuine paradigm shift in software development. By backing founders at the pre-seed stage in this category, Northside has positioned itself to capture early winners in what may become the defining software category of the next decade. Similarly, vertical SaaS—software tailored to specific industries—represents a durable trend toward specialization and efficiency gains in enterprise software, while fintech and cleantech address massive market opportunities driven by regulatory, environmental, and technological forces.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Northside Ventures has established itself as a credible, well-capitalized player in early-stage venture capital with a differentiated thesis around Canadian founders and pre-seed investing. The firm's ability to attract institutional LPs and deploy capital into a carefully curated portfolio suggests that its founder-first approach resonates with both limited partners and founders themselves.

Looking forward, several dynamics will shape Northside's trajectory. First, the firm's success will ultimately be measured by portfolio outcomes—whether its pre-seed investments in founders like those at Datacurve, Switch, and Terminal generate the outsized returns necessary to justify the risk of investing before product-market fit. Second, as Northside's Fund I matures and the firm potentially raises Fund II, the question of whether it can maintain its founder-first culture and operational support model while scaling capital deployment will be critical. Many early-stage funds struggle with this transition.

Third, the broader Canadian venture ecosystem will continue to evolve. If Northside's portfolio companies achieve significant exits or reach unicorn status, it will validate the thesis that exceptional founders and returns originate from Canada—potentially attracting more capital to the region and creating a self-reinforcing cycle. Conversely, if portfolio outcomes disappoint, it may reinforce the narrative that Canadian founders ultimately need to relocate to succeed.

The timing of Northside's emergence—at a moment when AI infrastructure is becoming foundational, when Canadian talent is increasingly recognized as world-class, and when institutional capital is seeking differentiated early-stage opportunities—suggests the firm is well-positioned to capture meaningful returns. The real test will be whether its conviction in founder quality and its operational support model can translate into a track record of successful exits that justify the inherent risk of pre-seed investing.