Betting on ambitious people before day one
Northside Ventures backs founders at the earliest stages and elevates them to their highest level—the Northside level.
We exist to help support ambitious Canadian founders in turning sparks of insight into enduring companies
We're filling a gap for founders looking for more than just their first cheque—the ones looking for a true thought partner and sounding board through the ideation stage.
Our goal is to guide founders toward their point of visionary inflection and moment of clarity, and provide access customers and investors to bring their vision to life.
Backing visionary founders at the earliest stages
Breakthrough ideas take time to inflect and we want to be there before it happens.
Founded on 15+ years of operational and venture experience
Before founding Northside, Alex led the Canadian practice as Partner at Global Founders Capital and was Principal at BDC Capital. He also spent six years building NRStor, an energy storage-focused cleantech start-up, whose C&I business was acquired by Blackstone in 2018.
Alex’s experience as both an operator and investor is what opens the door to the trust and collaborative bonds that help founders in the Northside portfolio thrive. Alex was featured on Business Insider’s Seed 100 list of best early-stage investors for 2025.
Alex holds a BScH from Queen’s University and an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.
Enduring categories at the edge of innovation
We invest in great people and great ideas. But we also invest in categories with multi-decade tailwinds and the potential to change the world.
Software
B2B SaaS and application-layer AI for massively outdated verticals where access to industry-specific data shapes deep competitive moats.
AI Infrastructure
Developer tools and infrastructure that unlocks and accelerates the adoption of AI within non-AI native SMBs and enterprises.
Frontier
Deeply technical solutions for solving massive problems at the edge of what is possible today.
Charting the path for founders from idea to execution
We don’t just identify outliers. We equip founders with the support they need to push the limits, at the moments they need it most.
Collaborative exploration
From ideation to MVP, we act as a guiding compass that helps founders identify the vision and model that sets new standards in their industry and execute on it.
Access to early customers
We introduce founders to their first customers—the ones who can act as design partners and help iterate on an idea as it sparks into something more.
Globally-connected capital
We connect founders with our deep global network investors so they can go on to raise their next round and ascend beyond the horizon.
“Every investor says they'll help, very few actually do. Alex has lived into this through and through and has consistently been the first person I call for introductions and to help pressure test strategy or direction.”
“Whenever we need someone to bounce ideas off, Alex is always there for us. His sage advice has been tremendously valuable to our early success.”
“Alex has been a true partner—helping clarify our vision, hustling alongside us, and opening doors to investors and customers we wouldn’t have reached alone.”
“Alex was a very helpful partner during our fundraise, making thoughtful investor introductions and generously opening up his network to support our efforts during the process.”
“Alex has been one of our most impactful growth partners and investors. Northside sets the bar for contribution that goes far beyond the capital.”
Building something wildly ambitious?
Or maybe just thinking about it? We want to meet you.
