The people
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Working at FounderFuel
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About
FounderFuel predates most of the Canadian startup infrastructure people now take for granted. Real Ventures launched it in Montréal in 2011, and it ran 13 cohorts and graduated more than 100 companies, among them BenchSci, Paper, Sonder and Unsplash, before pausing in 2020 after a single virtual cohort. It came back in spring 2023 in a different shape: national rather than Montréal-only, hybrid, and jointly funded, with Real Ventures, Panache Ventures and Inovia Capital each putting money into a combined CAD $120,000 investment per company across a four-month program. Eight startups joined the first cohort back. Katy Yam, a partner at Real Ventures, has been general manager since 2020 and led the relaunch. She made the case for the timing on TechTO's Montréal stage that April: the economics were not good, and that is exactly the moment worth founding in. The alumni on that panel — Sarah Jenna of My Intelligent Machines, Therence Bois of Valence Discovery and Philippe Beaudoin of Waverly — each described the program as the thing that turned a research project into a company.
Backers
Founded and funded by Real Ventures; since the 2023 relaunch it invests jointly with Panache Ventures and Inovia Capital.
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Quick answers
What is FounderFuel?
A Canadian accelerator started by Real Ventures in Montréal in 2011. It runs a four-month program and invests alongside Panache Ventures and Inovia Capital.
Which companies came out of FounderFuel?
More than 100 across 13 cohorts, including BenchSci, Paper, Sonder and Unsplash.
What changed in the 2023 relaunch?
It went national and hybrid rather than Montréal-based, and three funds — Real Ventures, Panache Ventures and Inovia Capital — invested together, CAD $120,000 per company. Eight startups joined the first cohort back.