What First Ascent Ventures does

First Ascent Ventures (FAV) is a Toronto-headquartered venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Managing Partners Tony van Marken and Richard Black to invest in early-stage, emerging, and growth-oriented enterprise B2B software companies. The firm targets Series A/B and later rounds, requires a board seat with every investment, and focuses on enterprise software leveraging cloud, AI/ML, big data, mobility, blockchain, IoT, and privacy/security. FAV operates two funds: Fund I ($100M, fully invested) and Fund II ($125M, closed August 2021), for combined committed capital of approximately $225 million.

FAV's portfolio spans 18+ active and exited companies across supply chain management (Assent), investor relations (Q4), digital healthcare (Dialogue), sports analytics (Sportlogiq), contract analytics (LinkSquares), on-demand pay (DailyPay), content marketing (Rock Content), data management (ThinkData Works), consumer insights (Potloc), regulatory technology (Thentia), privacy (Osano), and others. The firm takes an operator-led approach, leveraging its partners' prior executive experience at publicly-listed software companies to assist founders on IPO, follow-on financing, and M&A pathways. Realizations include Assent (sold to Vista/Blackstone at $1.3B, 6.2x to FAV), Q4 and Dialogue (both IPO'd on TSX before strategic acquisitions), Upchain (acquired by Autodesk), and Rubikloud (acquired by Kinaxis).

The firm's revenue mechanics are those of a closed-end VC fund manager: management fees on committed capital (industry-standard structure not publicly disclosed) plus lumpy carried interest on realizations. FAV maintains a lean 5-person team supplemented by an executive assistant and a dual-office footprint (Toronto headquarters at 10 King Street East and a San Francisco general office at 1 Ferry Building). Capital call financing is provided by CIBC Innovation Banking. Distribution channels are direct and relationship-driven, with content marketing via the firm website and LinkedIn presence supporting top-of-funnel deal sourcing.

Name

First Ascent Ventures

Legal name

First Ascent Ventures

Website

https://firstascentventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

First Ascent Ventures is a Toronto-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests from Series A/B onwards in early and growth-stage Canadian and North American enterprise B2B software companies, taking board seats and leveraging operator experience to drive exits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Private Equity

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Enterprise software investment
• Series A B funding
• Growth equity capital
• Canadian venture capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: First Ascent Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early to growth-stage enterprise software companies. The fund makes board-backed investments and exits through IPOs and acquisitions. Fund I ($100M) is fully invested with successful exits including Assent ($50M return, 6.2x multiple). Fund II ($125M) closed August 2021.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

First Ascent Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early stage, emerging and growth-oriented enterprise software companies in the ICT sector, typically from Series A/B onwards. The firm provides equity capital, requires a board seat, and actively assists management teams with growth strategy, IPOs, follow-on financings and M&A. It operates two committed funds: FAV Fund I ($100 million, fully invested) and FAV Fund II ($125 million, closed August 2021).

Product overview

First Ascent Ventures (FAV) is a venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests in early stage, emerging and growth-oriented enterprise software companies in the information technology sector. The firm operates two investment funds: FAV Fund I ($100 million, fully invested) and FAV Fund II ($125 million, closed in August 2021). FAV seeks companies developing innovative Enterprise Software leveraging cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, cloud computing, 5G, mobility, blockchain and IoT with a focus on privacy and security. The firm takes board seats and actively assists management teams to grow their business, typically investing from Series A/B rounds onwards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FAV Fund I A $100 million venture capital fund (fully invested) targeting early stage, emerging and growth-oriented enterprise software companies in the ICT sector, typically investing from Series A/B onwards with a required board seat.
• FAV Fund II A $125 million venture capital fund (closed August 2021) providing Series A/B equity capital to enterprise software companies focused on cloud, AI, machine learning, big data, 5G, mobility, blockchain, IoT with focus on privacy and security, paired with active board-level support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 6.2x return on Assent investment ($50M returned on $102M Fund 1 investment)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Direct peers

• Georgian Partners: Toronto-based growth equity firm focused on investing in growth-stage B2B software companies, with a deep applied AI/ML thesis. Closest direct competitor to FAV in the Canadian enterprise software growth segment, with comparable stage focus (Series A/B onward) and similar sector specialization.
• Inovia Capital: Montreal-based venture capital firm investing in early to growth-stage technology companies, with a meaningful software/SaaS allocation and Canadian founder focus. Directly comparable to FAV in geography, stage, and sector focus, and frequently co-invests in or competes for the same Canadian enterprise software rounds.
• OpenView Partners: Boston-based expansion-stage venture capital firm exclusively focused on B2B software companies. Highly comparable to FAV in sector specialization (enterprise software) and expansion-stage focus, though operating in a much larger US market and at a larger fund size.
• ScaleUP Ventures: Toronto-based venture capital firm investing in early-stage Canadian technology companies, with a portfolio spanning SaaS, AI, and enterprise software. Directly comparable to FAV as a Canadian-focused, software-leaning early/growth-stage investor targeting similar Series A/B dynamics.

Broad incumbents

• BDC Capital: Canada's business development bank venture capital arm, deploying capital across technology, cleantech, and life sciences at venture and growth stages. Comparable to FAV as a major Canadian VC capital provider frequently participating in the same rounds, though operating at much larger scale and across multiple sectors.
• Insight Partners: New York-based global software investor operating across venture, growth, and buyout stages with a dedicated focus on enterprise software. Comparable to FAV in sector specialization and software-only mandate, but at vastly larger scale, with FAV's portfolio companies (e.g., LinkSquares) commonly receiving follow-on capital from Insight.
• Bessemer Venture Partners: One of the oldest US venture capital firms, with a long-running enterprise software and cloud computing franchise (BVP Cloud Index). Comparable to FAV in enterprise software thesis, but operating globally with multi-billion-dollar funds and a much broader sector mandate.

Regional players

• Real Ventures: Montreal-based seed and early-stage venture capital firm focused on Canadian technology founders. Comparable to FAV in Canadian focus, though Real operates earlier in the company lifecycle (pre-seed/seed) while FAV invests from Series A/B onward, making them more of an ecosystem feeder than direct competitor.
• Golden Ventures: Toronto-based seed-stage venture capital firm backing Canadian technology founders. Comparable to FAV in Canadian ecosystem positioning and software focus, but earlier-stage (seed) and therefore more of a feeder relationship into FAV's Series A/B mandate than a direct competitor.

Others

• CIBC Innovation Banking: Banking arm of CIBC providing venture debt, growth capital, and capital call credit facilities to technology companies and venture funds. Directly comparable to FAV as a financial counterparty (CIBC provided FAV's capital call line of credit in 2019) and serves the same Canadian enterprise software ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FirstAscent_VC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firstascentvc/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments29 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Ascent Ventures