Celtic House Asia Partners

What Celtic House Asia Partners does

Celtic House Asia Partners (CHAP) is a Toronto-based venture capital firm founded in 2019 by first-generation immigrants and founders of color. The firm invests across three stated verticals — Supply Chain, Healthcare, and Enterprise SaaS — at stages ranging from earliest-stage rounds through pre-IPO, and reports a portfolio of 40+ companies in which 80%+ of founders are diverse and 50%+ are immigrants. CHAP's stated differentiation is a founder-centric, operationally hands-on model that supplements capital with support in business development, finance, strategy, and ground operations, delivered through a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

The firm operates a US$80 million evergreen fund announced in June 2021 as its primary capital vehicle, with no additional fundraising disclosed since. CHAP's distribution model relies on direct founder engagement, portfolio referrals, an LP portal for limited-partner reporting, and fellowship/internship programs for talent pipeline. Marketing footprint is primarily digital: a corporate website (celticvc.com) hosting portfolio, thesis, team, news, and careers sections, supplemented by Crunchbase presence and earned media coverage of portfolio milestones.

Notable portfolio outcomes include ApplyBoard (C$375M round at C$4B valuation, June 2021), Cerebral (SoftBank Vision Fund 2-backed at $4.8B valuation, December 2021), and GrubMarket (acquisition of IOT Pay, August 2022). The firm is led by Managing Partners Jie Chen and Larry Liu, operates with 11-50 employees from its Toronto headquarters, and has no disclosed parent company or institutional backing.

Name

Celtic House Asia Partners

Legal name

Celtic House Asia Partners

Website

https://celticvc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Celtic House Asia Partners is a Toronto-based venture capital firm founded in 2019 that invests in early-stage to pre-IPO companies across Supply Chain, Healthcare, and Enterprise SaaS, with a portfolio of 40+ companies led predominantly by immigrant and diverse founders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

ESG Integration / Responsible Investment Funds (Broad ESG) (FSANAJAL)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Early-stage investing
• Pre-IPO investment
• Supply chain investment
• Enterprise SaaS investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Celtic House Asia Partners (CHAP) is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage to pre-IPO companies across Supply Chain, Healthcare, and Enterprise SaaS sectors. Beyond capital, CHAP provides portfolio founders with operational support including business development, finance, business strategy, and ground operations assistance. The firm announced a US$80 million evergreen fund in June 2021 dedicated to investments in the Canadian ecosystem and supports 40+ portfolio companies.

Product overview

Celtic House Asia Partners (CHAP) is a venture capital firm founded in 2019 that invests in early-stage to pre-IPO companies. Rather than operating a unified product platform, CHAP manages a portfolio of 40+ portfolio companies across three core sectors: Supply Chain, Healthcare, and Enterprise SaaS. CHAP does not offer its own products or services—it provides investment capital, mentorship, and operational support to portfolio founders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CHAP Evergreen Fund

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• IOT PayminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 August 2022CHAP portfolio company GrubMarket acquired IOT Pay to enter financial services sector for American food supply chain industry, expanding service offerings.
• National Health Care AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2021Partnership between CHAP portfolio company Circadia Technologies and National Health Care Associates to enhance positive health outcomes for seniors through vital sign monitoring technology.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Unusual Ventures: Early-stage fund providing both capital and operating support to founders, with a hands-on model analogous to CHAP's BD/strategy/operations assistance. Comparable in stage and operational philosophy though US-focused rather than Canada-focused.
• SoGal Ventures: Global early-stage fund investing in diverse founders across consumer, health, and tech. Directly comparable to CHAP on both the diversity thesis and stage focus, though more US/Asia-oriented in deal sourcing.
• Panache Ventures: Montreal-based pre-seed/seed fund focused on Canadian and US tech startups. Closest geographic peer at the pre-seed stage, providing a comp on Canadian seed-round economics and syndication behavior versus CHAP.
• Backstage Capital: VC firm focused on underrepresented founders including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Direct peer to CHAP on the diversity-thesis axis with similar pre-seed/seed check sizes and community-building approach.
• Harlem Capital Partners: Early-stage VC firm dedicated to investing in diverse founders, with a stated goal of backing 1,000 founders of color. Closest comparable to CHAP given shared thesis of funding underrepresented founders from pre-seed through Series A with operational support.
• Inovia Capital: Montreal-headquartered VC investing across North America in SaaS, infrastructure, and consumer tech. Comparable Canadian early-to-growth-stage investor with similar sector breadth but typically larger check sizes than CHAP.
• Golden Ventures: Toronto-based early-stage VC investing across SaaS, fintech, and consumer. Closest geographic and sector peer to CHAP within the Canadian ecosystem, with comparable check sizes and stage focus.
• BBG Ventures: Seed-stage fund backed by AOL forerunner Susan Lyne that invests primarily in female founders, with a thesis paralleling CHAP's emphasis on under-networked entrepreneurs and operational hand-holding through the early stages.

Emerging players

• Seren Capital (Chloe Capital): Early-stage fund focused on women and underrepresented founders in deep tech and climate. Comparable diversity-thesis investor at similar fund size, providing a useful comp for CHAP's capital intensity and pipeline strategy.

Broad incumbents

• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Large multi-stage global VC with significant Canadian presence and broad sector mandate including enterprise, consumer, and health. Co-investor profile peer to CHAP rather than direct competitor given different fund size and stage.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/celtic-house-asia-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments60 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Celtic House Asia Partners