Ripple Ventures Closes Inaugural $10 Million Fund and Opens Incubator Space

A new venture firm has just closed its first fund, and with it comes some exciting news for the Canadian tech world.

Ripple Ventures has closed their inaugural fund with a total capital commitment of $10 million with the intention of investing in cutting-edge early-stage startups. Along with this, Ripple will also be opening the Tank on October 1 at 410 Adelaide Street West. It will act as a new Toronto-based incubator space to house Ripple’s portfolio companies.

Having invested in companies such as Turnstyle Solutions and Tokyo Smoke, Ripple has already seen some success. This newest fund will include investments in OnCall Health, a virtual healthcare provider based in Toronto, and Tread Technologies. Beyond that, Ripple will focus on companies in Toronto, Waterloo, Montreal and Boston that work with enterprise software, healthcare, real estate, media, and industrial services.

The new fund will be managed by Matt Cohen and Michael Garbe, and Ripple will employ a strong base of co-investors across both the U.S. and Canada. The new incubator space, the Tank, will help portfolio companies better engage with entrepreneurs in Canada’s largest city.

“Ripple Ventures was launched this year with the belief that early-stage investments should be inclusive of ancillary services, beyond a typical capital injection, which is why we are taking an Operator First, Investor Second approach to our fund and opening an incubator for our portfolio companies to work from,” said Cohen, founder of Ripple Ventures.

“From accounting to sales to recruiting support, Ripple Ventures is committed to strengthening the connection between investors and early-stage startups with an expansive advisory team of industry veterans and Entrepreneurs in Residence to assist their companies and deal with everyday problems,” said Cohen.

Nicole Verkindt, a Dragon on the Next Gen Den, will serve as an advisor for Ripple. Elisha Gray, an HR specialist and advisor at StartWell, will act as the Entrepreneur in Residence.