Coolwater Capital (YC for Emerging Managers)

Weave VC recently returned from an electrifying experience in San Francisco. We had the opportunity to share our Western Canadian focused pre-seed investment thesis with an audience of 300 US-based institutional investors and family offices at the Coolwater Capital demo day.

Our pitch at the Coolwater demo day!

Our journey commenced with our participation in Coolwater Capital’s cohort 9, a transformative program founded by seasoned LP, Winter Mead. Often hailed as the “YC for emerging managers,” Coolwater Capital provides an intensive eight-week curriculum tailored to empower first, second, or third-time managers with invaluable insights into the criteria institutional LPs seek when investing in venture capital. Weave VC participated in cohort 9 alongside 17 other fund managers.

Coolwater Capital Cohort 9

For burgeoning GPs, navigating capital raising is crucial, and Coolwater Capital equips emerging managers with essential tools needed for success. Think portfolio construction, data rooms, fund models, etc...These may sound like basic concepts, but if you’ve never raised a VC fund before, getting all these ducks in a row and ready for the scrutinizing eye of LP diligence takes some serious leg work. After all, securing institutional capital is not merely a milestone but a prerequisite for scaling one’s firm across multiple funds. Mastery of the institutional investor mindset and allocation process is an indispensable skill set for any nascent GP.

Despite the time constraints for this type of pitch (3 minutes in our case), our demo day presentation was surgically crafted to include the key points we think of when sharing our Western Canadian pre-seed thesis with potential LP’s.

In the spirit of transparency and our commitment to sharing insights, we’re excited to offer a glimpse into some of the highlights from our presentation. Below, we’ve shared a selection of slides we feel encapsulate the opportunity our emerging ecosystem has to offer.

Simplifying our pitch..Unique Access, World-Class Companies, Great Valuations

Western Canada has a history of producing World-Class companies

World leading Universities and “Big Tech” anchor tenants

“Problem” slide. Founders here lack local early-stage risk capital. We are solving this.

“Opportunity” slide. World-class companies raising at half the price of US counterparts.

Abundance of non-dilutive funding, complements our private capital. Less paid in capital, less rounds, less dilution.

Big thanks to Winter, Sean, Raphael, and the whole Coolwater crew for putting together such an awesome program and demo day event. Shoutout to our fellow managers who rocked it alongside us on demo day. Together, we’re shaping the future of our respective tech ecosystems. Excited to team up and co-invest with many of you in the future!