Toronto-based Staircase Ventures has closed its second fund at $50 million CAD.
The early-stage venture capital (VC) firm announced Monday morning that it had surpassed its initial target of $40 million. This comes despite a tough market, as a recent RBCx report found 2025 was one of the worst years for Canadian VC fundraising in nearly a decade.
More than 80 percent of the limited partners from Staircase’s first fund have returned for Fund II. This group includes the Royal Bank of Canada, Northleaf Capital Partners, PointClickCare co-founder and executive chair Mike Wessinger, and former Shopify chief product officer Craig Miller.
Before Staircase, Bannister worked at Real Ventures, eBay, and launched online classified business Kijiji.
They have been joined by a trio of new institutional backers in BDC Capital (the investment arm of the government-run Business Development Bank of Canada), the University of Alberta’s endowment fund, and the BC government’s InBC Investment Corp. This final close comes less than four months after Staircase’s $32-million first close of Fund II.
“Our ability to raise an oversubscribed Fund II in a tough environment was due to the early success of Fund I and our unique approach,” Staircase founder and managing partner Janet Bannister told BetaKit over email, adding that the firm plans to replicate its Fund I strategy.
Staircase leads pre-seed and seed rounds for Canadian tech startups with early signs of product-market fit, providing hands-on support during early company building. As it looks to deploy its second fund, the VC firm also revealed that it has brought on Andrew Tiffin as operating partner. Tiffin, who previously spent time working in product operations and go-to-market leadership roles at Uber, Clutch, and Shopify, brings the size of Staircase’s team to three, including Bannister and executive assistant Jy Rivera.
Before Staircase, Bannister worked at eBay as an early employee. She also launched the successful online classified business Kijiji. She has spent the past 12 years investing in nascent Canadian technology startups, first through Montréal VC firm Real Ventures, where she was also managing partner, and now at Staircase.
At Real Ventures, Bannister led the firm’s investments in companies like BenchSci, Clutch, and League. She stepped back from Real Ventures in late 2022 and launched Staircase in early 2023. The VC firm ultimately secured $34 million for its first fund to back business-to-business software companies.
Through its five-pronged founder development platform, Staircase offers entrepreneurs executive coaching, health and wellness support, personal financial advice, parenting assistance, shared carry in the fund (one-fifth of its profits go to founders and advisors), and access to advisors who have launched and built billion-dollar businesses.
Staircase invested in 12 companies through its first fund, including Calgary-based regulatory intelligence startup Ultimarii, Toronto proptech Mave, and Montréal-based textile supply chain software provider Tengiva.
Bannister claimed Staircase’s first fund has generated a net annual internal rate of return of more than 50 percent on paper, placing it among the top 10 percent of North American funds of the same vintage, according to data from Carta. She said that five of Staircase’s 12 Fund I investments have since secured follow-on financing at higher valuations—performance that played in the firm’s favour while raising Fund II.
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As software company valuations have plunged in recent months amid concerns of AI disruption, Bannister said all of the startups Staircase has backed are leveraging AI to improve their operational efficiency and bring more value to clients. “About half of our portfolio companies have [large language models] at their core and the other half are leveraging AI to deliver a better product for their customers.”
Staircase plans to cut $1 million to $2.5 million initial cheques into another 12 companies through Fund II, and has already made its first investment in Toronto-based healthtech startup MedEssist, which aims to help independent pharmacies modernize their operations.
The VC firm, which has reserved 40 percent of Fund II for follow-on financing, anticipates a similar split as Fund I, which made nine seed and three pre-seed investments.
CORRECTION (03/09/26): This story has been updated to clarify that RBC, not RBCx, has invested in Staircase Ventures’ second fund.
Feature image courtesy Staircase Ventures.