Toronto-based angel fund Ramen Ventures, which was co-founded by a pair of former Shopify leaders five years ago, is winding down its operations.
In a Twitter thread posted today, Founding Partner Adam McNamara announced that he and fellow Founding Partner Joshua Tessier are winding down Ramen Ventures, a $10 million angel fund focused on investing in Toronto software startups at the pre-seed stage.
McNamara said that amid a shifting investment landscape populated by âa flood of new angelsâ and âworld classâ programs increasingly focused on backing Canadian founders, to continue with Ramen, they would âhave to turn Ramen from a passion project to a truly world-class investing brand.â Instead, McNamara said he and Tessier plan to return to building. McNamara did not expand on what those âbuildingâ plans might look like.
Amid a shifting investment landscape populated by âa flood of new angelsâ and âworld classâ programs, McNamara and Tessier plan to âgo back to building.â
âThe world is full of investors who love the investing game: meeting founders and building their brand,â wrote McNamara in the Twitter thread. âWe just love tech and betting on the future. So, weâre winding down and [going] back to building.â
After their startup, Select Start Studios, was acquired by Shopify in 2012, McNamara and Tessier worked at Shopify as VP of product and head of core product engineering, respectively, before Shopify underwent its IPO in 2015. The pair launched Ramen Ventures in 2016.
According to McNamara, he and Tessier started Ramen to pay their fortune forward and âhelp founders build moonshots that improve the lives of people and the planetâ
The ex-Shopify leaders allocated $10 millionâ$5 million for initial investment, and $5 million for follow-on fundingâto invest in 100 Toronto companies through Ramen Ventures.
The fundâs investments include Ada, ALT TEX, Eli Health, ChefHero (now Notch), and Phenomic AI.
But since Ramen Venturesâ founding, McNamara said âa lot has changed in that short time,â citing the support âworld-class programsâ like Y Combinator and IndieBio, and the fact that AngelList, Spearhead, and private secondaries have âcreated a flood of new angels.â
âA flood of capital means everything is getting funded,â he wrote. âTo continue, weâd have to turn Ramen from a passion project to a truly world-class investing brand. In the spirit of âHell yes or noâ, @joshuatessier and I are saying no.â
Going forward, McNamara said the pair will continue to serve as an LP to âworld-class funds and angels that align with our moonshots for people and planet mission,â support people they know and trust, and back founders theyâve already invested in, but will no longer take pitches or try to get into deals.