WE BACK
Top Performance
We back Canada's top student founders
WE ARE
FRONT ROW VENTURES
FRV is Canada's leading university-focused and student-operated VC firm with a presence on 20+ university campuses across Canada.
What is FRV
Canada's Student VC
Front Row Ventures is Canada's leading university-focused and student-operated VC firm with a presence on 20+ university campuses across Canada.
We are early-stage and industry-agnostic investors. We back high impact student entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds and ambitious technology-enabled ideas, regardless of their field of work.
Every year, we select and train ~100 outstanding students with diverse backgrounds. They review over 800 student-led start-ups and invest $50K into the most promising ventures.
Over the past 7 years, we have invested in more than 70 companies including Puzzle Medical Devices, Nomic Bio and Valence Discovery. Combined, these companies have gone on to raise over $300 million in follow-on funding with top tier investors and Valence Discovery got acquired by Recursion, a Nasdaq-listed company, for over CAD$65M.
With a $5.5M pan-Canadian fund closed in 2023, we are the largest pool of capital in Canada exclusively dedicated to investing in student-led startups.
With our unique operational model involving students on both sides of the funding equation, not only do we bridge the gap of pre-seed funding for student entrepreneurs but we also offer student participants a first experience in VC with the opportunity to develop direct and privileged relationships with VC firms and eventually facilitate the rise of talent in the tech industry.
Our Vision
Three pillars shape how FRV invests, trains, and builds the ecosystem
WE TRAIN
Top Talent
We train the next generation by injecting the VC mindset into students
WE BUILD
Top Network
We build a rapidly scaling community that nurtures the ecosystem
Our Values
What we stand for at FRV
Community
We grow and win together across campuses, regions, and ecosystems. We elevate each other, thrive on diversity, and always give first.
Excellence
We raise the bar - then raise it again. We deliver top quartile performance with the highest level of integrity. We challenge the status quo and consistently exceed expectations.
Curiosity
We stay endlessly curious - about people, technologies, markets, and ideas. With strong convictions loosely held, we seek insight over certainty to uncover what others overlook.
Courage
We dare greatly and move first. We back bold founders and take calculated risks. We act with conviction. We think unconventionally, and move first.
Inspired? Find your place at FRV.
Whether you're a student founder or an aspiring student investor, start here.