Tech-active · Montreal, QC
NAventures
National Bank's corporate venture arm for fintech.
- Cheque
- Not disclosed
- Role
- Can lead a round
- Pace
- Actively deploying
- Kind
- Tech-active
- Based in
- Montreal, QC
- Founded
- 2017
- Works in
- EN + FR
- Last deal seen
- July 2026
- Stages
- Seed, Series A, Series B and later
Their thesis, in full
NAventures is the corporate venture capital arm of National Bank of Canada, one of the country's largest financial institutions. Unlike a passive fund-of-funds, it makes direct, strategic equity investments and founders can engage it directly, including for term sheets where it acts as lead or co-lead within a syndicate of Tier 1 investors. Its mandate is to back early to mid-stage technology companies, from Seed to Series C, that will shape the future of financial services, with a clear strategic angle: every investment is meant to create partnership opportunities with the bank and its stakeholders. It focuses on fintech, insurtech, cybersecurity, enterprise software, regtech and proptech, and brings National Bank's distribution, technical and operational expertise on top of capital. Founders win most when their product can plug into a major bank's roadmap, so the strongest path in is a warm, specific pitch on how the bank becomes a customer, partner or channel.
What they bring past the cheque
- Corporate VC of a top-tier Canadian bank, so founders engage directly rather than through an intermediary
- Strategic capital tied to real partnership and distribution opportunities with National Bank
- Will act as lead or co-lead alongside Tier 1 investors, not just a passive follower
- Global reach across Canada, the US and Israel with offices in Montreal and Tel Aviv
- Deep in-house banking, AI and blockchain expertise helping portfolio companies sell into and integrate with financial institutions
Questions they usually ask
Have an answer ready for each one before the first call.
- How does your product solve a concrete pain point for a major bank, and could National Bank realistically become a customer, partner or distribution channel?
- Where are you on the Seed-to-Series-C path, who is leading or co-leading the round, and what role do you want NAventures to play (lead vs. strategic participant)?
- What is the strategic and commercial upside of partnering with National Bank beyond the cheque, and how would integration with its ecosystem accelerate your growth?
Follow-on
NAventures positions itself as a hands-on strategic partner, not just a source of capital, staying involved at every step of the company's lifecycle. It leverages National Bank's network, banking know-how and AI and blockchain specialists to help founders unlock distribution, integration and growth. Its portfolio team has helped companies raise hundreds of millions in follow-on capital and turns the bank itself into a potential customer or partner.
Who to talk to
- Philippe DaoustManaging DirectorLinkedIn ↗
- James PovitzPrincipalLinkedIn ↗
- Joshuah LebacqPrincipalLinkedIn ↗
- Jonathan Dellar-FernandesAssociateLinkedIn ↗
- Laurence BoudriasAssociateLinkedIn ↗
- Julien MarolleauSenior AnalystLinkedIn ↗
Portfolio
Names they back, most notable first.
- Multiverse ComputingSeries C · 2026
- SpadeSeries B · 2026
- MemcycoSeries A · 2026
- nestoSeries E · 2026
- Nova CreditSeries D · 2025
- SardineSeries C · 2025
- MaxaSeries A · 2024
- KOHOGrowth · 2023
- SyncteraStrategic · 2023
- ClearEstateSeed · 2021
- DialogueExit · 2021
- Element AIExit · 2020
Often in the same rounds
Investors seen alongside them in past rounds.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- Google Ventures (GV)
- Nyca Partners
- Activant Capital
- The Banc Funds
- LG Technology Ventures
- Venture Guides
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