Table Ronde with Chris Arsenault (Inovia Capital)
Chris Arsenault has spent over 25 years operating and investing, and he started on the founder side. Before launching Inovia in 2007, he founded, co-founded or funded a string of software, mobile and consumer internet startups, including two telecom spin-offs, and joined MSBi Capital in 2002. He co-founded Inovia in Montreal on a simple bet: Canada had exceptional technical talent but lacked the world-class venture capital to grow it at home.
Nearly two decades later, Inovia is the largest Canada-anchored VC firm, with US$2.5B under management, 300+ investments, 65 exits and more than US$3.1B in exit value, backing companies from pre-seed to pre-IPO. Chris has backed and helped scale some of Canada's biggest tech stories, including Lightspeed, AppDirect, Luxury Retreats, Poka and Super.com. He led the creation of the Inovia platform and the firm's growth funds, and today sits on the boards of AppDirect, Super.com, Talent.com and TSX-listed Groupe Dynamite.
We'll discuss:
Going from startup founder to building Canada's largest VC firm
How Inovia decides who to back
Scaling a global company from Montreal
What founders get wrong when raising
This event is proudly sponsored by BDC.
What is Table Ronde?
Table Ronde is Montreal's monthly fireside chat for builders. Each month, we sit down with one founder, CEO or investor who's been through it, and get the real story: the hard calls, the near-misses, and what they'd do differently.
One guest, one honest conversation, open Q&A, and a room full of people building something.
Past guests include the founders of Dialogue, Stay22, nesto, Goodfood and Novisto.
35+ talks · 3,500+ community · 120+ builders in the room every month