Road to Web Summit Vancouver: Scaling Venture Series | Venture Financing Term Sheet Fight Club
The Scaling Venture Series: Venture Financing Term Sheet Fight Club is designed to provide growth-stage founders with a behind‑the‑scenes look at how venture deals really get done, as a real VC investor and tech company founder go head‑to‑head in a live mock term sheet negotiation.
In this interactive session, Maria Pacella, Founding Partner at Pender Ventures and one of Canada’s most experienced early‑stage technology investors, will negotiate key terms from the investor side, drawing on more than two decades of backing emerging growth companies. Across the table, Variational.AI Co-Founder and CEO, Handol Kim, will advocate for the founder and company perspective, spotlighting what really matters to a high‑growth company when balancing valuation, dilution, governance, and control.
Each side will be supported by their own lawyers (Laura Webb from Osler representing Pender and Mark Longo representing Varational.ai for the purpose of this exercise), who will unpack the fine print in real time—liquidation preferences, option pools, veto rights, board composition, and more—so founders can see how small drafting changes can have big long‑term impacts on outcomes.
You’ll leave with a sharper understanding of what investors look for, practical strategies for pushing back (and where not to), and concrete tips to make your company more fundable ahead of Web Summit Vancouver 2026.
There will also be an opportunity for Q&A and networking opportunities with the speakers and Osler’s startup and emerging companies team.
Event Details:
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 22 from 4-7pm
Location: Downtown Vancouver, or a hybrid option is available for those located outside of Vancouver.
Attendance is by invitation only and is limited to growth-stage companies. Please note that an RSVP does not guarantee a seat.
About Road to Web Summit Vancouver
The Road to Web Summit Vancouver: Scaling Venture Series is a set of high-impact, sector-agnostic events designed to help growth-stage technology companies prepare to scale globally and engage effectively with international investors, customers, and partners ahead of Web Summit 2025.
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