Toronto-based Staircase Ventures has closed its second fund at $50 million CAD.
The early-stage venture capital (VC) firm announced Monday morning that it had surpassed its initial target of $40 million. This comes despite a tough market, as a recent RBCx report found 2025 was one of the worst years for Canadian VC fundraising in nearly a decade.
Before Staircase, Bannister worked at eBay as an early employee and launched the successful online classified business Kijiji.
More than 80 percent of the limited partners from Staircase’s first fund have returned for Fund II. This group includes RBCx, the Royal Bank of Canada’s innovation banking arm, and Northleaf Capital Partners. They have been joined by a trio of new institutional backers in BDC Capital (the investment arm of the government-run Business Development Bank of Canada), the University of Alberta, and the BC government’s InBC Investment Corp.
Staircase is led by founder and managing partner Janet Bannister. The VC firm leads seed rounds for Canadian technology startups with early signs of product-market fit. As it looks to deploy its second fund, Staircase also revealed that it has brought on Andrew Tiffin as operating partner. Tiffin, who previously spent time working in product operations and go-to-market leadership roles at Uber, Clutch, and Shopify, brings the size of the firm’s team to three, including Bannister and executive assistant Jy Rivera.
Before Staircase, Bannister worked at eBay as an early employee. She also launched the successful online classified business Kijiji. She has spent the past 12 years investing in nascent Canadian technology startups, first through Montréal VC firm Real Ventures, where she was also managing partner, and now at Staircase.
At Real Ventures, Bannister led the firm’s investments in companies like BenchSci, Clutch, and League. She stepped back from Real Ventures in late 2022 and launched Staircase in early 2023. The VC firm ultimately secured $34 million for its first fund to back business-to-business software companies.
Staircase’s website indicates that the firm has invested in 13 companies to date. This group includes Calgary-based regulatory intelligence startup Ultimarii, Toronto proptech Mave, and Montréal-based textile supply chain software provider Tengiva.
Staircase offers founders executive coaching, health and wellness support, personal financial advice, parenting assistance, shared carry in its funds, and access to advisors who have launched and built billion-dollar businesses.
According to The Globe and Mail, Staircase’s first fund has generated an average 50 percent annual internal rate of return on paper, placing it among the top 10 percent of North American funds of the same vintage. The Globe and Mail reports that five of Staircase’s 12 Fund I investments have since secured follow-on financing at higher valuations—performance that likely played in the firm’s favour while raising Fund II.
Feature image courtesy Real Ventures.
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