Montréal, Canada – Telegraph Ventures, a spinoff of European VC firm Telegraph Hill Capital, has raised nearly $35M in its first close to fund Québec-based enterprise AI startups.
The fund aims to catalyze the province’s pre-seed ecosystem, which has been struggling with a lack of early-stage capital.
The financing comes from the Québec government via Investissement Québec, alongside Teralys Capital, Inovia Capital, and over 40 entrepreneurs and family offices. The fund expects to grow to $40M by the end of the year.
“We need more optionality for founders. We need more competition between VCs,” said Etienne Mérineau, General Partner at Telegraph Ventures.
Backing Practical AI
While AI startups have drawn massive capital inflows across Canada, Mérineau stressed that the fund will focus on “useful” AI tools—companies solving vertical-specific problems where products become more defensible as they collect data. Rather than chasing hype, Telegraph plans to back startups with practical, scalable enterprise applications.
The firm plans to invest in ~30 startups at pre-seed and seed, writing cheques between $500K–$750K, with reserves for follow-on rounds. Crucially, Telegraph will lead and price rounds, something Québec’s ecosystem often lacks.
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Operator-Led Roots
Mérineau, who previously founded conversational AI startup Heyday (acquired by Hootsuite in 2021 for $60M), will manage the fund from Québec, supported by Telegraph Hill partners Luis Gutierrez Roy and Varun Dalal in Barcelona.
Telegraph Hill has already seen local success, with investments in Chronogolf and Quotemachine, both acquired by Montréal-based Lightspeed. While Telegraph Ventures is independent, it will share returns with the European firm.
Backed by Public and Private Capital
Québec’s government and institutional investors have rallied behind the fund to fill a pressing financing gap. Nationally, pre-seed and seed activity has slumped—16% fewer dollars and 28% fewer deals compared to the prior year, according to CVCA.
“Telegraph will help Québec founders scale faster and smarter with a global mindset,” said Beatrice Couture, Principal at Teralys Capital.
Inovia Capital joined through its Discovery Fund, which targets first-time managers. “Discovery has sought out funds we felt could catalyze Québec’s pre-seed market,” said Marianne Dubois, Fund Manager at Inovia.
Looking Ahead
With $35M already secured and a target of $40M, Telegraph Ventures is positioning itself as a new backbone for early-stage AI in Québec. Over the next few years, the fund expects to build a portfolio of companies that can grow beyond the province while retaining strong local roots.
