David Charbonneau

Worth knowing

He has written the first institutional cheque into photonics, health and B2B software companies, and he raises from the LPs Canadian funds need most, including Investissement Quebec, BDC Capital, Teralys Capital and Desjardins Capital. He also knows what a hard-tech exit looks like, having backed companies acquired by GE and Koch.

Story

David trained as an industrial engineer at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and spent his early years inside operations at Bombardier, Kraft and Toyota before moving into strategy consulting at KPMG-SECOR. Venture came next: at BDC Capital he helped run a $135M Series A fund backing Canadian industrial and energy technologies. In 2021 he left to start Boreal, pairing a first fund with Centech to get in early on Quebec deep tech, and that fund went on to back roughly 14 companies including the photonics startup Femtum. He now leads the firm from Place Ville Marie alongside co-managing partner JD Saint-Martin, formerly president and CRO of Lightspeed Commerce, with a second fund aimed at taking Canadian B2B companies global.

In David's words

David is the founder and managing partner of Boreal Ventures, a $80M early growth equity fund dedicated to accelerating Canadian technology sector beyond product-market-fit. With over 20 years of experience in engineering, strategy and venture capital, he deeply understands the challenges and opportunities of funding technology. David is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs, connecting talent and ideas, fostering innovation, and positively impacting those around him through his people-centred and down-to-earth communication style.

Highlights

• Founder and Managing Partner, Boreal Ventures (2021), $80M+ across two funds
• Fund II: $43M first close in 2025 against a $60M target
• Led Palisade's $1.5M pre-seed (2024); investor in Kento Health's $6M pre-seed
• BDC Capital ICE Venture Fund: portfolio exits BitStew (GE) and Darkvision (Koch)
• MEng, Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal; mentor, CDL-Montreal AI stream