Tech network the C100 has named prominent Toronto venture capitalist Janet Bannister its new co-chair as the non-profit plots expansion beyond its Silicon Valley roots, seeking to connect Canadians around the world with each other and with burgeoning innovation ecosystems back home. 

“It was this Silicon Valley-centric organization,” said CEO Laura Buhler, and “Canadians have had [a] huge amount of success here.” But that’s also the case “in all these major tech hubs around the world.”

Bannister joins Andre Charoo, general partner at Maple VC, as co-chair, replacing Sightline Coaching managing partner Shari Hatch Jones. She will serve a two-year term, and while she spent a few years at eBay in California in the early 2000s, she is the first C100 co-chair based outside the Bay Area.

Launched in 2010 by VCs Anthony Lee and Chris Albinson, the C100 originally brought together Canadian expatriates in Silicon Valley. At the time, Canada’s tech ecosystems had “incredible talent,” but companies lacked access to the capital and mentorship to thrive, according to charter member Chris O’Neill. The C100’s goal was to “try to build a bridge between Canada [and] the Valley,” said O’Neill, a former Evernote CEO and Google executive now working on his own stealth-mode startup.

The concept of bringing north the best of the Bay Area “is no longer as applicable today,” said Bannister, managing partner at Real Ventures, because “Canada, in and of itself, is an amazing ecosystem.” Companies raised $2.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, the highest on record, and over a dozen have reached valuations of a billion dollars or more this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the C100 to start delivering its programming virtually. It also accelerated the shift of its membership base outside the San Francisco Bay Area. It now has 297 members in 17 cities, with more than half outside the Bay Area. During the pandemic, its longtime flagship program 48Hrs in the Valley—which takes startups across the border for two days of workshops and meetings with investors—went virtual. That allowed the organization to bring in mentors and speakers from Victoria, Ottawa, New York and Istanbul for the most recent edition. (Buhler said it will revive the in-person San Francisco gathering next year, assuming there are no public health restrictions).     

In December 2020, the C100 announced an extension of the program, called Fellows, which aims to prolong its relationship with founders and their links to the network. Participants are matched with mentors, and have access to dedicated workshops throughout the year as well as a private Slack group. “Our goal is to get them networked with every corner of the C100 community, wherever it’s located,” said Buhler, calling it “a geographic-agnostic program.” 

Catherine Metrycki, founder and CEO of Callia, is part of the 2021 Fellows cohort. “In Winnipeg, we’re a bit cut off from the rest of the world when it comes to the tech scene,” she said. Consumers and businesses use Callia to order flower deliveries; about a third of the 39-person team are developers working on the e-commerce experience, as well as supply chain and logistics technology. 

Participating in the C100 program gave the firm access to a network of other founders, advisors and investors, as well as insight into how fast-growing companies handle hiring and other aspects of scaling up. Callia currently operates in more than 55 cities, and will launch in Quebec this month. After that, “our eyes certainly look south,” said Metrycki. “Having good networks and connections [with people] who’ve been through rapid expansion themselves and have a bit of a localized presence in those markets is important.”

An increasingly global C100 could also help Canadian companies enter more distant markets. “Expanding into the U.S., is one thing, but when you’re expanding to countries [like] Japan, India, or [in] Europe … it’s even more important to have that network of Canadians,” said Bannister. She noted that C100 members could help startups meet potential customers as well as understand local market conditions and competitors. The organization is actively recruiting charter and board members outside North America. 

The C100 is looking to establish chapters in other cities with a concentration of members, likely beginning in New York. In February, it launched a peer-mentorship program, with circles of six to eight people across locations “who are birds of a feather,” said Buhler. So far, 95 members and fellows are participating, with active groups including ones for CTOs, chief revenue officers and first-time woman managers.

Post-pandemic, company “location seems to not matter nearly as much, if at all,” said O’Neill, a senior advisor to Toronto-headquartered Portage Ventures. “The C100 is doing something very wise” in shifting beyond Silicon Valley, “in many ways leading a trend that’s inevitable.” He noted that the organization will still need to decide where in the world to spend its limited resources.  

“It’s no longer about a bunch of Canadians in Silicon Valley who are delivering things to Canadian [startups],” said Bannister. “It’s about a global network.”