Corporate and partner tiers for organizations that want proximity to the network. Host events in it. Put your name next to what's being built.
No banner placement. No broadcast. Partners show up, engage, and work with us on curated services.
Existing partners: Osler LLP, TD Innovation Partners, and Communitech.
Corporate tiers put your people in the room. Partner tiers add event presence, visibility, and curated services.
The people in this room are going to build, lead, and fund the most important companies of the next decade. We know who they are before the rest of the world does.
Barn Ventures writes first cheques before traction exists. Before the pitch deck, before the raise, before most investors are paying attention.
That learning gives us an edge. It also lets us enable more people to expand what they're capable of.
The range goes well beyond software. Founders working in logistics, climate, agritech, defense, and more. BC is one of the most diverse builder networks in the region.
Share-based comparison of idea categories across two six-month periods. H2: Jul–Dec 2025 (n=327) vs H1: Jan–Jun 2026 (n=173).
| Sector | H2 2025 share | H1 2026 share | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI / ML | 8.7% | 13.3% | +4.6pp ↑ |
| HR / Future of Work | 2.9% | 5.4% | +2.5pp ↑ |
| SaaS / B2B | 7.7% | 10.2% | +2.5pp ↑ |
| Developer Tools | 4.8% | 7.2% | +2.4pp ↑ |
| Media / Entertainment | 2.9% | 4.8% | +1.9pp ↑ |
| Hardware / Robotics | 12.9% | 7.8% | −5.0pp ↓ |
| Biotech / Health | 8.7% | 5.4% | −3.3pp ↓ |
| EdTech | 6.4% | 3.6% | −2.8pp ↓ |
Trend reflects the composition of events and applications in each period. Different events attract different crowds.
The room grows because people who join send others. That's the signal that matters.
Barn Ventures backs founders before they're fundable. Students, recent grads, and experienced builders starting fresh. BC is where Barn sees these founders before they're raising, before a pitch deck exists, and often before they've told anyone outside the room what they're working on.
Jesse has been building in the Waterloo ecosystem for over two decades. He founded both Velocity and the Creative Destruction Lab, two of Canada's most consequential early-stage programs, before founding Builders Club and Barn Ventures.
He's a founder himself, which means he knows what builders need before they know how to ask for it. That proximity is the edge. BC isn't a program he designed from the outside. It's a room he built because it didn't exist.
His writing on the Waterloo ecosystem reaches thousands of builders, investors, and operators every month across two Substack publications and a long-running presence on LinkedIn and X. In 2026, BetaKit named him to its Most Ambitious list.
The thesis is simple: the most interesting builders don't look like builders yet. Jesse has spent his career learning how to find them early.
Partnership at BC isn't a banner ad. It's proximity to serious builders in one of Canada's most productive tech ecosystems. If that's interesting, reach out.