Concrete VC

Concrete VC Research

Investment Thesis

Concrete Ventures (operating as Concrete VC, concrete.vc) is a pre-seed venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to Atlantic Canada. Founded in 2016 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm's stated mission is to identify "great ideas and founders in Atlantic Canada that are ready to build massively scalable businesses." The firm describes itself as running a "by founders, for founders" culture, positioning itself as a true value-add investor rather than a passive capital source, and emphasizes experience, connections, and hands-on support through the earliest stages of a company's life.

Sector Focus

Concrete is a generalist pre-seed investor rather than a single-sector fund. Its actual portfolio spans:

• AI-enabled software (Stemble, NovaResp, Troj.ai, Spellbook, trophi.ai)
• Cybersecurity and information security (Carbide, Troj.ai)
• Govtech and regtech (Proof, PayTic)
• Edtech (Stemble, Shoelace Learning)
• Healthcare and wellness (NovaResp, Bright, Talkatoo)
• Fintech (Woveo, PayTic)
• Climate and hardware (Aurea Technologies/portable wind turbines, Anessa, Prosaris, 3D BioFibR)
• Consumer and workplace SaaS (Innerlogic, MESH, Bright)

Stage Focus

Concrete invests exclusively at the pre-seed stage, typically writing the first institutional check into a company. It does not appear to reserve meaningfully for later-stage follow-ons based on available portfolio data.

Check Size

Per BetaKit's coverage of the fund's raise, Concrete targets first checks of $100,000 to $750,000 per round.

Fund History

Concrete's fund grew from an original $17M target to $18.5M, reaching roughly $18 million in committed capital by January 2020. Nova Scotia committed $15 million to the fund (with a mandate that half of all capital be deployed into Nova Scotia startups and the remainder across the other Atlantic provinces), and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation added a further $500,000. The fund has approximately 20 limited partners, undisclosed by name. As of mid-2025, third-party trackers reported the firm had made only one new investment in the prior twelve months, and no publicly recorded investments so far in 2026, suggesting the original 2020 vintage fund may be largely deployed or between cycles; this is not confirmed directly by the firm.

Portfolio Highlights

Concrete's portfolio page lists at least 20 active or historical investments, including Innerlogic (people analytics, 2024), Stemble (AI for higher ed, 2023), NovaResp (AI sleep apnea management, acquired), Bright (workplace wellness), Woveo (credit building for newcomers), Prosaris (ultrasonic leak detection), Aurea Technologies (portable wind turbines), PayTic (payment card SaaS), SalesRight (acquired by FastSpring), Carbide (infosec management), Talkatoo (veterinary dictation, acquired), Spellbook (AI contract review), Shoelace Learning (literacy games), 3D BioFibR (protein fiber production), MESH (organizational safety/inclusion metrics), Troj.ai (AI security), Anessa (biogas assessment, acquired), Terris/Terrisei (3D satellite imaging), and trophi.ai (AI athletic coaching). A confirmed exit is Proof Data Technology, a government-process digitization SaaS company, which was acquired by Toronto-based Daylight Automation in January 2022.

Team

• Patrick Hankinson, General Partner - Co-founder of Tether, and founder of Compilr (acquired by lynda.com/LinkedIn). Made 14 personal angel investments and is an active mentor in the East Coast startup community.
• Teri Anderson, CFO - 30 years in finance and accounting across public and private sectors; concurrently serves as CFO for Namibia Critical Metals Inc. and Build Ventures alongside Concrete Ventures. Holds a CPA (CA) designation and an MBA from Dalhousie University.

The visible team is small (two named principals), consistent with a lean, geographically-focused pre-seed fund rather than a large multi-partner platform.

Decision Process

Not formally documented on the firm's site. Given the small team size, decisions likely run through a tight partnership process rather than a large investment committee, but this is inferred rather than confirmed.

Founder Preferences

The firm's messaging ("by founders, for founders," leadership built from operators who founded and sold companies) suggests a preference for backing first-time and repeat founders based in Atlantic Canada who are building nationally or globally scalable software and technology businesses, rather than purely regional/lifestyle businesses.

Geographic Focus

Exclusively Atlantic Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with a formal LP mandate requiring at least half of capital to be deployed into Nova Scotia-based startups.