Ripple Ventures

To get in touch with the quickest reply, please email me at dom@rippleventures.com

Ripple Ventures leads pre-seed rounds in software companies transforming legacy industries and tech stacks in Canada & the US. We aim to be the first and most committed partner to help change the arc of success for companies.

Partner

RippleX Fellowship

Learn more here: fellowship.rippleventures.com

I started this fellowship program because I felt the struggles that every student out there faces when it comes to learning and gaining access to industry experts in startups/VC. Most programs out there were focused on sourcing, and none were focused on student development. 

Our fellowship program is anchored on content, and success of students that are either starting their own businesses as founders, or aspiring venture capitalists. We provide the content, experience, and guidance that trains the next generation of founders and VC's. 

We have three main pillars to the fellowship: 
1) Flagship Program: Every school semester we bring together 20-25 underrepresented student founders and aspiring VCs to teach them how to build venture-backable businesses and become investors. 
2) Online Course: Free self-paced resource for students who want to access the content we provide in the flagship program. (https://medium.com/rippleventures/launching-the-ripplex-fellowship-course-f76a7a90fef4) 
3) Fellow Fund: Investing $25-50K checks into student-led or first-time founders building in enterprise software, developer tooling, or web3 infra.

Founder & Program Lead 

Lula

Board Observer

Zenhub

Centro

Board Member

University of Waterloo Student Venture Fund

Currently helping the next generation of UW SVF students learn the ropes of venture capital by providing guidance on investments, market dynamics, and fund management. Proud alumni with the honor of paying it back. 

I was a part of building the foundation for the UW SVF as an Associate in 2018, helping source opportunities and going through diligence alongside other VCs and angels. During this time, I helped SVF create processes and frameworks to scale the program.

Investment Committee Member

AAAIM

Member

Gold House

Gold Rush is the nation’s leading API-focused accelerator that celebrates and supports the most promising Asian founders. Twice a year, 8-10 companies are selected to participate in a 12-week program. 

I'm working with founders in this program around go-to-market and fundraising.

Advisor - Gold Rush 

Various

I was an early advisor/mentor to many outstanding founders still in school, or recently graduated. Helped with everything from company formation, problem validation, GTM, financial management, and fundraising.

I've also freelanced with a few emerging managers early on in my career helping with pitch decks, fund modeling, portfolio construction, thematic research, and more.

Advisor / Mentor

Waterloo Alumni Angels

Helped source and analyze early-stage startups for an emerging angel investment group.

Scout & Selection Team 

To get in touch with the quickest reply, please email me at dom@rippleventures.com

Leading pre-seed rounds into software companies transforming legacy industries and tech stacks at Ripple Ventures. Also supporting underrepresented student and recent grad founders with $50-100K investments building in the same categories through the Ripple Fellow Fund. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_dominiclau
Ripple Ventures: https://www.rippleventures.com/
RippleX Fellowship Program: https://fellowship.rippleventures.com
RippleX Fellowship Course: https://ripplexfellowship.thinkific.com
Fellow Fund: https://www.fellowship.rippleventures.com/fellowship-fund

My job at Ripple Ventures is to help founders navigate challenges, be a thoughtful sounding board, and create value (GTM, hiring, fundraising). I'm extremely passionate about building communities to support underrepresented founders and aspiring investors, which led me to build the RippleX Fellowship program.

Congrats to Matt Espinoza ✦ and Ryan Kaufman ✦ sharing the Clover Labs story of going from $0 to $1M run rate in 42 days. The fastest in our portfolio at Ripple Ventures and excited to be a part of the journey!

Dominic Lau

Partner @ Ripple Ventures 🌊 (Leading pre-seed rounds in visionary founders transforming legacy industries and tech stacks)

Partner @ Clover (we're hiring!)—a holding company for internet businesses // mattespoz.com

It's official — Clover Labs is the fastest growing startup in Canada ever.

$0 -> $1M ARR (annual revenue run rate) in just 42 days

1/ Here's how we did it:

At Clover Labs we've built a predictable way to scale companies.

Our motto is that `volume negates luck`.

The formula is simple:
=> Viral Product x Insane Volume = Uncapped Distribution

All of which comes from our internal 'ai growth agents'.

We've cracked distribution at scale.

2/ 

We took some crazy bets to get here.

Including:
- acquired a design agency (brand is a moat)
- split the eng team for internal tools (own the infra)
- built customer incentives for viral referrals (users become sales people)
- run thousands of price experiments at scale (revenue is a variable)
- kept the team insanely lean (10x output with 1x headcount)

All part of the Clover Growth Engine.

3/ 

And we did this all from Canada 🇨🇦

A country that trains world-class talent… only to watch it move south.

But we stayed.

Because Canada has what it takes to be the best place to build: talent, proximity, culture.

It's missing more companies that stay, scale, and prove it’s possible.

We’re a mix of acquired founders, operators, and growth hackers.

And we’re here to build proof.

4/ 

My favourite quote of all time is:

"First time founders are obsessed with product.

Second time founders are obsessed with distribution."

All these AI coding tools solved the first part of the equation (product).

Clover will solve the second part (distribution).

5/ 

Final ask:

If you know an ambitious engineer, sales killer, or retention beast — already in Canada or open to moving back — send them our way.

We’re building something special.

🍀 Hiring: cloverlabs[dot]ai
(You might be this person.)

P.S. — I have an even bigger announcement coming out in the next 14 days..

1. Follow me Matt Espinoza ✦ and Ryan Kaufman ✦ (+ the Clover Labs team) to hear about it 😉
2. Share this message if you think others can benefit from this announcement

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