Janet Bannister

Janet Bannister is one of Canada's best-known technology operators-turned-investors. An Ivey Business School HBA graduate (University of Western Ontario, 1992), she began her career as a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble and later worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. She moved to Silicon Valley to join eBay (roughly 2001–2005), where she led multiple product categories and helped transform the company from a collectibles site into a mainstream marketplace.

In 2004 she founded and launched Kijiji.ca, growing it into one of Canada's most-visited websites, and went on to lead eBay's global Kijiji business across North America, Europe, and Asia. She subsequently served as CEO of a venture-backed startup and ran her own consulting business before entering venture capital.

Bannister joined Real Ventures in 2014 and became its Managing Partner — reported as the first woman to lead one of Canada's largest and most active early-stage VC firms. Over roughly eight years there she led investments in about a dozen companies. She stepped back from Real Ventures in late 2022 and, in early 2023, launched her own firm, Staircase Ventures, where she is Founder and Managing Partner. Staircase closed its first fund at C$34M (2023) and a second fund at C$50M (2025), giving the firm roughly C$85M under management.

She is widely recognized in the ecosystem, holding roles/affiliations with C100, Ivey Business School's advisory board, and Creative Destruction Lab (mentor), with past board service at Communitech and the Vector Institute. She received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Ontario Tech University in 2025, and has won awards including the CVCA's "VC Woman of Achievement," Toronto Region Builder of the Year (2023), and Business Insider's "Best Women Early-Stage Investors" (2023 and 2024).

• Leads pre-seed and seed rounds, typically writing C$1M–C$2M cheques.
• Stated firm thesis: *"Staircase Ventures leads seed-stage rounds into Canada's highest potential tech companies with unparalleled dedication to accelerating founders' development and performance."*
• Focuses on Canadian B2B software companies "leveraging technology to deliver radically improved efficiency or effectiveness to their customers."
• Differentiates on founder support, not just capital: executive CEO coaching (6–12 months), peer-learning groups, health coaching, financial advisory for founders, and family-support stipends. Notably allocates 20% of GP carry back to founders via a carry fund.
• Reserved ~40% of Fund II for follow-on financing; leans toward experienced and repeat founders.
• Personal brand emphasizes a "caring and sharing" approach to VC and backing under-served/diverse founders.