Pitch Practice with fnInvestor Matt Wilson (July 23, 2025)
Virtual · Zoom
Scale, Lead & Lifetime Members Only:
Watch, Pitch, Learn: Join fnInvestor Matt Wilson, Founder and Managing Director at Allied Venture Partners, for a virtual pitch practice where you’ll have an invaluable opportunity to fine-tune your pitch, learn from the investor’s perspective, and potentially open the door for further conversations.
Key Event Details:
- Pitching Opportunity:
- RSVP & Selection: While RSVPing is necessary, spots are not guaranteed. Only three founders (Scale, Lead & Lifetime Members) will be selected based on criteria set by the investor. The selection will happen a week before the event.
- Pitch Format: Each selected founder will have three minutes to pitch their startup. This is your chance to deliver a concise, impactful pitch—essentially an "extended elevator pitch." Time is limited, so make sure you focus on the core elements of your startup’s story, value, and vision.
- Mandatory Dry Run Requirement: Before the event, you'll need to complete a dry run of your pitch with Aaron Ganek, a pitch deck expert and startup advisor. This is a critical step to ensure you're prepared and confident going into the pitch practice session.
- Feedback: After each pitch, you will receive five minutes of feedback (3mins from the investor, 1min from Kevin Holmes, and 1min from one of your peers). Take notes and ask clarifying questions, as this could provide invaluable insights for refining your pitch moving forward.
- Post-Event Follow-Up:
- If there’s mutual interest, you may have the opportunity to connect with the guest investor to dive deeper into your pitch and explore potential next steps with your startup.
- Not Ready to Pitch?:
- Even if you’re not ready to pitch, you can still join the session as an observer. This is a great opportunity to watch, learn, and ask questions. You can gain insights from the feedback provided to others, and have the chance to engage directly with the investor.
How to Participate:
- The pitching opportunity is for Scale, Lead and Lifetime members only, while Launch is able to be a spectator (watch).
- RSVP to secure your spot (although not guaranteed to pitch, you’ll still be able to watch and learn).
- Prepare for the dry run with Aaron Ganek beforehand to refine your pitch.
- If selected, pitch and get feedback from the featured fnInvestor.
- Kindly review the 3-Minute Pitch Guide for a comprehensive understanding of the process.
- If you’ve pitched in the last 30 days, you’re still welcome to register—but spots aren’t guaranteed, as we want to give others a chance too. You may be placed on the waitlist in case of no-shows or last-minute changes, so stay ready, be prepared, and bring your best!
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Investment Criteria:
- Invests in: Seed to Series A
- Sectors: Enterprise Software
- Investment Location: US & Canada
- Investment Range: $100K to $350K checks
Matt Wilson is the Founder and Managing Director of Allied Venture Partners, a Calgary-based venture capital firm focused on closing the early-stage funding gap for Canadian startups.
After exiting his Toronto-based CPG startup, Matt relocated to Calgary in 2013 and began consulting for early-stage companies, advising on sales and marketing strategy. This work naturally evolved into angel investing—a way to combine his passion for entrepreneurship with his interest in private markets. With limited local VC activity at the time, Matt sought out experience in more established ecosystems, immersing himself in the venture communities of Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, and Toronto.
By day, he worked at a leading media and marketing agency; by night and weekend, he built his investing acumen—joining syndicates, studying the craft, and investing in mid to late-stage startups like Pinterest and Lyft. Matt approached angel investing with the same portfolio strategy he used in public markets: balancing risk through diversification. Over time, his focus shifted earlier in the lifecycle to Seed and Series A opportunities, and he has since invested in more than 100 tech startups.
In 2019, after receiving his first distributed shares from the Pinterest IPO, Matt turned his attention to solving a larger problem: how to make venture investing more accessible in Western Canada. What began as a business school capstone project became Allied VC, launched in 2020 with a mission to:
- Seed to Series A Increase access to capital for Canadian founders
- Enterprise Software Broaden investor access to high-potential venture opportunities
- US & Canada Serve as a trusted bridge for global investors entering the Canadian tech ecosystem
Since its founding, Allied has grown to include over 2,000 limited partners across 24 countries, many of whom are operators and executives from the world’s top technology companies.
Whether you're a founder seeking early-stage capital or an investor looking to access top-tier deal flow, Matt and the Allied team are building the bridge to Canada’s next generation of breakout startups.
Confidentiality Reminder
All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.
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