EPS

Knowledge for founders

A Canadian non-profit publishing and teaching the practice of entrepreneurship.

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The Concise Startup Funding Handbook

A practical guide to raising seed capital in Canada

AuthorRay Sharma
Founder HubWaitlist

Venture capitalist and former technology analyst Ray Sharma has spent two decades on both sides of the funding table — first as a top-ranked equity analyst covering the rise of the smartphone, then as founder of Extreme Venture Partners, the Toronto seed fund behind more than a hundred investments and exits to Apple, Google, and Salesforce. In The Concise Startup Funding Handbook, he lays out the mechanics of raising a first round in Canada: how to research investors and reach them, what to send and when, how to build a deck and a financial model, why the terms of a financing matter more than the valuation, and how venture funds actually make money. The handbook is paired with the EPS Founder Hub, a directory of Canadian venture funds, angel groups, and corporate investors detailed down to individual partners. Written for founders raising between $200,000 and $2 million, it is a working guide to a process most people learn only by getting it wrong.

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About

EPS exists to make entrepreneurship accessible.

Publishing
Original books on Canadian entrepreneurship: the mechanics, the founders, and the companies that defined the country's technology sector.
Education
Courses and seminars that bring the practice of entrepreneurship into the classroom, from graduate programs to high schools.
Founder & author
Ray Sharma

Ray Sharma is the most credible investor and operator in the Canadian venture landscape and a recipient of the Ivey Alumni Achievement Award. He is the founder of Extreme Venture Partners (EVP), Canada's leading seed-stage venture fund, with exits to Google, Apple, Salesforce and more. He is co-founder of AXL, a venture studio building AI-powered companies, and co-founder of Pacer Ventures in Nigeria, extending Canadian venture expertise into the African tech ecosystem. Prior to venture, Ray was the top-ranked technology analyst for five of eight eligible years across 10 years on Bay Street and Wall Street. He currently teaches "The Business of Computer Science" at the University of Toronto and contributes time to philanthropic activities such as the Ontario Judicial Council.

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