Building Canada's Next Flagships - Amiral Ventures

Two years after first appearing on the Flagship Podcast, Nectar, Fred, and Dom reunite for a long-overdue conversation: Amiral Ventures has officially closed Fund 1.

In this candid episode, the three partners trace the origins of the fund: how Fred's entrepreneurial journey (including co-developing LTE at Nortel and a successful Series A & B raise at Mnubo) first brought him together with Dom, a veteran M&A banker who went on to launch Xpnd Capital and deliver two IPOs. Nectar rounds out the team, coming off years of post-investment value creation work at PNR and crossing paths with Fred through this very podcast.

The conversation gets real about what it actually takes to raise a fund from scratch: nearly three years in the trenches, no product to show, just a slide deck and conviction. They share what they've learned, the primacy of trust-building, the importance of giving candid feedback to founders (even on a "no"), and the gap they're filling in the Canadian ecosystem at the seed-to-Series A inflection point.

The team also lifts the curtain on their Prosperity Decoded thesis, backing AI-native companies driving enterprise productivity, sustainability, and resilience; and spotlights their first two portfolio companies: Maxa (AI for CFOs and FP&A) and Maket (AI for residential architecture and design).

They close on what excites them most: the caliber of Quebec founders, the community of successful exits now back as LPs and mentors, and the long game of building Canada's next generation of flagship technology companies.