A Team Dedicated
to Supporting Your Mission
Brought together by our passion to help and guide entrepreneurs in the creation of society-impacting companies, our team offers the multiple view points and specializations that will help your company go the extra mile.
Katy Yam
General Manager
Katy is a natural connector of people and ideas in service of helping good people succeed. As General Manager of FounderFuel, her ambition is to create an environment that helps founders level up quickly by filling knowledge and experience gaps with pairings from Real’s rich mentor ecosystem. She believes deep personal accountability and a #givefirst mindset will enrich every startup and accelerate their traction at FounderFuel and beyond. She is a multilingual executive with a 20-year history of managing high-performing product, business intelligence and marketing teams across various public and private industries including telco, CPG, gambling and AI.
Isaac Souweine
Mentor-in-Chief
A newcomer to venture capital, Isaac has built a career as a product leader with a passion for company building and ecosystem creation. Past leadership roles have spanned high growth startups like Sonder and Frank + Oak and large technology companies like Yahoo and Scholastic. Isaac is also a dedicated mentor, public speaker, event organizer and connector, who believes deeply in paying it forward. A husband and father of two, he thinks Montreal might just be the perfect place to raise a family while building a world-class startup ecosystem.
A committed team backed by Canada’s leading seed-stage VC
FounderFuel is powered by Real Ventures, a leading source of capital for game-changing entrepreneurs and a driving force behind emerging tech ecosystems.
More about Real Ventures
Mentorship is at the heart of the FounderFuel experience.
From kickoff to Demo Day, our network of seasoned founders, investors, and executives are crucial partners in the acceleration process.
Get InvolvedOUR MENTOR COMMUNITY
FounderFuel’s mentor community is one of Canada’s premier startup networks. Since 2011, hundreds of mentors have participated in the program, sharing their expertise, insights and connections with our founders. They embody the pay it forward mentality that is at the heart of thriving startup ecosystems.
BECOMING A MENTOR
FounderFuel seeks to continuously renew our mentor pool to bring fresh and diverse perspectives to our teams. If you are a founder, executive or investor who is looking to give back to your community, hone your craft and build your own network, we welcome you to reach out to see if the program could be a fit.
WHAT’S INVOLVED AND EXPECTED
Mentors commit to FounderFuel for at least one 3 month cohort. All mentors should also be open to acting as a lead mentor, who meet at least every other week with a team for the duration of the program. Mentors give freely of their time, expertise and connections without expectation of direct remuneration. They support companies with honest but empathetic advice that is strong but loosely held. Our best mentors listen as much as they talk and learn as much as they teach.
Our
Sponsors
Our sponsors’ contribution goes far beyond funding. With their deep expertise and networks, they are also key allies for our companies as they navigate the twists and turns of the venture-backed path.
