Brightspark Ventures
Brightspark Ventures is one of Canada's oldest venture capital firms, a generalist early-stage technology investor based in Montreal and Toronto. Founded in 1999, it backs software, deep-tech, fintech and IoT startups from pre-seed to Series A. Its single water-tracked bet is construction-sensor maker Brickeye. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional, with one water company tracked as of 2026.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Brightspark Ventures is, by its own account and most others', the oldest venture-capital firm in Canada. It was started in 1999 by three Delrina software veterans, Mark Skapinker, Bert Amato and Dennis Bennie, who had just sold their fax-software company to Symantec and wanted to back the next wave of Canadian builders. Twenty-five years on it manages more than $500 million and still writes the first institutional cheque into pre-seed and seed companies.
Brightspark is a generalist, not a thematic fund. It hunts for Canadian software, deep-tech, fintech and the occasional hardware or IoT story, from pre-seed through Series A, and its track record reads like a tour of Canadian tech: an early bet on Radian6 (sold to Salesforce), ThinkDynamics (sold to IBM), and more recently travel-pricing firm Hopper and carbon-removal company Deep Sky. Water is not a category Brightspark sets out to chase; it shows up when a deal the partners like happens to touch it.
Brightspark's one water-tracked company is Brickeye, a Toronto construction-technology firm whose sensors watch building sites for the things that go expensively wrong, water chief among them. On a 40-storey Florida tower, Brickeye's system caught a burst water line and tripped an automatic shut-off before roughly 1,650 gallons could flood the floors below. Brightspark backed it alongside GreenSky Ventures, Graphite Ventures and Export Development Canada, two tracked deals in all.
Brightspark Ventures is worth knowing, for anyone newly mapping who funds water in Canada, less as a water specialist than as a deep-pocketed generalist whose infrastructure and IoT bets keep brushing against it. (don't) Waste Water rates it an Occasional water investor today, and that is the honest label: one company, two deals, inside a portfolio built on software returns rather than a water thesis.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Brightspark Ventures invest in?
- Brightspark Ventures is a generalist early-stage investor in Canadian technology companies, backing software, deep-tech, fintech, hardware and IoT startups from pre-seed through Series A. It does not run a water strategy; its lone water-tracked holding is Brickeye, a construction-sensor company whose technology prevents water damage on building sites.
- Who runs Brightspark Ventures?
- Brightspark Ventures was founded in 1999 by ex-Delrina entrepreneurs Mark Skapinker, Bert Amato and Dennis Bennie. Today it is led by Managing Partner Sophie Forest, who oversees the portfolio from Montreal, alongside partners Mark Skapinker, Jacques Perreault and Vancouver-based Andrew Lugsdin, who joined in 2024.
- Is Brightspark Ventures a water fund?
- No. Brightspark Ventures is a broad early-stage technology investor and one of Canada's oldest VC firms, not a dedicated water fund. Water appears once in its tracked portfolio, through construction-IoT company Brickeye. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional, reflecting a single water company rather than a water-first strategy.
- How many water companies has Brightspark Ventures backed?
- Brightspark Ventures has backed one water-tracked company in the Leviathan database, across two deals: Brickeye, whose sensors detect water-line failures on construction sites and trigger automatic shut-off valves. It sits inside a much larger generalist portfolio built around Canadian software and deep-tech returns.
- Where is Brightspark Ventures based?
- Brightspark Ventures is headquartered in Montreal, with a long-standing office in Toronto and, since 2024, a partner on the ground in Vancouver. The firm invests across Canada and manages more than $500 million in assets, making it one of the country's largest and oldest venture capital firms.