White Star Capital closes $250M Fund IV to back globally ambitious startups

Fund IV — Key Details at a Glance

White Star Capital Fund IV is the firm's largest to date, focused on Series A and B rounds for startups with global ambition .

• Fund size: $250 million USD
• Step-up: 39% increase from Fund III ($180 million, raised in 2019)
• Check size: $5 million to $15 million initial cheques, with roughly half the fund reserved for follow-ons
• Target portfolio: 15 to 20 companies
• Deployment horizon: Capital to be deployed over 6 to 12 months
• Key LPs: Returning Canadian institutional backers including Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, Desjardins, and Teralys Capital, plus a subset of Canadian banks and European institutional investors
• Target miss: Several sources report the fund closed roughly $100 million below its original target — a reflection of a slower fundraising market — though the firm cited strong LP demand for its differentiated global thesis

Investment Thesis: "Global Scaling from Day One"

White Star Capital was not built as a single-region fund that later expanded. Co-founders Eric Martineau-Fortin and Jean-Francois Marcoux designed the firm as a multi-geography platform from the start, partnering with founders who have the vision to scale internationally immediately . This thesis — backing companies that can win across North America, Europe, and Asia simultaneously — has been consistent since the firm's first fund more than twelve years ago .

Geographic Footprint & Office Expansion

The firm now operates from eight offices across three continents, having grown from a team of five split between New York, Montreal, and London in 2014 .

Additional outposts include Guernsey (corporate/regulated entity) and Dubai (Middle East coverage) . The firm also maintains active investment scouting in Berlin and across broader Europe, and invests in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia through its Asian team .

Team Growth to 50+

The investment team has scaled dramatically:

• 2014: 5 people
• Today: 50+ people across eight offices
• Independent directory sources (verified August 2026) list 61 people from the firm's website and public directories
• Key investment leaders: Co-founders Jean-Francois Marcoux (Managing Partner) and Eric Martineau-Fortin; General Partner Catherine Ouellet-Dupuis (Montreal); and recent GP hire Henry Davis (New York, joined January 2026)

Portfolio: 100+ Companies with 22 Exits

White Star Capital manages a portfolio of more than 100 companies and has completed 22 exits . GP Intel tracks 105 total portfolio companies (88 active, 17 realized) as of mid-2026 .

Notable Portfolio Companies

Key Exits

• Dialogue Health Technologies — acquired by Sun Life (Canadian telehealth leader)
• Freshly — sold to Nestlé (meal-kit delivery)
• TheGuarantors — acquired by Warburg Pincus (insurtech)
• Carbon6 — trade sale in 2025
• Cometh — trade sale in 2026
• Dice — exit in 2025
• Digg — exit in 2025

Fund IV Already Deployed into Eight Companies

Even before the final close, Fund IV had already backed eight companies :

• Sequen (New York) — AI personalization platform, $16M Series A (co-led with Threshold Ventures, March 2026)
• Veesion (Paris) — AI video analytics
• OatFi (New York) — Fintech
• AMI Labs (Paris) — AI
• Tetrix (Montreal) — Robotics/AI for affordable housing construction
• Trayd (New York) — Construction tech, $10M Series A (led by White Star, March 2026)
• Additional companies undisclosed

Notable Strategic Developments

• North American Seed Fund: Launched in late 2025 at $50M, this vehicle allows the firm to back earlier-stage companies and build a pipeline into Fund IV
• Deal activity surge: Deal activity increased ~350% year-over-year (9 deals in the 12 months preceding mid-2026), per deal-tracking platforms
• AUM: The firm has approximately €647 million in assets under management across all funds and vehicles