CVCA Member Profile: Thin Air Labs
This week we’re excited to find out more about Thin Air Labs!
The CVCA caught up with Thin Air Labs to find out more about their team and what they’re excited about.
Tell us about Thin Air Labs
Thin Air Labs is a venture capital firm in Calgary, Alberta creating human value by helping early-stage startups scale globally.
We invest in Pre-seed and Seed stage startups via Thin Air Labs Fund I. We also offer customized Startup Services because we understand ventures require more than just capital to grow. For more information visit thinairlabs.ca. Thin Air Labs — Building What’s Next
Thin Air Labs Fund I has 4 employees, and the entire Thin Air Labs organization has 12 employees.
What is Thin Air Labs’ thesis?
We focus on founders: Founders are uniquely capable of influencing the success of their business. We build long-term relationships and partner their expertise with ours.
We focus on early-stage companies: To generate 100x returns we invest early when most investors deem ventures too risky. We help founders gain traction and follow institutional investors in later rounds.
We invest in companies that will have a positive impact on humans: We believe the greater the meaningful impact on humans, the greater the probability of outsized return on investment.
Tell us about the Thin Air Labs team
James Lochrie is the Managing Partner, Thin Air Labs Fund I. James is an avid capital investor, technology entrepreneur, and mentor to founders. James is the Co-founder of Wave Financial Inc. which was acquired by H&R Block for $538M CAD in 2019.
Crystal Phillips is the Health Lead & Head of Experience for Thin Air Labs Fund I. Crystal is the Founder of Branch Out Neurological Foundation which has raised over $3M for neurological research in Canadian universities. She is an expert in healthcare and significant human impact with a wide network of public, private, governmental, and charitable leaders.
Rick Bird is a General Partner in Thin Air Labs Fund I. Rick has over 15 years of accomplishment as a venture operator focused on raising capital, product-market fit, business modeling, and more. He is also a strategic advisor to many of Calgary’s leading ventures with significant exits worth $538M CAD and $110M CAD.
Raghu Bharat is a General Partner in Thin Air Labs Fund I. Raghu is an Engineer with a decade of experience investing in technology. Raghu has handled more than a dozen deals including an IPO and several acquisitions such as Maluuba by Microsoft and Edison by YipitData.
What is Thin Air Labs excited about in the immediate horizon and in the long term?
We’re delighted to have recently announced the first close of Thin Air Labs Fund I which brings us to nearly $20M. We are actively raising for our second close. The goal is to raise $100M by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
The Fund has already invested in 19 startups. These ventures include Syantra, a precision medicine company with a blood test to detect breast cancer, Arbor, a platform to help companies showcase the sustainability of their products and Provision Analytics, a platform to capture and analyze all food safety and quality data. As we continue to raise for our second close of Thin Air Fund I, we look forward to creating more globally competitive companies from Western Canada and beyond.
If you’d like to learn more, watch this video, or connect with us.
