Janet Bannister

Founder & General Partner | Staircase Ventures

Janet is the Founder and General Partner of Staircase Ventures, which invests in Canada’s most promising early-stage technology companies. Prior to launching Staircase Ventures, Janet was Managing Partner at Real Ventures, one of Canada’s largest and most active early-stage investors. Janet is also a graduate of the prestigious Kauffman Fellows program, a global network of the world’s top 1% of
venture investors and innovation leaders.

Janet has won numerous awards and recognition including Toronto Region Builder of
the Year Award for 2023, Insider’s 2023 “Seed 30: The Best Women Early-Stage
Investors in North America”, Venture Capital Journal’s 2021 “Women of Influence in
Private Markets”, Pitchbook’s 2021 “Female Founders & Investors to Know”, and
American Bankers’ 2019 “Most Influential Women in Payments”.