Propulsion Ventures

David Baldini, the Founder and Managing Partner, leads all investment decisions. The firm operates as a single-family office, so decisions are made without an investment committee of external LPs.

No. Propulsion Ventures invests its own balance-sheet capital and does not raise funds from outside limited partners. This structure gives it flexibility on check size, holding period, and follow-on strategy that a traditional 10-year closed-end fund does not have.

The firm focuses on pre-seed and seed rounds, often as a first institutional check. It reserves capital for follow-on investments through Series A, particularly for companies in its core AI and enterprise software verticals.

Propulsion is anchored in Montreal's AI ecosystem, a direct result of the city's academic strength at MILA. The firm also pursues select opportunities in Toronto, London, and continental Europe, though the majority of known portfolio companies are Canadian.

Propulsion Ventures was an early backer of Element AI, the Montreal-based enterprise AI platform co-founded by Yoshua Bengio. Element AI was acquired by ServiceNow in 2021, and the exit marked one of the highest-profile outcomes for a Canadian AI startup at that time.

Sourcing is concentrated through Baldini's personal network within the Montreal AI research community and the broader Canadian startup ecosystem. The firm also maintains LP relationships with other Montreal-based seed funds, which extends its visibility into early-stage deal flow.

Yes. Unlike many family offices that passively co-invest, Propulsion has shown a willingness to lead rounds, negotiate for board representation, and provide active governance support to portfolio companies, particularly at the seed stage.