Canadian technology philanthropy will continue under new leadership.
After more than a decade of promoting philanthropic giving to Canadian technology, The Upside Foundation is taking the path that many Canadian startups aspire to: transferring its operations to a larger partner that is better positioned to continue its impact.
“Maybe this next stage will give [us] a chance to open more widely across Canada.”
The Upside Foundation, which allowed tech founders to donate one percent of their startup shares to a Canadian charity of their choice, has entered into an agreement that will be donated to the SickKids Foundation. The move received unanimous approval from the boards of both organizations.
Ongoing donations to the Upside Foundation will now be managed by the SickKids Charitable Foundation, a separate entity that allows donations to go to any registered Canadian charity. The broader SickKids Foundation, founded in 1972, raises money for SickKids Hospital in Toronto and Canadian Children's Health Research.
“The SickKids Foundation is an ideal partner,” co-founder and board member Robert Antoniades told BetaKit. “Their values are amazing, they have the infrastructure, they can continue the vision that we started.”
Twenty-one exits, almost $4 million for charity
Founded in 2012 by Antoniades, Brightspark Ventures managing partner Mark Scapinker and consultant Jeni Goldstein, the platform has helped 385 companies distribute shares and oversee 21 distributions valued at nearly $4 million to 23 charities operating in Canada and registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. Current commitments include prominent Canadian technology companies Wealthsimple, Borrowell and Helcim. BetaKit has been an Upside partner since 2017.
According to SickKids Foundation development director Colin Hennigar, future donors will do what they did with the Upside Foundation: choose a registered Canadian charity and contribute one percent of their company or personal capital to it.
The income will come from a small fee charged to charities when the capital is converted into cash on exit.
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Hennigar said Upside executive director Juanita Lee-Garcia contacted him to discuss Upside's future and suggested the organization consider joining the SickKids Charitable Foundation.
“It really aligns with our strategic plan to expand sustainable income opportunities,” Hennigar said. “We invest in innovation, so we thought this was a great opportunity.”
Lee-Garcia will continue to support Upside's operations within SickKids as a strategic advisor and will join Toronto-based Growclass as its chief operating officer.
Changing landscape
The landscape of technology and philanthropy looks different now than it did when Upside first launched. Upside was created with the mindset of a venture fund and has a 10-year lifespan, Lee-Garcia told BetaKit. It has promoted charitable donations throughout its existence as companies such as Wattpad and Inkbox have exited it, but its fundraising activities have reflected tech downturn after the highs of 2021. Since 2022, Canadian tech companies have been struggling with frozen IPO window and low venture capital rates (VC) investing.
“The SickKids Foundation is the perfect partner. Their values are amazing, they have the infrastructure, they can continue the vision we started.”
When Lee-Garcia took the reins in 2022, she acknowledged that Upside was I'm unlikely to see as many major liquidity events, such as initial public offerings or large-scale acquisitions, over the next two years due to the post-2021 economic downturn. The slowdown in technology has led to a slowdown in business exits, which means fewer opportunities for charitable giving (and fewer celebrations for Upside), making it harder to spread the word. Lee-Garcia described this as a “trickle effect” on the recruitment of new members and the organization's ability to retain members.
Lee-Garcia compared the Upside Foundation's path to that of many Canadian startups that have sought acquisitions or partnerships with larger organizations. There were takeovers source of concern for some sectors of the Canadian tech industry, such as semiconductor technology, as several promising Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) chip startups have either moved to the US or been acquired by larger players.
After 10 years, Upside's solution was to find a higher-capital partner who could continue the organization's operations, Lee-Garcia said. “It's knowing that the legacy will still live on,” she said.
Attracting the next generation of entrepreneurs
The Upside Foundation's move raises questions about what product-market fit looks like for Canadian tech philanthropy. Antoniades said Upside wasn't going to serve all of Canada as well as it could have, and most of its donors were concentrated in the Greater Toronto Area. “Maybe the next phase will give it a chance to open more widely across Canada,” he said.
As the overall economy worsened, the number of Canadians donating to charity fell between 2018 and 2024, according to the organization's report. Canada helps. Meanwhile, the use of charities has increased due to inflation and the high cost of living, making it difficult to sell.
“We were the first to come to market with this concept; there are a lot of options now,” Antoniades said. “Continuing to attract the next generation of entrepreneurs has been a challenge.”
While there are other options, few are explicitly targeted at Canadian tech like Upside. Startup Pledge for Waterloo allows University of Waterloo alumni to donate a portion of their future capital to support the school. Global options include Founders Pledge, a UK organization that takes a small amount of pledge from entrepreneurs into the future for a specific charitable cause.
For Lee-Garcia, a “thriving ecosystem of philanthropic giving” would look like successful founders—even billionaires—paying their success forward through these models of charitable giving and venture philanthropy, aiming to support future companies. “I think it’s part of the Canadian ethic,” she said.
Artistic image courtesy of Dillan Payne via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
