Manica Blain

Advisor, Investor, Board Member to Early-Stage Consumer Brands

TL;DR:

With over 15 years of experience in investment banking, private equity and venture capital (including co-founding a $32mm early-stage consumer fund), I now work directly with passionate founders as they build, grow and scale the iconic consumer brands of the future.

The Long Story:

I graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) in 2005. I was fresh off two back-to-back summer abroad programs (one in Hong Kong in 2004, and then one then Germany in 2005) - I had the travel bug, and was keen to work overseas. I spent the first five years of my career in investment banking, mostly based in London, UK with Citigroup’s global consumer & retail team. During this time, I got to work alongside some of the world’s largest and best-in-class consumer and retail companies as they acquired companies, and raised both debt and equity financings - covering Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

In 2010, I came back to Canada and spent the next chunk of my career in private equity, first landing a seat on the investment team for Onex’s midcap private platform, ONCAP, where I continued to focus in consumer, and then I co-led fundraising for Onex Partners’ flagship fund, Onex Partners IV, a $5.2 billion private equity buyout fund.

Through my experiences in both investment banking and private equity, I got to build strong relationships with executives of numerous large consumer and retail companies, and I also realized my passion was in working with, investing in and advising much younger companies. In 2014 I co-founded Campfire Capital, a $32mm venture capital fund backed by >30 current and former lululemon executives, and lead institutional investor BDC Capital (Canada’s largest and most active venture capital investor), and we went on to invest in a number of consumer brands in consumer/DTC - including leading the $5mm Series A for FIGS in 2016, and being a meaningful investor in both of Cotopaxi's Series A and Series B financings in 2016-2017.

Post Campfire, I continued to invest actively in early-stage consumer, both on behalf of large family offices and other consumer-focused funds, and in 2022 I started working directly with a small number of consumer businesses I'm investing in and advising.

Where You Can Find Me:

I live in Kitsilano (Vancouver, Canada) with my husband, our two young sons, and our crazy/cute dog Billy Bob Blain. I’ll always have the travel bug… but, with two young children my jet-setting days are on hold, and I mostly work with founders over zoom … and, unless it’s a special occasion or a photo shoot that’s inspired me into an extra 20 mins of self-care, you can almost always find me in a top knot :)

What I Do

Leveraging my background in investment banking, private equity and venture capital I work directly with founders on advisory assignments relating to capital raises (both equity and debt), sale considerations, business development and overall strategic planning. I also directly invest in early-stage consumer businesses, and I will consider independent board positions, if no conflicts exist with my other current investments. My role is to be a key resource to founders - especially first-time founders - as they navigate unfamiliar, yet pivotal milestones in their growth trajectory.