With over a decade spent investing in 100+ companies, we help you create remarkable, long-term impact.
Our core beliefs guide our investments, and we actively share our learnings and viewpoints to help today’s innovators make a difference.
Boris is the founding partner of Version One and one of the top tech early-stage investors in North America. Born in Germany and based in Vancouver, Boris takes a wide-angle view to find great companies all across North America: from New York and Toronto to Seattle and LA. He is a former board partner with Andreessen Horowitz and is well-respected for his uncanny ability to find the next generation of leaders.
Today, Boris is focused on crypto/web 3, AI, climate/energy and India, looking for the best teams who solve big problems in a unique way. As an investor and former entrepreneur, Boris knows when to push and when to ease off, while always remembering that he is an advisor, not a player.
Before becoming an investor, Boris built an online marketplace for used and out-of-print books in 1999, selling the business to AbeBooks.com where he became COO and led a team of 60 people. After AbeBooks.com was sold to Amazon, he moved into investing, first as an angel and now with Version One.
Boris finished his PhD at the Graduate School of Management (WHU), Koblenz, majoring in Business Economics & Business Management. In 2005, he was named the Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year, and in 2024, he was inducted in the BC Innovators Hall of Fame.
General Partner at Version One, Angela is a native Torontonian and naturalized US citizen who calls the San Francisco Bay Area home. Investing in the US and Canada, she has a unique perspective on both ecosystems. An engineer by training, Angela’s desire to help others and work with people who are bringing about positive transformational change led her to the world of VC, where she has quickly made a big impact.
Today, Angela focuses on deep tech (i.e. robotics, climate/energy, bio/health), AI/ML, dev tools and enterprise SaaS startups. While she loves data, she believes that good investing is both value- and data-driven.
Prior to Version One, Angela co-launched Insight Data Science, a YC-backed startup designed to help PhDs transition from academic research to careers in industry via a six-week training program. With this experience, she is uniquely poised to help startups accelerate data science as a key differentiator.
Angela received her PhD in Operations Research & Financial Engineering from the University of Toronto. She is a trustee on the board of the Computer History Museum and a charter member for the C100.
Leah Gosbee joined Version One as CFO in December 2021.
Previously Leah was the VP Finance and Tax at Pinnacle Fund Services for 7 years where she oversaw the tax reporting for all Canadian clients, quarterly reporting for several PE/VC funds and GP entities and the internal accounts of Pinnacle.
Leah started her accounting career in public practice in Vancouver and spent 13 years in the industry with a focus on financial reporting and tax compliance.
Leah holds a Bachelor of Accounting Science from the University of Calgary and the CPA, CGA designations.
Recent Posts
Introducing an earlier investment: Volley, a friendly place for helping others
Last October, we made our first investment out of <a href="https://www.versionone.vc/announcing-version-one-fund-ii/">Fund II</a> and are excited to announce this news today as the company launches publicly out of beta. <a href="http://volley.works">Volley</a> is a friendly place for helping others solve problems online. Volley members can post requests in response to the question, “What are you looking for?” You can sift through a list of requests quickly and either reply directly to a request, volley it on to someone you know who can help, or just skip it if you can’t think of anyone in your networks suited to help. We have posted technical questions on drones, podcasts, Facebook groups, transportation/logistics, etc.; as well as personal questions (like what surgical graft I should get after I tore my ACL). Similarly, we’ve leveraged the Volley community to recruit help (i.e. videographers, illustrators) and to get leads on renting out parts of our Vancouver office. The idea is simple, and there is no doubt that many other startups have worked on facilitating connections, but here’s why we decided to lead Volley’s round. There is a huge opportunity in the social space as everyone’s networks are fragmented across different services and platforms. For example, with friends on Facebook being mostly personal and private, acquaintances on LinkedIn being professional, and followers on Twitter being public, this makes connectivity inefficient. Volley can thus be the dominant way to solicit help from and access the knowledge of relevant people who are “siloed” across a variety of networks. <b>Tapping into a “pay it forward” culture</b> What’s exciting about Volley is that they are capturing the essence of Silicon Valley’s “pay it forward” culture and replicating it on a grand scale. Living and working in the SF Bay Area, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by people who are incredibly generous with their time and knowledge, always eager to make introductions and help each other out. Volley offers the chance to open this Silicon Valley dynamic to community after community after community. The first time we met Volley founders Mike Murchison and David Hariri (they later welcomed Brendan Lynch as a co-founder too), we were blown away by their thoughtfulness. This same thoughtfulness has translated into incredible traction and engagement among the young professionals on Volley, especially in the Toronto startup ecosystem. For instance, <i>every</i> request receives an average of over 5 replies. Volley has organically spread to other cities and they are looking forward to growing their community with this public launch. <b>We are power users, not just investors</b> We have been active members during Volley’s beta, deriving much value from the platform. For example, I posted the request below: <a href="https://gregburnison.ca/code/version1v/images/VolleyScreenshot.png"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2419 aligncenter" src="https://gregburnison.ca/code/version1v/images/VolleyScreenshot-500x270.png" alt="VolleyScreenshot" width="500" height="270" /></a> Within two days, I got 15 very thoughtful answers from friends, and friends of friends whom I’ve never met before, and compiled a list of over 50 tools (to be shared in an upcoming blog post). Yes, I could have discovered many of these tools via Google. In fact, this is how I started but I quickly found that the information was outdated and/or sponsored (i.e. inherently biased). Instead, through the Volley community, I was able to learn who uses which tools and why, <i>today</i>. We’re certain many users have found great value from Volley too - and we would to hear those stories. Have a question or need some help? Getting the urge to be helpful? Come experience the power of Volley’s community. <b>To learn more, visit</b> <a href="http://volley.works"><b>http://volley.works</b></a><b> or follow on @volleyworks on</b> <a href="https://twitter.com/volleyworks"><b>Twitter</b></a><b>.</b>
