Ali Serag
Managing Partner
We start companies and run them. Some on our own, some with you.
Most studios hand the company over once it launches. We co-found with people who know a market, build the product ourselves, and stay to run it.
Who we are
We're hands-on operators who build the companies we start—from the first line of code to full-scale go-to-market execution. Having founded ventures across fintech, immigration technology, legal tech, and AI, our team brings our collective learnings to every partnership.
We don't supervise from the sidelines, manage from afar, or outsource the heavy lifting. We actively design, write the code, and drive the initial sales motion ourselves.
The partners
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Salman Alam
Operating Partner
Kelso Curtis
Partner, Product & GTM
The record
Fostrum
Our own fintech platform — money management for creators, influencers and solopreneurs, founded in 2018
Venture-backed by
Built wealth management platforms managing billions for enterprise clients
Digital Innovator of the Year in Canada, 2018
Contributed to research software trusted by specialists for the most vulnerable patients
CovidImpact
Our response platform recognized globally for pandemic support
Global recognition from
Before the studio, our team built for
Proud alumni of
What we've built
Some we started on our own. Some we co-founded with a specialist, or the firm they run, who knew the market better than we did.
- entific.ai
Venture Research previewEntific AI
Agentic research and workflow tools, purpose-built for law
Legal technology
Visit entific.ai - whatsappsalesagent.com
Product LiveStark Agents
AI sales agents that work your WhatsApp inbox around the clock
Sales automation
Visit whatsappsalesagent.com - roamingresidence.io
Product LiveRoaming Residence
Canada's Express Entry system, automated into a five-minute eligibility check
Immigration technology
Visit roamingresidence.io
How we build
A studio runs on repetition. These are the two paths a company takes through ours.
Product
We build our own
Most of what we ship starts here. We pick a problem we understand, prove there is a business in it, and build the company ourselves.
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Find the problem
We work from markets our team has operated in rather than from a trend list.
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Prove it
A narrow prototype in front of real buyers, early enough that killing the idea is cheap.
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Build the company
Product, brand and go-to-market are stood up by the studio, not outsourced.
Venture
We build with you
When a specialist — or the firm they run — knows a market far better than we do, we co-found with them. They bring the domain; we bring everything it takes to turn it into a company.
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You bring the wedge
A problem you have lived with or sell into every day, and a view on why it is solvable now.
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We pressure-test it
A few weeks of shared work to size the market and agree on what to build first.
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We build it together
The studio supplies product, engineering and go-to-market from day one.
Where both tracks end
We launch it and run it
If the evidence holds up we take it to market — and the studio keeps operating the company, on our own or alongside you, rather than handing it off.
Who we partner with
We co-found with specialists and with the firms they run — anyone who has spent years inside a market and would rather build in it than advise on it.
You bring
- Domain specialists
- Operating businesses
- You've operated in the industry, not just studied it
- You keep hitting the same problem, and it still isn't solved
- You know who pays to fix it, and why now
- You want to run the company with us, not hand it to someone else
We bring
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Product & design
Research, product definition, brand and interface — from first sketch to shipped app.
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Engineering
A team that has shipped production software at enterprise scale, building from day one.
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Go-to-market
Positioning, pricing and the first sales motion — run by us until it is repeatable.
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Talent
Engineers and operators from our own network as the company starts hiring.
How the deal works
We take equity or a revenue share in what we build with you.
We put in the team rather than a cheque — which means we only make money if the company does.
Are you a domain specialist with an idea?
If you know an industry inside out and keep circling the same problem in it, we want to hear from you — whether you're one person with a decade in the market or already running a firm inside it. It doesn't have to be a finished pitch; a half-formed idea, or just a conversation about whether it's worth building, is a good place to start. One of us reads every message.
Not a specialist but think we should talk? Write anyway — ask@thestarkventures.com