Ryan Holmes

Ryan Holmes, Co-Founder & General Partner at LOI Venture

Ryan Holmes is the co-founder and general partner of LOI Venture, a $20 million seed-stage venture fund focused on backing founders under 30 who attend the League of Innovators (LOI) program.134

Holmes is best known as the founder of Hootsuite, a social media management platform he started in 2008 and helped grow into the world's most widely used social relationship platform with over 18 million users.24 He served as Hootsuite's CEO until 2019 and remains on the board of directors.2

In 2014, Holmes founded the League of Innovators, a charity aimed at accelerating the growth of young entrepreneurs in Canada.3 To date, the LOI program has graduated 250 businesses with a combined valuation of nearly $1 billion.3

Holmes is also an active angel investor and advisor, with a syndicate called the Maple Syrup Mafia dedicated to accelerating Canadian startups.2 He has authored books on social media and entrepreneurship, and shares his insights in publications like Forbes, Fast Company and Inc.24

Holmes co-founded LOI Venture in December 2021 with Manny Padda, an entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist.13 The fund aims to provide pre-seed and seed-stage funding to early-stage startups in Canada, with a focus on LOI program graduates.34