John Stokes is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Real Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that has played a catalytic role in the development of Canada’s startup ecosystem. Since settling in Montréal in 2007, his firm has led investments in more than 250 companies such as Transit, Dcbel, Unsplash, Mejuri, Benchsci, Tenstorrent and Zeffy.
In 2011, he helped launch FounderFuel, one of Canada’s leading startup accelerators, and in 2018 was named one of the “100 most influential people in Quebec” by L’actualité. The Montreal Gazette also recognized him as one of the “24 Quebecers we love” for his contributions to the city’s entrepreneurial renaissance. In 2025, he received the Barry Gekiere Lifetime Legacy Award from the CVCA for his enduring contributions to Canada’s venture ecosystem.
John is also the co-founder of the OSMO Foundation, a non-profit that revitalized Notman House and St Margaret’s Hospital into vibrant startup campuses. In 2023, he was honoured as the Community Champion of the Decade for the Montréal startup ecosystem.
John’s current initiatives center on cultivating the deliberate development of entrepreneurs as a foundation for wise innovation—ventures that scale while strengthening social bonds and regenerating planetary systems. He also serves on the steering committee of DevelopmentalSpaces.org, supporting the creation of environments that deepen founders’ capacity for systemic impact.
Prior to Real Ventures, John was a technology and media entrepreneur, founding and growing companies across Africa, New Zealand, and Asia. He earned his ICD.D designation in 2019 and holds a BSc. (Hons) in Sports Science from Manchester Metropolitan University.
John holds citizenship in the UK, New Zealand, and Canada, and lives in Montréal with his wife and young daughter.