Top Down Ventures has announced a new founders fund to fuel early-stage SaaS startups in the managed service provider (MSP) space. To date, it’s already raised USD $10 million and plans to bring in an additional $15 million in 2025.

According to the firm, the MSP industry will reach $1 trillion by 2030. Some recent observations that signal movement are more private equity being given to these companies and the software that supports them, as well as small-and-medium businesses (SMBs) becoming increasingly reliant due to trends like migrating to the cloud, improving cybersecurity, and becoming AI-ready. MSPs are third-parties that can take on a broad spectrum of outsourced tasks and functions for other businesses.

“We see the role for these MSPs continuing to grow, not only in its criticality for IT but also in the types of services [...] that help guide decisions for SMBs,” Joel Abramson, a general partner at Top Down, told the Vancouver Tech Journal. “We see them playing this incredibly important role for as much of the horizon as we can anticipate.”

Along with Abramson, Top Down’s general partners include Chris Day and Mark Scott. The trio have a notable track record in founding and scaling MSPs — including Fully Managed (acquired by TELUS), IT Glue (acquired by Kaseya), ScalePad, Produce8, and N-able. 

The fund is targeting seed and series A startups generating over $1 million in ARR. It’s also looking for “blue ocean” businesses — those that anticipate future needs of customers and create new markets.

“That's been a common thread of the companies that we've previously invested in,” said Abramson. “What makes them successful is they end up being the thing that MSPs or their end-customer ultimately need. So it makes their lives easier, makes their days better, makes their environments more secure, and makes the MSPs really valuable partners.”

As for what founder qualities matter, Top Fund said they seek entrepreneurs with a high degree of passion for building in the MSP space. 

“We're looking for people who are trying to make a difference and think outside the box,” Abramson highlighted. “We like a mix of technical founders and also business-savvy.”

Top Fund intends to invest in 10 companies and will offer cheques up to $3 million. Strategic and tactical support with product development, go-to-market strategies, and team building will also be provided. 

By Q4, the firm anticipates it will close three new investments with companies involved with cybersecurity — one of which operates in Vancouver.

Looking back on the first close, Top Fund said it’s especially proud of how it brought the MSP community together. 

“As the second close goes, we expect that that'll be made up of a different set of investors,” shared Abramson. “But we're excited about opening up investing in MSPs for those who are outside the space through this fund.”

The firm also said that it’s keen to bring more attention to MSPs as it finds they typically fly under the radar.

“We're excited [to] amplify how important MSPs are in the Vancouver tech community, in the Canadian tech ecosystem, and ultimately, as a global force for building great software that ultimately impacts the SMB ecosystem — which in Canada is 60 per cent of our GDP,” said Abramson. “MSP being the conduit to SMBs is a pretty important piece of the supply chain.”

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