Vancouver Entrepreneur Moves to US to Launch AI Startup

Mai Trinh, a graduate of Simon Fraser University, has transitioned from founding Vancouver’s Red Thread Club to launching her AI startup, Internet Backyard, in San Francisco. This strategic move comes as Trinh aims to leverage the more dynamic tech environment in the United States. The decision reflects a growing trend among Canadian entrepreneurs seeking greater opportunities in the US tech landscape.

In the summer of 2023, Trinh established the Red Thread Club, a community designed to engage the Gen Z tech scene in Vancouver. However, when the time came to develop her own startup, Trinh found the barriers to entrepreneurship in Canada too challenging. “The US lets us test, ship, and scale faster before bringing those capabilities back into Canada the right way,” Trinh explained.

Upon relocating, Trinh and her co-founder, Gabriel Ravacci, successfully raised $4.5 million USD (approximately $6.2 million CAD) in a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) at a valuation of $25 million USD (around $34.5 million CAD). The pre-seed funding round was led by the US-based firm Basis Set, with additional contributions from Crucible Capital, Breakers, Operator Collective, and Maple VC. Notably, Canadian entrepreneurs Ian Crosby and Geordie Rose also provided angel investments.

Trinh’s journey began when she moved from Vietnam to Canada for her undergraduate studies. Following her graduation, she worked at Sanctuary AI, a robotics startup. To better integrate into Vancouver’s tech community, she attended the Web Summit in Vancouver, which she described as “the most uninspiring tech event” she had ever experienced. This disappointment inspired her to create Red Thread Club, where she hosted events for local tech enthusiasts. However, as Trinh devoted more time to the club, it became increasingly time-consuming.

As she planned her next steps, Trinh also began navigating the process for permanent residency in Canada, even considering learning French to enhance her application. Yet, the demands of building a startup made this process more difficult. “I was working from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. every night,” she recalled. Ultimately, her lawyer advised her that relocating to the US would be a more straightforward path. With venture capital secured, Trinh found it easier to meet the criteria for a US visa.

Innovative Solutions for Data-Centre Financing

In her new role at Internet Backyard, Trinh is focused on developing Gnomos, the startup’s inaugural product. Gnomos is a data-centre financing platform that employs AI to provide operators with real-time insights into key metrics, including usage, energy consumption, and costs. Trinh believes this tool will assist startups in gaining a clearer understanding of their compute usage, which often becomes prohibitively expensive once they exhaust their free credits from major cloud service providers.

According to Trinh, the data centre industry has relied heavily on outdated methods for financial management, such as spreadsheets and legacy software. “No one has the metrics of their building, their usage, their heat, their liquid, their capex [capital expenditure],” she stated. Internet Backyard aims to modernize this “dinosaur industry” by automating quotes, bills, payments, and dispute resolution.

Despite relocating to the US, one of Internet Backyard’s initial clients is a Vancouver-based data centre operator called AxiNorth. Trinh’s commitment to her roots remains strong, even as she pursues opportunities in a more conducive environment for tech innovation.

Challenges in Canada’s Tech Landscape

While Trinh had hoped to build her startup in Canada, factors beyond immigration status influenced her decision. She noted that Canada’s fragmented financial regulatory landscape presents challenges that are often easier to navigate in the US. “US customers are more comfortable piloting. In Canada, procurement cycles are slower, and people wait for regulatory certainty,” she explained.

Data compiled by Toronto’s Leaders Fund reveals a concerning trend: only 32.4 percent of Canadian-led “high-potential” startups created in 2024 were based in Canada, with nearly half establishing their operations in the US.

Following her experience with Red Thread Club, Trinh has received numerous messages from young Canadian founders facing similar immigration challenges. While she maintains ties to Vancouver’s tech scene, her primary focus is on building Internet Backyard and addressing the pressing issues within the data-centre financing sector. “I don’t really care about being a founder,” Trinh conveyed with a sense of determination. “I just care about fixing the problem.”

As Trinh embarks on this new chapter, her story underscores the complexities and opportunities within the North American tech landscape, highlighting the choices that entrepreneurs must make to thrive in a competitive environment.