Optimizing Your Capital Stack: How Grants, SR&ED, and Financial Strategy Fuel Startup Growth

Building an innovative product is one thing — funding it strategically is another.
Join Employment Hero, Grant Solutions Canada, and BrightIron for a live webinar on Wednesday, November 12th, to explore how startups can design a smarter capital stack that combines grants, SR&ED tax credits, and financial strategy to power sustainable growth.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Understand and structure your capital stack to balance equity, debt, and non-dilutive funding.
- Leverage grants and SR&ED to fund innovation while protecting ownership.
- Build financial discipline and forecasting strategies with fractional CFO insights.
- Avoid common pitfalls when integrating multiple funding sources.
Featuring real-world case studies, practical advice, and a live Q&A, this webinar is designed for founders, CFOs, and growth leaders who want to make every dollar go further.
Speakers:
- Sarah Lesperance, VP of SR&ED Growth at Employment Hero – Maximizing SR&ED claims and integrating them into your funding strategy.
- Chelsey Fawcitt, Founder at Grant Solutions Canada – Identifying and securing grants to extend runway through non-dilutive funding.
- Mandeep Saini, Partner at BrightIron – Bringing the financial lens: building a sustainable capital stack through fractional CFO and GTM strategy.
Who Should Attend:
Startup and scale-up leaders, finance teams, and innovators looking to align funding, finance, and growth strategy for long-term success.
Meet your hosts
Watch the webinar
Related Resources
-
Read more: Start the new year with confidence: First pay run of 2026 checklistStart the new year with confidence: First pay run of 2026 checklist
Make your first 2026 pay run smooth. Download the free checklist with CRA updates, deduction reminders and payroll prep steps.
-
Read more: How to set company OKRs that stickHow to set company OKRs that stick
Learn how to set company OKRs that stick. Get examples, cadences and plug-and-play templates to keep every team aligned and…
-
Read more: How to handle unused vacation at year endHow to handle unused vacation at year end
Published Published It’s that time of year again. The frantic rush to close out the books, plan for the new…



















