Allen Lau

Portfolio Highlight: ABR's Funding Round - Two Small Fish Edge AI has been a key pillar of our Advanced Computing Hardware investments and a core part of our thesis for a long time. It is the same arc I wrote about in The Next Data Centre: Your Phone a while...

Full write-up in the blog post.

twosmallfish.vc/portfolio-hi...

#EdgeAI #OnDeviceAI #VoiceAI #TimeSeriesAI #Semiconductors #StateSpaceModels #Robotics #Wearables #AR #HealthTech #Automotive #VentureCapital

This is why ABR enables new use cases that weren’t viable before across AR, robotics, wearables, medical devices, and automotive. Congrats again to Kevin, Chris, and the entire ABR team.

That directly addresses the edge constraints:
• Speed (every ms counts)
• Security (data stays close to the user)
• Energy (every mW counts)

ABR is building a new architecture around state space models and the TSP1 chip, enabling real-time, fully on-device voice and time-series AI — without the cloud.

Congrats to our portfolio company Applied Brain Research (ABR) on closing an oversubscribed seed round, with Two Small Fish Ventures leading, and @mrsevalau.bsky.social
joining the board.

Edge AI has been a key pillar of our Advanced Computing Hardware investments for a long time.

Non-dilutive, staged funding + mentorship + resources. Apply/details:

www.entrepreneurship.artsci.utoronto.ca/catalyst

If you know someone who should apply, Eva and I would appreciate a share.

If you’re a U of T grad student, postdoc, or faculty member with promising computing/engineering research—and want to move it toward a real product (and eventually a venture)—this is the stage we’re trying to support.

Quick reminder for my University of Toronto network: applications for the inaugural (and evergreen) "Eva & Allen Lau Commercialization Catalyst Prize for Computing & Engineering Innovation" close Thu, Jan 8, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.

A Day at Ontario Tech University - Allen's Thoughts... I spent a full day at Ontario Tech University a few weeks ago. It was my first time on campus, despite it being just over a 40-minute drive from Toronto, where I live. I arrived curious and left with ...

Canada’s first ethical AI lab, smart energy & nuclear engineering (ranked 3rd in North America), advanced mobility research, and one of the largest climatic wind tunnels in the world.

Here is my blog post:
allensthoughts.com/2025/12/15/a...

Spent a full day at @ontariotechu.bsky.social and came away super impressed. In just over two decades, they’ve built serious depth across AI, energy, and applied engineering.

Dual Use Is the Next Frontier of Deep Tech - Two Small Fish I wrote my master’s thesis on Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, a wireless communication technology that originated from military needs in World War II. CDMA uses a technique called direct seque...

My new blog post: Dual Use Is the Next Frontier of Deep Tech

twosmallfish.vc/dual-use-is-...

Geopolitics Now Matters to Every CEO - Two Small Fish In October, at our Two Small Fish Ventures AGM, I had the chance to sit down with Benjamin Bergen for a fireside chat. At the time, he was still leading the Council of Canadian Innovators. None of us ...

I first saw this as a founder through CCI, and now again as an investor. The companies that understand this new geopolitical context will be the ones that navigate it with confidence.

twosmallfish.vc/geopolitics-...

Talent rules, capital flows, Buy Canadian and Buy American, export controls, semiconductor shortages, data localization — the world is shifting faster than most startup playbooks.

A fireside chat with Benjamin Bergen at our TSF AGM made something clear: geopolitics is no longer “out there.” It is impacting how founders hire, raise, build, and sell.

The AI Bubble That Is Not When Everyone Is All In - Two Small Fish At the beginning of this year, I wrote an op-ed for The Globe about what many were already calling the AI bubble. Nearly a year later, almost all of what I said remains true. The piece was always mean...

I break it down into five points:

1 Big Tech is going all in while taking minimal risk
2 The demand side is real
3 Not all AI investments are equal
4 Picking winners matters
5 Dot com was a bubble, the internet was not

Read the full post here: twosmallfish.vc/the-ai-bubbl...

If anything, the forces I described back then have intensified. Big Tech, venture capital, private equity, and public markets are pouring unprecedented capital into AI. To understand what is really happening, we need to separate noise from fundamentals.

I just published a new post expanding on the op ed I wrote for The Globe about what many were calling the AI bubble. Nearly a year later, almost everything I said still holds. It was always meant to be a long term view, not a knee jerk reaction.

Worlds, Not Content - Two Small Fish A few weeks ago I watched a group of teenagers spin an entire fantasy universe out of a Discord server and a shared document. New characters appeared every hour, plot twists got voted up with emojis, ...

Here is the link:

twosmallfish.vc/worlds-not-c...

Given our unique experience, we meet with many AI-native, content-focused startups. Our partner Brandon recently shared his perspective on the types of companies Two Small Fish is most excited about.

Check out his blog post, “Worlds, Not Content.”

With a factory now pumping out new FUTURi boxes, it finally feels tangible — real progress you can see, touch, and feel.

Exciting times ahead for Martin and the whole FUTURi team. 🚀

This new facility marks another big step for Martin Ordonez and his team as they expand beyond their original office and ramp up production.

FUTURi is advancing intelligent electrification through its innovative energy processor, enabling smarter and more efficient power systems. ⚡️

Always great to see vision turn into reality.

Last week, I visited FUTURi Power’s new factory in Vancouver — where the “sausage” is made.

Incredible progress since our investment through Two Small Fish.

Reflections from the Impact 2025 Summit - Allen's Thoughts... I had the opportunity to join a panel at the Impact 2025 Summit in Calgary, moderated by Raissa Espiritu, with Janet Bannister and Paul Godman. Ironically, none of us are labelled as impact investors,...

"The most powerful kind of impact happens when companies succeed, when they become world-class companies."

My blog post: Reflections from the Impact 2025 Summit

allensthoughts.com/2025/10/29/r...

Two Small Fish’s unique and uncompromising first principle: TSF only invests in deep tech startups our partners fully understand and have real operational experience with — from technology, to product, to commercialization, and everything in between.

It’s just such a joy working with amazing engineers and scientists.

Embrace Risks, Execute with an Edge and Seek the Asymmetrical Upside - Allen's Thoughts... On Friday, October 17, 2025, Chancellor Kathleen Taylor at York University conferred on Eva Lau the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. I purposely avoided hearing her practice so I could experie...

Those words reflect how she’s lived — never afraid to take bold bets, always pushing for impact beyond convention.

A mindset that’s inspired me and so many others.

allensthoughts.com/2025/10/24/e...

Last week, Chancellor Kathleen Taylor at York University conferred on @mrsevalau.bsky.social her Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

In her remarks, she captured her spirit perfectly: “Embrace risks, execute with an edge, and seek the asymmetrical upside.”

Couldn’t have said it better.

$2M Donation Fuels U of T’s Eva and Allen Lau Commercialization Catalyst Prize - Two Small Fish The Laus have some exciting news to share. We are making a $2 million donation to the University of Toronto, our alma mater, to launch the Eva and Allen Lau Commercialization Catalyst Prize for Comput...

👉 Read more on our blog:

twosmallfish.vc/2m-donation-...