Adam McNamara, General Partner of McNamara Family Investments, photographed in Toronto

Backing the scientists
and engineers building the future.

I co-founded a mobile product company that was acquired by Shopify. I stayed, became their first VP Product, and spent three years helping build what's now one of the most important commerce platforms on earth.

As a computer scientist, I love learning about fundamentally new science and engineering from founders. I also know how hard it can be to raise money for deep tech startups. The ideas look too weird, the timelines too long, and most investors don't have the technical background to evaluate what's actually real. So founders working on important things end up spending all their time convincing people instead of building.

Since 2012 we've been investing our own money in founders building things most people didn't think could be done. If you're working on something like that, I'd love to learn more.

Background

2012 – Present
Deep Tech Angel Investor
McNamara Family Investments

General Partner. Family office backing founders working on things most people say can't be done. 40+ investments across North America.

2012 – 2015
VP Product
Shopify

First VP Product. Built the merchant platform and product org during hypergrowth — from early-stage startup to a commerce platform used by millions.

Pre-2012
Co-Founder
Mobile Startup (acquired by Shopify)

Co-founded a mobile product company. Acquired by Shopify — which led to the VP Product role.

Signals Intelligence
CSE — Communications Security Establishment

Software engineer. Working at the intersection of cryptography, signals analysis, and national security.

Anti-Money Laundering
FINTRAC — Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre

Software engineer. Building systems to detect and disrupt financial crime at a national scale.

Education
Bachelor of Computer Science
Highest Honours

CS graduate. The foundation for everything — reading papers, evaluating deep tech, understanding what's actually hard.