Francois Lafortune Photo

Francois Lafortune

Co-founder & CEO

Francois Lafortune is an entrepreneur and investor with over fifteen years of experience in building businesses and the financial technology sector. He is the co-founder and CEO of Diagram Ventures, a venture builder that conceives and launches technology companies in the financial services, insurance, and health industries. Working alongside world-class founders, Diagram combines access to venture capital investment, hands-on support, and a deep ecosystem of partners - into a unique platform to launch and scale a business. Since 2016, Diagram has raised $205M and launched 12 new companies across North America. Francois is also part of the Management Committee of Sagard, a multi-strategy alternative asset manager based in Canada. In 2019, Francois was named on Canada's Top 40 Under 40 list.

Prior to founding Diagram, Francois spent seven years at McKinsey & Company, during which time he served as co-leader of McKinsey’s Canadian Technology practice. Francois is an entrepreneur at heart, having launched his first business -- assembling and selling personal computers -- at the age of 13.

Francois earned a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University (Honours Program, graduating with Great Distinction), and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. At McGill, Francois received the J.W. McConnell Scholarship for outstanding academic performance and John D. Thompson Prize for Entrepreneurship in Engineering.