Erin O’Keefe Graham, formerly Director of Dalhousie University’s Emera IdeaHUB has joined Halifax-based Imaginal Ventures as joint Managing Partner alongside Founder Dorothy Spence. The partnership arose from their shared commitment to helping purpose-led ventures scale and thrive. 

Following more than 20 years in Toronto and New York, O'Keefe Graham relocated to Halifax in 2021, hoping to apply her skills in building B2B brands honed while consulting to Toronto tech startups and global enterprises like John Deere and Astra Zeneca.

Begun in 2017, Imaginal has helped more than 300 ventures in diverse sectors. The group said its clients have included well-known regional names such as Marc St-Onge, founder of Ascenta Health; Julia Rivard Dexter, who designed Shoelace Learning, and Karen Cross, of MIMOSA Diagnostics.

Like many service groups and businesses, Imaginal is currently focusing on AI. It is launching a new AI-driven platform, the Conscious Business Operating System, supported by an AI Implementation Coach.

But O’Keefe Graham said advisory work will remain in-person.

“We know most organizations remain unprepared to navigate AI on their own; even those who are experimenting are doing it in pockets,” she told Entrevestor. “Most crucially though, people thrive on human connection. It’s how we derive meaning from our work …That's why teams need in-person coaching that fosters trust, innovation, and growth.”

Writing on LinkedIn, the two managing partners said: “Like any venture, these (purpose-led) founders will face the challenge of progressing beyond seed – after all, nine out of ten startups fail to progress to Series A, and the percent who transition from seed to A has dropped in the past five years from more than 50 percent to 20 percent or less.

“Like any venture, they’re targeting product-market fit and results that matter for customers, partners and investors. Unique to purpose-led founders, they want to attract investors and customers who share their values, so they need to build with greater intention: products and relationships built on purpose.”

Having also been an angel investor for the last ten years, O'Keefe Graham is bullish about the region: "while we remain severely undercapitalized, we also have a lot of bootstrapping and seedstrapping founders who want to build a sustainable business,” she said. “We need founders who can grow efficiently and effectively without filling up the cap table."