The Quiet Builders: Mark Chan and Scintillant Ventures
Some companies arrive in a room and immediately fill it with energy and ambition. Mark Chan arrives and listens.
That quality, the ability to be genuinely present, to absorb feedback without defensiveness, and to engage with every opportunity as a chance to learn rather than to perform, is rarer in the startup world than most people admit. It is also, in my experience, one of the strongest indicators that a founder is building something that will last.
Mark came to Global Startups through our NEA program, and working with him and his team has been one of the most genuinely rewarding experiences of the past three years.
The Most Canadian Team I Know
Scintillant Ventures is based in Vancouver. Mark is here in Toronto. His team, originally from the Philippines, has been in Canada for several years now. And when I say they are the most Canadian team I have worked with, I mean that in the deepest sense of the word.
They are humble. They receive feedback well. They work hard. They know their limitations, perhaps too well at times, but that self-awareness is also what keeps them grounded and moving in the right direction.
More than that, they care. Not just about their product, but about what it means for the children and educators who will use it. Scintillant Ventures exists to make teaching and learning more human, connected, and sustainable in Canada. Teachers today average an extra 10 to 20 hours of unpaid work per week. Teacher stress has increased consistently over recent years. Scintillant is building technology that addresses that reality directly, through tools that help educators organize lessons, share resources, and collaborate without the weight of systems that were never designed for them.
This is not just a commercial project. Mark and his team know that. And the care with which they approach it shows in every conversation.
A Teacher Who Became an Entrepreneur
Mark is a teacher by training. That background shapes everything about how he leads. He is patient in a way that most founders are not. He listens before he responds. He does not rush to conclusions. And he gives people, including himself, room to grow into what they are becoming.
He told me once that as an entrepreneur, he feels like he is still learning. In my eyes, he was a natural from the beginning. He just did not know it yet.
Over three years of working together, Scintillant has shown up for every opportunity we have brought to them. Pitch competitions, events, programs, whenever there has been a chance to learn or contribute, they have been there. They come to the room prepared. They leave with notes. And they always follow up.
After one of our sessions, the team sent us thank you cards. Handwritten. That gesture stayed with me, not because it was a nice gesture, but because it was entirely consistent with who they are. Genuinely grateful. Genuinely thoughtful.
We are the ones who feel grateful for having had the privilege of working with them.
Celebrating the Silent Work
As Global Startups turns 10, I want to celebrate the founders who do the silent work.
Not the ones making noise about what they are building, but the ones showing up every day with resilience, humility, and a clear sense of why it matters. Mark and Scintillant Ventures represent that. They represent what it looks like to build something in a new country without losing the qualities that made you who you are in the first place.
Being an immigrant and being Canadian are not two separate things. Mark and his team show that better than most.
We are proud to have been part of their journey. And we are watching what comes next with genuine excitement.
Are you a founder building something in Canada? This September, Global Startups is celebrating 10 years with a week of expert-led masterclasses designed to help companies at every stage grow faster and smarter. Seats are limited and vetted. See the full lineup and register at luma.com/globalstartups
