Richard Sealy
Partner, Operations & Partnerships
Robert Painchaud
Partner, Capital Strategy
Phil Staff
Partner, Brand & Market Growth
Christian Tétrault
Partner, Legal & International Structuring
We are a corporate advisory dedicated to helping Canadian companies scale into Europe, the UK and UAE — providing the capital access, commercial partnerships and market entry expertise needed to succeed internationally.
Our Advisory Services →European-based Canadian & British team with backgrounds in M&A, structured finance, law, tax, compliance and brand strategy.
25+ years of in-region experience. Uniquely positioned to open doors across Switzerland, the EU, Dubai and Canada for growth-stage companies.
Sovereign Swiss data room infrastructure. Proven methods, tools and accelerators that de-risk international expansion.
WECAN Capital Partners is a joint Swiss and Canadian corporate advisory firm, with partner-level presence in the United Arab Emirates, supporting Canada's leading growth-stage companies as they scale across Europe, the United Kingdom and the UAE. Our partners bring together expertise in M&A, structured finance, law, tax, compliance and brand strategy — delivered from the markets where the work actually happens.
With headquarters in Switzerland, a Canadian home base and senior partners on the ground in the UAE, we offer Canadian companies genuine pan-European and UAE reach — backed by relationships with financial institutions, corporate networks and counterparties, and with government bodies and regulators across Europe, built over more than 25 years of senior leadership roles inside international firms. We act always as a Canadian business-side advisor, never as a placement agent or broker.
No conflicting mandates. Our advice is shaped entirely by your interests and your outcome.
Close working relationships with financial institutions and established corporate networks across Europe, and on-the-ground presence in the UAE.
From mandate strategy to deal close — and from market entry assessment to establishment — we stay engaged throughout.
BRIDGES is a curated knowledge exchange for senior Canadian leaders preparing for international growth, delivered through insights, tools, infrastructure and gatherings. Each engagement is invitation only, convening a small group with carefully chosen international counterparts. The content is substantive and drawn from experienced industry practitioners.
The aim is to share practical knowledge and to build trusted relationships. The discussions are focused and the outcomes are useful. Leaders leave with pragmatic information they can act on.
We offer a range of formats according to theme, participants and objectives. All activities are anchored in substantive content and designed to encourage durable relationships.
Engagement may include private hosted meetings in European, UAE and Canadian locations.
BRIDGES helps Canadian companies approach international growth with stronger preparation and clearer access to the right people.
It supports better alignment between Canadian leadership teams and the counterparties they need to engage, whether that is capital providers, institutional partners, advisors, or industry networks.
We deploy a range of formats combined with insights, tools and infrastructure, all designed to reduce risks, accelerate scale and protect Company interests.
BRIDGES is designed for Canadian companies preparing to expand internationally and for organisations that support that journey.
Participants are selected for each session based on the relevance of the theme and the stage of their international activity. Each group is intentionally small and focused.
BRIDGES is run when the right conditions are in place. Each session is shaped around a relevant theme, an appropriate cohort, and the presence of meaningful counterparties.
There is no fixed calendar. This allows each engagement to remain focused, relevant, and closely aligned to real market activity.
BRIDGES sits within WECAN Capital Partners as a way of bringing together insight, relationships, and execution support in a more structured setting.
It strengthens the connection between Canadian companies and the international environments in which they operate, and it supports more informed and effective decisions as they expand abroad.
BRIDGES connects Canadian companies with the counterparties and relationships that support international growth.
We work with Canadian leadership teams at the moments that matter: when international expansion becomes a board-level priority, when capital strategy needs to align with market entry, and when partnerships must be structured to endure.
Our role is to reduce friction, de-risk execution and bring the right counterparties to the table — with senior practitioners engaged throughout.
Discuss Your Mandate →
Partner, Operations & Partnerships
Partner, Capital Strategy
Partner, Brand & Market Growth
Partner, Legal & International Structuring
WECAN provides Canadian companies with a full spectrum of corporate advisory services across European and UAE markets. Our practice is organised around four integrated disciplines, delivered by senior practitioners with decades of in-region experience.
Strategic capital, mergers and independent valuations for Canadian companies active in European and UAE markets. Growth capital, sell-side and buy-side M&A, deal structuring and investor readiness, led by a partner through to close.
View Practice →Structuring and negotiating the commercial agreements that allow Canadian companies to enter European and UAE value chains. Supply chain establishment, strategic sourcing, distribution, joint ventures, and corporate venture client and corporate venture capital structuring.
View Practice →Independent, cross-border advisory on entering, establishing and scaling within Europe, the UK and the UAE. Entry strategy, legal and corporate structuring, regulatory onboarding and banking, underpinned by sovereign Swiss data room infrastructure.
View Practice →Building the brand architecture that allows Canadian companies to compete, command premium and be taken seriously in European markets. Positioning, narrative, identity and go-to-market, integrated with our capital, commercial and market entry work.
View Practice →The four practices are supported by a set of proprietary and trusted capabilities that allow WECAN to move faster, with greater confidence and at institutional standard, than a typical advisory relationship would permit. They sit behind every mandate and reinforce all four practices.
A fully sovereign, Swiss-hosted data room used for transactions, partnership negotiations, due diligence and regulatory filings. Jurisdictionally protected, audit-ready and built to the confidentiality standards expected by European banks, institutional investors and regulators.
Targeted CIMs developed in-house for capital raises, M&A processes, partnership approaches and strategic supplier introductions. Each document is structured to the audience it is being put in front of, whether a European bank, a private investor, a corporate acquirer or a tier one customer.
Bespoke financial models built to support every situation a mandate requires, including valuation, transaction structuring, capital planning, scenario analysis, joint venture economics and corporate venture capital design. Models are constructed to the standard European and UAE institutions expect to see.
End-to-end support for Canadian companies through buy-side and sell-side due diligence. Readiness diagnostics, vendor due diligence packs, response coordination, expert sessions and integration planning, managed at senior level throughout.
Hands-on acceleration of KYC, AML, UBO, source of funds and source of wealth requirements imposed by European and UAE banks, regulators and counterparties. WECAN prepares the documentation, manages the back and forth and shortens what is otherwise a slow and unpredictable process.
Long-standing relationships with corporate service providers, legal agents and banking introducers across Europe, the UK, Switzerland and the UAE, complemented by established connections with government and quasi-government agencies that support business establishment, banking access and in-region incentive programmes across Europe, the UK and Switzerland.
We develop further the key themes WECAN discussed on the Market Diversification & New Export Opportunities Panel at the NGen, N3 Summit in Toronto
WECAN's three-step framework — archetype, mandate, pathway — for Canadian tech companies building durable European positions. Presented at the DIGITAL 'Expanding Horizons' webinar.
An executive briefing for Canadian growth-stage companies on using intellectual property to enter and participate in large European markets — positioning within established scale rather than competing directly against it.
Whether you are planning your first European foray, seeking growth capital, or looking to establish commercial partnerships in new markets, we welcome the opportunity to understand your objectives.