From Dog Toys to Deal Sourcing: How Khushbu Soni Found Her Place in the Startup World at Canopy Community

Interview conducted by Nolani Lloyd, Marketing & Business Development Intern at Canopy Community

Connect with Nolani on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolani-lloyd-/ Connect with Khushbu on linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/khushbu-soni-628062299/ 

Meet Khushbu: From City St George's University of London to Canopy Community

Long before she joined Canopy Community, Khushbu Soni was already building things from scratch. As a first-year Financial Economics student at City St George's University of London, Khushbu got her first taste of entrepreneurship through the Young Enterprise competition, a charity company that allows young people to get hands-on experience working with money. Through Young Enterprise, Khushbu served as Assistant Managing Director of a startup called Talking Tales — a company creating toys and communication assisting products for pets.

At Young Enterprise, Khushbu managed both the marketing and finance functions of the business, tracking financial progress while learning to market to a niche audience of dog and pet owners using tools like Canva, CapCut, and social platforms including Instagram and TikTok. It was her first real experience with either discipline — and it stuck.

Why Canopy Community?

Khushbu found Canopy through her university's micro-placement program, which connects students with a range of partner companies. Out of all the options, Canopy stood out. 

"That [experience with Young Enterprise] played a really big factor in me working with Canopy," Khushbu says, "especially because Canopy works with so many different types of founders and entrepreneurs. That really stood out to me."

"Being able to see the direct impact of my work — since Canopy is a smaller company rather than a larger one where I wouldn't see the impact as much — has been really good for me to get that experience," she explains.

At Canopy, Khushbu's focus has shifted from consumer-facing social platforms to working with B2B channels like LinkedIn. Her role centers on outreach for the Startup Summer Program, with a particular focus on female founders. Many of these female founders are balancing demanding careers alongside building a business, some juggling motherhood as well. In order to assist, Khushbu plays a feedback role, flagging gaps in the program to her manager, Stewart, in order to help shape future iterations of the program.

A Day in the Life

Ask Khushbu what a typical day looks like, and she'll tell you that there isn't one.

"I don't really have a 'typical' day — I've never had two days that are the same," she says. Most of her work happens remotely, with one in-office day each week. On that day, she typically includes an evening networking event with local entrepreneurs. Some work sessions are outreach-heavy; others are focused on the Startup Summer Program itself.

"Having a fixed schedule makes me feel bound to one task," Khushbu says. "I like the randomness of what I'm doing right now."

Her Standout Project: Sourcing Family Offices for Canopy's SEIS Fund

One of the more demanding projects Khushbu took on this summer was researching family offices as potential partners for Canopy's SEIS fund — a fund that channels investments into early-stage startups.

The task involved identifying family offices across Lisbon, London, and Boston, evaluating how well each aligned with Canopy Community's investment criteria. Khushbu then organized her findings into a detailed spreadsheet, before reaching out directly to investors via email and LinkedIn.

"That took a lot of work for me," Khushbu says. "I feel like I was given that task because it requires a lot of analytical thinking and networking — improving my networking skills and how to write polished emails to companies like family offices. I feel like that improved my clarity of speaking and communicating."

How the Startup World Changed Her Perspective

Despite her prior entrepreneurial experience, Khushbu says her view of startups has shifted significantly this summer.

"I used to think it was just about building on one idea, but I didn't realize how much work actually goes into it, and how collaborative the startup environment is," she reflects. "You talk to so many different people and get advice from people you wouldn't expect to talk to."

That collaborative, all-hands nature of startup building has become one of her biggest takeaways — alongside a noticeable difference in her own confidence. Being placed into unfamiliar networking sessions has pushed her to develop communication skills she hadn't needed before, while her research and outreach abilities sharpened alongside them.

Looking Ahead: Building Something of Her Own

Khushbu is keeping her career options open for now, but her one goal is clear: she wants to start her own business someday.

"I would definitely like to start up my own business once I find an idea and something I'm passionate about," she says. "That's something I've seen with a lot of people that I've talked to — even if they don't have experience in that field, if they're passionate about what they're making, then they're able to build a successful business."

Having seen the growth of the Startup Summer Program from the inside, Khushbu says she'd like to participate in something similar with her own business, providing her with the step-by-step foundation Canopy Community offers to first-time founders.

Khushbu's Advice for Future Applicants

For students considering an internship at Canopy Community — or anyone looking to start their own venture — Khushbu's advice is simple:

"Definitely do things that are out of your depth that you're not used to, because that's the only way you'll grow and learn new skills," she says. "That was something I was really scared of — doing something new and trying something I wasn't used to. But it's helped me grow so much as a person, literally over the last three weeks I've been here. It's been amazing."

 Looking for an internship?  Connect with Khushbu and ask her all about being here at Canopy.  When you're sure it's right for you ask her to connect you directly.  It's our "tribal handshake approach" which sets expectations clearly from the start.