Mr. Nathan acts as Co-Chair of the CIX and is a a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Kensington, Mr. Nathan was Managing Director of Goodmans Venture Group, a division of Goodmans LLP. In that role, he acted as legal counsel and as strategic business advisor to entrepreneurs and em...
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Mr. Nathan acts as Co-Chair of the CIX and is a a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Kensington, Mr. Nathan was Managing Director of Goodmans Venture Group, a division of Goodmans LLP. In that role, he acted as legal counsel and as strategic business advisor to entrepreneurs and emerging growth companies and to private equity investors in the Canadian market. Mr. Nathan also had responsibility for a related investment portfolio. Prior to joining Goodmans, Mr. Nathan was a founding partner of Brightspark, one of Canada’s leading early-stage venture capital funds. Prior to founding Brightspark, Mr. Nathan spent more than 10 years as a corporate and securities lawyer at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, including as leader of the firm’s Technology Business Group. He is the current President of CVCA – Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, and has served as a Director of the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy at the University of Toronto and a member of the Canadian e Business Opportunities Roundtable. Mr. Nathan holds a BA (Computer Science) from Dartmouth College and an LLB from the University of Toronto.

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Robert Montgomery is an investor, adviser and entrepreneur focused on the digital media and information technology industries. Robert owns Achilles Media in Toronto, a business-to-business media company that produces some of the world's leading media and investment events including the Banff World T...
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Robert Montgomery is an investor, adviser and entrepreneur focused on the digital media and information technology industries. Robert owns Achilles Media in Toronto, a business-to-business media company that produces some of the world's leading media and investment events including the Banff World Television Festival, nextMEDIA, History Makers and the Canadian Innovation Exchange where Robert acts as Co-Chair. From 2000 to 2004, Robert was Co-Founder and Partner in Achilles Partners LLC, an investment, advisory and research firm that focused on the media, communications and technology industries. Previously, Robert has been an executive and adviser for media, communications and technology companies and the investment community for many years. His work has generally been in the areas of operations, strategy, financing and development; market, financial and public policy analysis; and fairness opinions and valuations. Until 2000, Robert was President, Americas and a member of the management board at the Fantastic Corporation in San Francisco, a broadband software provider where Robert was instrumental in the company's successful IPO. During this time Robert was also Non-Executive Chairman of Media Content plc, a UK-based media rights company which he co-founded and took public on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. Before this, Robert was Managing Director at Kagan World Media in London, a media and communications research and consulting company where he was responsible for the firm's European and Asia Pacific operations. Before this, Robert co-founded Digital Media International, an events and publishing company focused on the digital media markets in Europe and Asia. Prior to this, Robert ran international financial and technology publications for Euromoney plc, and what is now Informa plc, in London. Robert has served on several boards and is very active in the community. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Ontario College of Art and Design.

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Mr. Albright is the Founder and Managing Partner of JLA Ventures and the Co-Managing Partner of the Blackberry Partners Fund. Prior to the founding of JLA Ventures in 1996 and the BlackBerry Partners Fund in 2008, Mr. Albright held senior positions with several private equity and venture capital fir...
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Mr. Albright is the Founder and Managing Partner of JLA Ventures and the Co-Managing Partner of the Blackberry Partners Fund. Prior to the founding of JLA Ventures in 1996 and the BlackBerry Partners Fund in 2008, Mr. Albright held senior positions with several private equity and venture capital firms. During his tenure in the private equity and venture capital business Mr. Albright gained extensive experience assisting entrepreneurs and managers to shape their vision and capital plans into successful long term growth programs which typically involve an aggressive financing strategy.
Mr. Albright has a history of assisting entrepreneurial companies through significant growth and eventually to the public markets. His ability to work with and advise senior management of investee companies as well as his skills in filling supporting roles where existing management lack the experience or skill set, has been vital to the success of past investments.

Mr. Albright is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Mr. Albright serves as a director of several private and public companies, and the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) and is an advisory board member of the North American Venture Capital Association.

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Chris is a senior executive with over 15 years of general management experience in high technology industries, with extensive experience in business development, strategic planning, sales, marketing and communications. Chris first joined iNovia Capital (formerly MSBi Capital) as a Partner focused on...
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Chris is a senior executive with over 15 years of general management experience in high technology industries, with extensive experience in business development, strategic planning, sales, marketing and communications. Chris first joined iNovia Capital (formerly MSBi Capital) as a Partner focused on InfoTech investments in 2002.


Chris has been involved in numerous entrepreneurial initiatives, including the creation of ENABLIS Entrepreneurial Network Inc., a $30+ million G8 sponsored venture capital seed fund. Since 1998, has been involved as an investor and as a board member to a number of transactions at the seed stage level, including the seed and follow-on financing of Airborne Entertainment Inc. (which was acquired by Cybird for more than $110 million in cash in June 2005, and was awarded "deal of the year" by Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association). Active in the angel community and entrepreneurial mentoring. From 1998 to 2002, Chris was a member of the selection committee of a Montreal based coaching and business service provider to technology start-ups. And continues to act as a coach and advisor to a select number of start-ups. Chris is a strong supporter of the National Angel Organization (NAO) and the Quebec Angel Network.


Prior to joining iNovia Capital, Chris was a partner and entrepreneur in residence with the Telesystem group, where, in addition to managing direct investments (such as Popcast Communications Corp., Look Communications (TSX:LOK.V) and Airborne Entertainment), he was involved in the creation of up2 Technologies - a subsidiary for Teleglobe Inc. which was then acquired by BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE); and a subsidiary for Microcell Telecommunications Inc. - i5 Corp. - which was then acquired in 2005 by Rogers Wireless Inc. (TSE: RCI). He helped build, since its inception, Wanted Technologies (TSX:WAN.V), a business intelligence information and technology provider, and was instrumental in the launch of Copernic Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:CNIC) a leading agent based technology company. Chris began his business career in technology as founder and CEO of SIT Inc., an international Internet integrator and the first Netscape Communications software developer, which, after undergoing massive restructuring and the winding-up of its Ste-Foy offices, was eventually sold to Ubizen of Belgium in 1999 for €42 million, which itself was thereafter acquired by Cyber Trust in 2006, itself acquired by Verizon in 2007 (NYSE: VZ).

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Jordan Banks is currently the managing partner at Thunder Road Capital which is a company he founded in 2008 to provide investment and advisory services to early stage technology companies.

Before launching Thunder Road Capital, Jordan was the chief executive officer of JumpTV (TSX: ...
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Jordan Banks is currently the managing partner at Thunder Road Capital which is a company he founded in 2008 to provide investment and advisory services to early stage technology companies.

Before launching Thunder Road Capital, Jordan was the chief executive officer of JumpTV (TSX: NLN), a leading broadcaster of sports and international television over the Internet. Hired in October 2007, Jordan was a key architect of the merger in the summer of 2008 of JumpTV and NeuLion Inc., a company owned by former Computer Associates founder and CEO Charles Wang.

Prior to joining JumpTV, Jordan served as the managing director of eBay Canada, the number one online shopping destination in Canada. Jordan helped launch eBay Canada in 2000 and was the second employee of the Canadian office of eBay Inc.

In his role of managing director at eBay Canada, Jordan had overall responsibility for the ongoing development of eBay Canada including operations, strategy, and marketing, as well as building the eBay brand and eBay’s community of users in Canada. Jordan was responsible for growing the activity of Canadians on eBay to over one billion dollars in 2007 which accounted for approximately 25% of all Canadian e-commerce activity.

Before joining eBay Canada, Jordan managed the Licensing and International Business group at the National Hockey League Players’ Association. In this role, he was responsible for supervising and managing global retail product licensees, negotiating license and international event agreements, and identifying and pursuing new areas of business for the organization. A lawyer by profession, Jordan also practiced corporate law at Goodmans in Toronto.

Jordan is the founder of the recently launched Twitter movement called “A Million Tweets to Remember” which seeks to digitally memorialize a million people who have suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Jordan is also the founder and chairman of Sportsfest, a non-profit organization focused on raising funds for Alzheimer's research and care which, to date, has raised more than one million dollars. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Peerset, the Baycrest Centre, the Baycrest Foundation, and the Moses and Temara Tobe Foundation, as well as sitting on the Advisory Boards of The Mark, Next Pathway, Brendan Moore and Associates and Recruitingblogs.com. Jordan is also one of seven business leaders who together form the Canadian Football League’s “Commissioner's Council", dedicated to the future growth of the CFL and he is also a member of the Globe and Mail’s Small Business Panel.

Jordan is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and, in May 2006, Jordan was named one of Canada's “Top 40 Under 40” honorees – a celebrated, national program that honors leaders for their achievements in leadership, vision, innovation, community involvement and contribution. In 2006, Jordan was also named one of the four inaugural winners of the Hugo Boss “Leave a Mark Award” celebrating “men of excellence” in Canada.

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Since July 1st 2009, Mr. Bernier is Managing Partner and Founder of Teralys Capital, a fund of funds whose limited partners are Québec Governement, Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement and Solidarity Fund QFL.
With the Solidarity Fund QFL since 2004, Jacques Bernier has been Senior Vice-President,...
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Since July 1st 2009, Mr. Bernier is Managing Partner and Founder of Teralys Capital, a fund of funds whose limited partners are Québec Governement, Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement and Solidarity Fund QFL.
With the Solidarity Fund QFL since 2004, Jacques Bernier has been Senior Vice-President, Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Industrial Innovations until May 31st 2008 and has act as the gatekeeper for the fund of funds activity.
An engineering graduate from École polytechnique in 1979, Mr. Bernier is behind the creation of the Industrial Innovation Center of Montréal. He was also co-founder and CEO of BGH Planning, a software developer, and co-founder and Vice-President of OMVPE Technologies, a manufacturer of semi-conductors.
Mr. Bernier helped found Téléport de Montréal, a Québec beacon in the telecommunications sector, and served as its President from 1987 to 2002. Before joining the Solidarity Fund QFL, he was President of Mégapoint, a holding company in the high-tech sector, and Chairman of the Board of LxSix Photonics, a leader in new production processes in fibre-optic communications and optical sensors.
Over the past 29 years, Mr. Bernier has demonstrated his expertise—both in Canada and the U.S.—in launching businesses, financial engineering, business development, growing investments, scouting for new markets and defining innovative business strategies.
Mr. Bernier is also a member of the Board of Director and executive committee of the CVCA.

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Leonard is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or...
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Leonard is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date. Much critical acclaim has followed him in his endeavours. At Onvia (where he was part of the initial executive), the company was voted Canada’s number one startup in 2000 and subsequently closed a $240 Million IPO on NASDAQ. Currently, Leonard is Co-Founder and CEO of NowPublic which is one of the pioneers in citizen generated news and quickly becoming one of the largest news agencies in the world with over 170,000 contributing reporters in 160 countries & over 3 million readers a month. The Guardian in London ranked NowPublic as one of top 5 news sites in the world and Time Magazine named it as of the top 50 websites in the world. Leonard acts as an advisor to venture capital funds in the US, Europe and Asia. Throughout his career, has also advised several entities including, the Associated Press, Alliance Atlantis,CanWest Global, Derby County Football Club and Sonic Foundry. In addition, he was the Senior Technology Advisor to Former Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Trade – David Emerson. Currently, Leonard is a Senior Advisor to the Canadian Ministry of International Trade and a Director of Canada’s largest technology association, CATA. A highly sought-after public speaker, Leonard has lectured at universities such as Stanford, the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and the Gordon Business School in Johannesburg. His insight has been requested by companies such as Forbes, Warner Music and Bell, as well as, the governments of countries such as India, Israel, Ireland and South Africa. He has spoken at conferences throughout the world including NASSCOM, the World Newspaper Congress, CEBIT and the Monaco Media Forum. His work has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, El Mundo and Der Spiegel. Recently he was given the award as one of Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40. He is coauthor of the best selling books, “Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Jurassic Park to Java” and “Everything I Needed to Know About Business...I Learned from a Canadian” both published by John Wiley and Sons. Leonard holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queens University, a law degree from Osgoode Hall and is a graduate of the Private Equity Course at the Harvard Business School.

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Joe brings over 16 years of venture capital investing and a wealth of experience in the areas of business planning, financings, negotiations, IPOs and acquisitions. His diverse and extensive experience allows him to play an integral role in the structure, strategic direction, and overall growth and ...
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Joe brings over 16 years of venture capital investing and a wealth of experience in the areas of business planning, financings, negotiations, IPOs and acquisitions. His diverse and extensive experience allows him to play an integral role in the structure, strategic direction, and overall growth and business development of emerging companies.

Prior to joining Summerhill Venture Partners in June 2004, Joe served as EVP, CFO and Director of Whitecastle Investments, a leading Canadian private investment company, and Managing Director of its venture practice, Whitecap Venture Partners. As one of the venture practice founders, Joe was instrumental in shaping the vision and investment strategy of Whitecap. He was a core element of the senior team that brought a number of high-grossing investments to fruition.

Joe’s past successes include investments in Broadband Networks Inc. (acquired by Nortel, NYSE: NT), Positron Fiber Systems (NASDAQ IPO and acquired by RELTEC, NYSE: RLT), Loran International Technologies (acquired by Peregrine Systems, NASDAQ: PRGN), Electrophotonics (acquired by ETEC, NASDAQ: ETEC), PC Docs Group International (NASDAQ IPO, and acquired by Hummingbird, TSE: HUM & NASDAQ: HUMC), ImagicTV (NASDAQ IPO, and acquired by ALCATEL, NYSE: ALA) and Third Brigade (acquired by Trend Micro, Tokyo Stock exchange).

Joe began his professional career with KPMG, where he held various senior positions in both Canada and the U.K. Joe is a Gold Medal graduate from the University of Waterloo’s Master of Accounting program, and holds Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Accountant designations in Canada.

Joe sits on the boards of Vantrix, Trust Digital and Radian6.

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Roger joined GrowthWorks Capital in January 2007 and focuses on technology and new media investments. He has ten years of operational & entrepreneurial experience and five years of Venture Capital experience. GrowthWorks has been a proven leader in the Canadian venture capital market since 1991 and ...
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Roger joined GrowthWorks Capital in January 2007 and focuses on technology and new media investments. He has ten years of operational & entrepreneurial experience and five years of Venture Capital experience. GrowthWorks has been a proven leader in the Canadian venture capital market since 1991 and currently has $800 million under management. Roger is currently on the Board of Directors of a number of growth companies including Xkoto, Paymentus, NetShelter, PeerSet, Kibboko and Anyware Group. At GrowthWorks, he was previously a director of Whitehill Technologies, which was acquired by Skywire Software (now part of Oracle).
Prior to joining GrowthWorks, Roger was part of the investment teams at Hargan Ventures, a seed-stage VC fund, and the Bell Accelerator Fund, the venture investments group of Bell Mobility, BCE’s wireless division. He has also held operational roles with Rogers Wireless. Prior to his experience with Canada’s two largest mobile carriers, Roger was the co-founder and CEO of Mobilessence, one of Canada’s earliest startups focused on entertainment and personalization content for mobile phones. Mobilessence was recognized as one of the top 20 wireless software companies in Canada by the Branham Group. Roger also spent three years at Sapphire Technologies Canada (formerly CNC Global), Canada’s largest IT recruitment services firm, where he was part of a small team that led the company’s e-commerce initiatives, including the development and launch of two dotcom spin-off companies.
Roger holds an MBA with Dean’s List Honours from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a BA from the University of Western Ontario. Roger is also a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute and currently serves on the Professional Development Committee of the Canadian Venture Capital Association.

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David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David continues to work to bring together the people t...
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David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David continues to work to bring together the people that start emerging technology companies and the people that fund them through events. He helps companies understand emerging technology, business models and design practices for creating compelling digital experiences. David focuses on helping companies to extend their customers' reach with next generation technologies for the desktop, digital devices, standards based applications for the Web, and rich media applications. He has been named Toronto's Best Web and Tech Evangelist for his efforts in DemoCamp, BarCampToronto, Founders & Funders and StartupEmpire. David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/

David has spent time working in both design and engineering organizations and understands that the creative tension between differing viewpoints is key in creating successful products and innovations. Prior to joining Microsoft Canada, David has designed, built and shipped products for early-stage technology companies including Radiant Core, Ambient Vector, Reactivity, and Trilogy Software. He also conducted research at Rockwell Collins, and deployed enterprise HR systems for Ryerson University.

David received a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and an Honours Bachelors of Science from the University of Waterloo. He has spent 10 years working with early-stage technology companies and larger, well-established organizations to build compelling software experiences.

Follow David on Twitter at @davidcrow or read his blog http://davidcrow.ca

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Sara Diamond is the President of the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), Canada’s foremost university of art and design. She holds degrees from Canada and the United Kingdom in social history, communications, digital media theory and computer science. She is currently a member of the Ontario Min...
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Sara Diamond is the President of the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), Canada’s foremost university of art and design. She holds degrees from Canada and the United Kingdom in social history, communications, digital media theory and computer science. She is currently a member of the Ontario Ministry of Culture’s Minister’s Advisory Council on Arts & Culture, the Board of Directors of the Toronto Arts Council Foundation and of ORANO, Ontario’s high speed network. She is a founding member of CONCERT and the Chair of the OMDC funded Mobile Experience Innovation Centre. She has received numerous research awards for her work in visualization, mobile content design, wearable technologies and collaborative tools. She is a visualization software researcher and developer www.codezebra,net. Diamond created and was Editor-in-Chief of www.horizonzero.ca, an on-line showcase for new media art and design, in collaboration with Heritage Canada. Diamond participates in peer review publication and diverse editorial boards such as Leonardo on-line and Convergence. She provides media consulting to Heritage Canada, SSHRC, CFI, Industry Canada, CHRC and DFAIT, as well as international governments, institutions and agencies as diverse as China, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Finland, Australia, Brazil and the USA. Prior to her presidency at OCAD Diamond was the Director of Research for the prestigious Banff Centre. She created the renowned Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until coming to Toronto in 2005. Diamond developed international summits and business development workshops and accelerators that explored the near future of new media. She built alliances between artists, designers, architects, scientists, social scientists, and international and Canadian businesses. Diamond taught at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, The California Institute for the Arts and remains Adjunct Professor, University of California, Los Angeles in the Design/Media Department. In 2007 she was named one of Canada’s fifty most significant artists as part of the Canada Council’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. Her work resides in collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, where she was honored with a retrospective in 1992 and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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Don is responsible for MaRS Business Services including advisory, capital, and talent services, and educational programs. In addition, Don is also responsible for corporate strategy and the MaRS operational performance management program. Don joined MaRS from Deloitte Consulting, where he served as ...
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Don is responsible for MaRS Business Services including advisory, capital, and talent services, and educational programs. In addition, Don is also responsible for corporate strategy and the MaRS operational performance management program. Don joined MaRS from Deloitte Consulting, where he served as a Senior Manager in the Strategy and Operations Consulting group based in Toronto. Through his consulting career, Don has worked with numerous clients in the life sciences, healthcare and consumer business industries. Don was part of a successful service-oriented start-up company, currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Engineering and is an Executive Board member for the Queen's Players Toronto Theatre Company and JUMP Math. He holds a BScH in Environmental Chemistry from Queen’s University and a MASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto.

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Mr. Eckert is a Managing Partner of McLean Watson Capital Inc, a Toronto-based venture capital and private equity firm that invests in and advises knowledge-based technology companies including software, hardware, telecommunications, and energy and health sciences. Investors include many of the lead...
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Mr. Eckert is a Managing Partner of McLean Watson Capital Inc, a Toronto-based venture capital and private equity firm that invests in and advises knowledge-based technology companies including software, hardware, telecommunications, and energy and health sciences. Investors include many of the leading public pension funds in Canada and Asia, high net worth individual investors as well as the partners of McLean Watson.

Prior to founding McLean Watson Capital, John and Loudon Owen, the other Managing Partner of McLean Watson, financed and advised Softimage, a world leader in high-end 3D animation, in its growth from 4 to 250 employees, its IPO on Nasdaq in 1992 and the sale to Microsoft in 1994. John and Loudon served as the Joint COO for Softimage from 1993 to its sale. John has extensive experience in corporate finance, having served as a VP and Director in Corporate Finance and Capital Markets of Wood Gundy Inc. and CIBC Wood Gundy in Canada. He also served as Managing Director of CIBC Wood Gundy (Australia), a merchant bank.

John has worked with industry organizations and Government to improve the economic environment in Canada. He speaks regularly at investment and entrepreneurial forums in Canada and abroad.

John has served on the Board of the Canadian Venture Capital Association, having previously held the positions of President (2000-2002) and Chairman (2002-2003). He also serves on the Boards of several private and public companies, including SkyWave, Sitebrand and Activplant.

John holds a BA and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

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As the founding principal of Critical Path Group, Marc has positioned his firm at the intersection of high growth companies and the private equity community.

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, Marc was an operational naval officer for eight years, serving in Halifax C...
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As the founding principal of Critical Path Group, Marc has positioned his firm at the intersection of high growth companies and the private equity community.

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, Marc was an operational naval officer for eight years, serving in Halifax Class warships with allied navies around the world before being recruited by a global management consulting firm. Being passionate about working with entrepreneurial teams, he founded Critical Path Group to serve private and public sector clients in two underserved areas: strategic planning, and recruiting A-players for companies committed to building world class teams.

Marc holds a BA (Hons) and an MBA specializing in technology commercialization and new venture planning. He also holds the CMC (Certified Management Consultant) designation and is a dedicated member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. Marc believes strongly in distinguishing between leadership and management - defining management as coping with business complexity, and leadership as coping with the human element of change.

A prolific networker, Marc invests heavily in professional development leadership roles that are directly aligned with addressing the challenges and "pain points" facing his client organizations. He is a founding delegate to the Canadian ICT Federation, the Executive Director of the Banff Venture Forum, Canada's largest annual technology financing forum for emerging high growth companies, and has served on a number of advisory boards.

When not leading the firm, Marc practices being an "earth astronaut" - skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, mountaineering, and fly fishing. He has lived in Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia.

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Austin Hill is a Canadian entrepreneur who has been creating technology startups for since 1990. He was a founder of Zero- Knowledge Systems (now called Radialpoint) and as its President helped the company raise $75 million between 1997 and 2001.

In addition to his time as President w...
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Austin Hill is a Canadian entrepreneur who has been creating technology startups for since 1990. He was a founder of Zero- Knowledge Systems (now called Radialpoint) and as its President helped the company raise $75 million between 1997 and 2001.

In addition to his time as President with Zero-Knowledge Systems Austin Hill served as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, the CEO of Synomos Inc. (a subsidiary of Zero-Knowledge Systems) and as the Executive-Vice President of Research for Radialpoint (Zero-Knowledge Systems was renamed Radialpoint in 2002). Radialpoint was honored by Deloitte & Touche one of Canada’s fastest growing technology firms in their 2006 Technology Fast 50 award.

In 2002 he was honored as a technology pioneer of the World Economic Forum in Davos (2002) and was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Quebec 2001– Emerging Entrepreneur).

In 1994 he was a founder of the Internet provider Infobahn Online Services which went on to become Total.Net and built its Canadian network as its Chief Technology Officer. Total.Net was one of Canada’s largest Internet Service Providers and was sold successfully to BCE Emergis (MPACT Immedia) in 1997. In 1990 while still a teenager he was the founder of security consulting firm Cyberspace Data Security.

He is an advisory board member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and a past board member of Information Technology Association of Canada.

As an active member of the Canadian technology community he is the co-founder of the Founders & Funders networking events and has supported the Barcamp, Democamp and StartupCamp movements across Canada.

He currently serves on the advisory boards of the Atwater Library Digital Literacy project; is a research fellow for Coburn Ventures and through his angel investment firm Brudder Ventures advises a number of Canadian startups and entrepreneurs.

In his role as an investor he serves on the board of directors of Anges Quebec and Reseau Capital. He is a Venture Partner at iNovia Capital and a board member & Venture Partner at the startup capital fund Montreal Startup.

His work in the area of the technologies of social change, social entrepreneurship have been profiled on 60 Minutes, CNN, ABC Nightly News and covered in Time, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and The NY Times.

Austin Hill is a frequent speaker & lecturer in the areas of social entrepreneurship, startups, the technologies of social change, and the role of entrepreneurs as agents of change in our society. He has been a speaker at the World Economic Forum, the TED conference, TEDCity, IdeaCity, Game Developers Conference, Games 4 Change conference, Startup Empire, Mesh, StartupCamp Montreal and various other industry conferences.

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Steve is a founder of Yaletown Venture Partners and has more than 18 years experience financing and working with entrepreneurial technology teams. Yaletown focuses on early-stage IT and cleantech investments in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, and is backed by leading US and Canadian instit...
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Steve is a founder of Yaletown Venture Partners and has more than 18 years experience financing and working with entrepreneurial technology teams. Yaletown focuses on early-stage IT and cleantech investments in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, and is backed by leading US and Canadian institutional investors and a network of successful technology entrepreneurs.

Steve is presently active on the boards of Constructive Media, Mixpo, GenoLogics, the Canadian Venture Capital Association, and is a past director of ActiveState (acquired by Sophos PLC in 2004). He is on the editorial boards of Private Capital magazine, Business In Vancouver newspaper, and is a member of the steering committee responsible for the landmark report on the Economic Impact of Venture Capital in Canada - published January 2009.

Prior to co-founding Yaletown in 2001, Steve established and built TD Bank’s technology financing business on the west coast of Canada, was a senior executive in the Technology, Communications, and Entertainment group of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and began his career as a software engineer with Accenture where he designed and built workflow systems for the energy industry. Steve is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and British Columbia Institute of Technology magna cum laude.

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Benoit Hogue has accumulated 20 years investment experience in the media and IT industries, and has been active in the areas of sell-side stock market analysis, private placement and venture capital.

Prior to founding Propulsion Ventures, he spent 5 years at the Caisse de dépôt et pla...
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Benoit Hogue has accumulated 20 years investment experience in the media and IT industries, and has been active in the areas of sell-side stock market analysis, private placement and venture capital.

Prior to founding Propulsion Ventures, he spent 5 years at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada's largest pension fund manager. At the Caisse, Benoit Hogue managed a $80 million portfolio of communication and IT companies. He also helped define a risk analysis methodology and an investment strategy for the software industry.

Over the course of his career, Benoit Hogue led the investment in or served on the boards of OMNI (acquired by Astral Media), NewEast Wireless Technologies Inc. (now public – Stratos Global), Groupe Image Buzz Inc., Presticom Inc. (acquired by Act Networks), MEI Inc., Interstar Technologies Inc. (acquired by Sagem), Giganet (acquired by Emulex), Silanis Technology Inc. (AIM-SNS), Adcentricity Inc., Coveo Solutions Inc., eXludus Technologies Inc. and X2O Media.

Benoit Hogue holds a Bachelor of Finance from Université du Québec à Montréal. He is also a CFA and is a member of the CFA Institute.

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Stephen A. Hurwitz is a member of the Business & Technology Practice Group at Choate Hall & Stewart, a Boston-based law firm with a specialty in Canada-US cross-border transactions.

Mr. Hurwitz has served as counsel to public and privately-held companies. He has represented companies...
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Stephen A. Hurwitz is a member of the Business & Technology Practice Group at Choate Hall & Stewart, a Boston-based law firm with a specialty in Canada-US cross-border transactions.

Mr. Hurwitz has served as counsel to public and privately-held companies. He has represented companies from start-ups through mature public companies both in their US and international activities. His practice has included representation of high technology and other companies in various industries, private and public financings, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing, and distribution transactions.

Mr. Hurwitz also has extensive experience in US-Canada cross-border issues and is a frequent speaker and panelist at many of the major technology, life sciences and venture capital events in Canada. He is chair and co-founder of the North American Venture Capital Summit.

Mr. Hurwitz received his AB from Cornell University and his JD from Cornell Law School.


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Bryan joined EdgeStone as Partner in October 2000, shortly after forming Bryker Technology Partners, a seed-stage internet infrastructure fund, in partnership with EdgeStone's predecessor. At age 19 Bryan founded and was President and CEO of Bryker Data Systems, a technology outsourcing service prov...
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Bryan joined EdgeStone as Partner in October 2000, shortly after forming Bryker Technology Partners, a seed-stage internet infrastructure fund, in partnership with EdgeStone's predecessor. At age 19 Bryan founded and was President and CEO of Bryker Data Systems, a technology outsourcing service provider specializing in mission-critical large-scale transaction systems which developed many of Canada's internet banking applications. Bryan sold Bryker in 1994 and went on to manage and be CEO of a number of other technology companies including Technolabs Canada and e-route. Bryan has been an active venture capital investor since 1987.

Bryan serves on the Board of Directors of Solace Systems, Datawire Communication Networks (sold to First Data Corporation – NYSE:FDC), and Varicent Software. Past EdgeStone portfolio companies with which Bryan was involved include Protus IP Solutions, SlipStream Data (sold to Research in Motion – Nasdaq:RIM) and Workbrain (TSX:WB).

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A Nortel veteran as Director of Branding and Advertising; Executive Director of Communications with CBC; and CEO of Ontario Tourism. Federal stints with the Privy Council Office and Industry Canada.

Overall, a 20-year background in marketing with a unique mix of technology and manag...
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A Nortel veteran as Director of Branding and Advertising; Executive Director of Communications with CBC; and CEO of Ontario Tourism. Federal stints with the Privy Council Office and Industry Canada.

Overall, a 20-year background in marketing with a unique mix of technology and management experience. Iain’s Nortel work supported start-up technology companies around the globe. Here in Waterloo Region, he’s committed to supporting technology businesses where they need it most: right in the trenches, providing practical services and programs to members of all sizes. Part of his role is as key contact for government relations, to make sure that all levels of government know about the developments and capabilities in Waterloo Region´s tech sector. Iain is also committed to community partnerships, sitting on several boards, including the Prosperity Council, the Guelph-Waterloo Biotechnology Council, the Accelerator Centre and the Research + Technology Park.

Iain holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, an MPA degree from Dalhousie University and an HBA from Laurentian University


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V. Paul Lee is the Managing General Partner of Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd., a venture capital fund established to focus on opportunities in the interactive digital media space. The market for interactive and digital entertainment and media is massive, growing, and changing at an extremely ...
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V. Paul Lee is the Managing General Partner of Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd., a venture capital fund established to focus on opportunities in the interactive digital media space. The market for interactive and digital entertainment and media is massive, growing, and changing at an extremely rapid pa...
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V. Paul Lee is the Managing General Partner of Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd., a venture capital fund established to focus on opportunities in the interactive digital media space. The market for interactive and digital entertainment and media is massive, growing, and changing at an extremely rapid pace. It affects the ways companies use the Internet to attract and engage target audiences and conduct commerce electronically.

Lee is the former President of Electronic Arts, Inc., the global leader in interactive software, and was responsible for its Worldwide Studio group. Electronic Arts had fiscal 2008 revenues of US $3.67 billion. He managed more than 6,000 employees and US$1 billion in annual capital and operating expenses in the development studios making it the largest entertainment studio in the world.

In 1987 Lee graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours Degree and was one of six students selected to enter the prestigious Portfolio Management Fund program at the UBC Sauder School of Business. Lee is a Leslie Wong Fellow and is also a designated Chartered Financial Analyst. From 1987 – 1989 Lee worked at Chrysler Canada as an Investment Manager for the pension fund and health and welfare benefit plans.

Lee invested in and joined Distinctive Software as a Principal in 1989, having been a member of its board for several years prior. Distinctive Software became a leading independent videogame developer and was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991. Lee has been a member of the executive management team since, holding a variety of positions.

1994 saw Lee recognized as one of the “40 Under 40” business leaders by Business in Vancouver. In 1996 he was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of British Columbia. In 2002 Lee was awarded the BC Technology Industries Association Person of the Year Award for his outstanding leadership in the high technology industry. Lee has also received numerous awards for his community service including the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for significant contribution in the form of public service in 2003. In 2005 he was recognized as an Honorary Fellow of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. Lee has served as Chair of the BC Technology Industries Association from 1998 to 2001. Lee was an investor and member of the Board of Directors of A.L.I. Technologies until its landmark sale to McKesson Corporation in 2002. Lee was Co-Chair, along with the Premier of British Columbia, of the Premier’s Technology Council from its inception in 2001 until 2005 and remains a member of the Council. Lee currently serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, is a member of the Minister’s Steering Committee for the Vancouver International Financial Institutions Sector, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Board of Trade and New Media B.C. He is Chair of the Board of Directors at D-Wave Systems, a company working to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer.

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Bernie has been investing in and helping build early stage companies since 1997. Presently at iNovia Capital, Bernie identifies opportunities to partner with start-up and early stage companies and manages the subsequent financial investments on behalf of the Partnership.

Prior to iNov...
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Bernie has been investing in and helping build early stage companies since 1997. Presently at iNovia Capital, Bernie identifies opportunities to partner with start-up and early stage companies and manages the subsequent financial investments on behalf of the Partnership.

Prior to iNovia Capital, Bernie was an integral member in launching Carrot Capital, a New York based seed stage venture capital fund founded by David Geliebter, founder of the Carson Group (acquired by Thomson Financial Corporation.) There, Bernie was involved with equity investments made in start-ups involved in wireless technologies, in new media and in the healthcare industry.

Bernie has provided project management services to start-ups and multinational enterprises and began his investment career with Scotia Merchant Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia, capitalized with $250 million, that provides equity and mezzanine financing to North American companies.

Bernie founded the Emerging Partners, a not-for-profit organization designed to network professionals in the Venture Capital and Private Equity community. Bernie also served on the Canadian Venture Capital Association's Young Venture Capital Organizing Committee and was selected by the Arthur Andersen New York Partners to organize and head the Internal Consulting Advisory Board for the New York Metro region.

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Mike Middleton, MBA, CFA, is the founding partner of Q1 Capital and a recognized leader in investment banking to private Canadian technology companies. Prior to entering the field, Mike worked in the financial services industry and was the Founder and President of a niche Canadian consumer products’...
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Mike Middleton, MBA, CFA, is the founding partner of Q1 Capital and a recognized leader in investment banking to private Canadian technology companies. Prior to entering the field, Mike worked in the financial services industry and was the Founder and President of a niche Canadian consumer products’ firm.

Mike has dedicated the past 15 years to investment banking with a focus on high-technology, advanced manufacturing, and consumer product companies. Progressing from research analyst to Managing Partner at two leading Canadian private investment banks, Mike co-founded his own boutique investment bank in 2001 with the primary mandate to serve the unique financing and M&A needs of Canadian private companies. Within these roles, Mike has focused exclusively on small to mid-cap companies and has looked at over 1,000 firms. Companies that he has worked with include: Leitch Technology Corporation, ATS Automation Tooling Systems, The Learning Company, Enghouse Systems, and Wescam.

Mike has a strong reputation for delivering value to his clients. He brings relevant expertise, deep investor networks, and an uncompromising approach to finding buyers or raising capital for private Canadian technology companies across Canada. Mike’s objective is to provide entrepreneurs with a level of professional service that previously was only available to public companies. He has an excellent track record in the successful completion of mandates and has been featured in several recent Canadian business publications for his work.

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Jacqui Murphy is a Partner at Tech Capital Partners where she focuses on investment opportunities in the new media, internet, wireless, and communications sectors. Jacqui joined Tech Capital in 2001 and has more than a decade of experience building and investing in early-stage technology companies. ...
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Jacqui Murphy is a Partner at Tech Capital Partners where she focuses on investment opportunities in the new media, internet, wireless, and communications sectors. Jacqui joined Tech Capital in 2001 and has more than a decade of experience building and investing in early-stage technology companies.

Having worked with many early-stage technology companies, Jacqui is committed to helping entrepreneurs succeed and readily shares her knowledge, resources and network of professional contacts with Tech Capital’s portfolio companies. She currently serves as a director on the boards of AideRSS (www.aiderss.com), LiveHive Systems (www.livehivesystems.com) and Overlay.TV (www.overlay.tv).

Prior to joining Tech Capital, Jacqui was Manager of Marketing Operations at Cisco Systems where she led the marketing operations team for Cisco’s video networking business division. Jacqui joined Cisco through its acquisition of PixStream, a technology company focused on distributing and managing digital video across broadband networks. At PixStream, Jacqui was a Director of Marketing responsible for developing domestic and international markets and managing an innovative marketing team.

Jacqui has also been a marketing consultant, published numerous business cases and instructed business courses at both the Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario) and Wilfrid Laurier University. She is a member of the Professional Development Committee for the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) and sits on the board of directors of the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation.

Jacqui holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and has completed the Venture Capital & Private Equity Executive Education program at Harvard, the Entrepreneurship Development Program at MIT, and the study course at the Venture Capital Institute.

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Roger has been in the venture capital business for over 15 years. Leveraging his prior entrepreneurial experience managing regional sales and operations for a family business, Roger has assisted many technology growth companies over the years, managing investments in software, IT services, electroni...
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Roger has been in the venture capital business for over 15 years. Leveraging his prior entrepreneurial experience managing regional sales and operations for a family business, Roger has assisted many technology growth companies over the years, managing investments in software, IT services, electronics manufacturing and life sciences, and playing an active role on the board of directors of both private and public companies. Since 2000, he has concentrated on the software sector where he currently serves on the board of several companies. Roger also served as Vice President of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) and Chair of the CVCA’s Professional Development Committee, where he continues to play an active role as a committee member.

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Joe Olivier is Vice President, Commercial Financial Services - Knowledge Based Industries (KBI) for RBC. In this capacity, Mr. Olivier is responsible for leading the specialized KBI Commercial Financial Services teams based in Toronto, Mississauga and Kitchener-Waterloo in the information technology...
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Joe Olivier is Vice President, Commercial Financial Services - Knowledge Based Industries (KBI) for RBC. In this capacity, Mr. Olivier is responsible for leading the specialized KBI Commercial Financial Services teams based in Toronto, Mississauga and Kitchener-Waterloo in the information technology and life science and healthcare services markets.

Mr. Olivier began his career with RBC in 1996 as a KBI account manager. Since then he has held a number of KBI account management roles managing a wide array of public and private companies in the information technology, life sciences, and media & entertainment industries. He has extensive experience in a wide range of financing, funding and tax structures (domestic and cross border), including large syndicated loan structures to meet the unique and high growth needs of KBI companies. Immediately prior to assuming his current role, he was Regional Vice-President for one of RBC's large personal banking markets in Toronto. Prior to joining RBC Mr. Olivier spent six years working for Human Resource Development Canada and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the York Technology Association. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba and a Masters of Business Administration from Dalhousie University. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers. Mr. Olivier leads 13 specialized Commercial Account Managers and is supported by six Associate Account Managers.

The team was formed over two decades ago offering relationship account management to companies in the technology and life science and health care services markets. The KBI team provides a broad range of solutions in lending (including SR&ED loans), investments, cash management, foreign exchange, and day to day banking services. The team focuses on businesses in the following markets; software, mobile or wireless applications, nanotechnology, fabless semiconductor, telecommunications, specialized computer services, cleantech, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, specialty Pharma, contract manufacturing and research, as well as health services.

We are actively involved in supporting and/or working with the following organizations; York Technology Association, AceTech, Communitech, Tech Alliance, The Biotechnology Initiative, MEDEC, ViaTech, Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, Ontario Centers of Excellence, WatStart, York Biotech, and the Canadian Venture Capital Association. We believe the combination of superior client experience, dedication to the market, network reach, and our specialized approach to these markets truly differentiate RBC.

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Richard Rémillard is Executive-Director of Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association(CVCA), a post he has held since November 2003. He has also been President of R C G, a management consulting firm active in the financial services industry,a Vice-President with the Canadian Bankers Ass...
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Richard Rémillard is Executive-Director of Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association(CVCA), a post he has held since November 2003. He has also been President of R C G, a management consulting firm active in the financial services industry,a Vice-President with the Canadian Bankers Association, a special assistant to the Minister of Finance and a public affairs manager with Bank of Montreal. RR sits on several boards, has taught at Concordia University and is a graduate of McGill University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Mark Romoff joined the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. as President and CEO in fall 2004. A key partner with industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments, OCE drives economic prosperity through support for the development and successful transfer of new tec...
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Mark Romoff joined the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. as President and CEO in fall 2004. A key partner with industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments, OCE drives economic prosperity through support for the development and successful transfer of new technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace. OCE enables Ontario companies to succeed in the knowledge-based global economy by training, developing and connecting the next generation of Ontario innovators and entrepreneurs. Mr. Romoff is leading an organization at the centre of Ontario’s innovation and economic development agenda.

Mr. Romoff has a strong track record of advancing the competitive interests and opportunities for Canadian companies internationally. Before joining OCE, Mr. Romoff was Executive Director of the federal Department of Industry, where he was responsible for building the export readiness of Ontario companies, encouraging foreign investment in Ontario and strengthening the global competitiveness of industry across the province.

From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Romoff served as Consul General in Buffalo, New York, where he helped establish and implement the framework and policies governing cross-border relations between the United States and Canada – the world’s largest and most diverse bilateral trade relationship. Over the course of his foreign-service career, Mr. Romoff served as Commercial Counsellor in Nigeria, Mexico and Malaysia. From 1992 to 1996, he was Minister-Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo with responsibility for Canada’s trade, investment and science and technology relationship with Japan.

Mr. Romoff is a member of the Waterloo Research & Technology Park Accelerator Board of Directors; the National Research Council Institute for National Measurement Standards (NRC-INMS) Advisory Board; Impact Entrepreneurship Group Advisory Board; The Quebec City Conference (North American Venture Capital Summit) Board of Directors; Ontario College of Art & Design President’s Advisory Council; Central Canadian Public Television Association Board of Directors: and Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research Board of Management.

Mr. Romoff has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from McGill University, and a Masters in Applied Science from the University of Waterloo. Mark and his wife, Shelley, live in Toronto.

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John Ruffolo is the Global Tax Leader and the Canadian industry leader for Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice and a member of the firm’s Tax and TMT Global Leadership teams. John is a Director on the Board of Deloitte. John has over 20 years of international corporat...
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John Ruffolo is the Global Tax Leader and the Canadian industry leader for Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice and a member of the firm’s Tax and TMT Global Leadership teams. John is a Director on the Board of Deloitte. John has over 20 years of international corporate tax experience advising public and private companies on effective global tax strategies. He also has extensive experience providing strategic tax and advisory services to Canadian and foreign-based TMT companies and is recognized as one of the country’s leading “green” technology advisors. In addition, John works closely with a number of North America’s leading venture capitalists, and advises many of the companies in which they invest. John’s advice has been sought by some of the world’s leading technology, media and telecommunications companies including Nortel, Rogers Communications, Research in Motion (RIM), Open Text, CTV Globemedia, Constellation Software, Gennum, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. John has also worked extensively with a number of leading private equity firms including VenGrowth, GrowthWorks, Covington, Jefferson Partners, and Conundrum Capital.John is a strong supporter of both the business and not-for-profit communities. He is Chairperson of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s Tax Policy Committee. He is also a member of the Corporate Fundraising committees for Sunnybrook Foundation and the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario. John is also actively involved with the David Suzuki Foundation. Further, he is a member of the Toronto chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). John has a high profile media presence across Canada and is widely regarded by the media as a leading commentator on TMT and taxation issues. John is an active public speaker within the TMT and venture capital industries and has written extensively on developing global tax strategies to manage both Canadian and foreign taxes, as well as how best to arrange tax structures to optimize IPO offerings, financings, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

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Michelle Scarborough is an experienced entrepreneur with a track record of business achievement spanning more than 15 years. Currently Vice President, Investment and Commercialization at OCRI (Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation), she has been responsible for building a team of business leader...
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Michelle Scarborough is an experienced entrepreneur with a track record of business achievement spanning more than 15 years. Currently Vice President, Investment and Commercialization at OCRI (Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation), she has been responsible for building a team of business leaders and seasoned investment professionals who help start up and emerging companies across the knowledge based industries achieve global business success through mentorship, market intelligence and direct access to capital.

She has held a cross section of senior management roles in public and private sector organizations, including CEO, Scarborough & Associates where she outsourced her expertise to private industry and non-governmental agencies in the areas of financing and corporate restructuring including holding several positions such as acting CEO for organizations like Junior Achievement of BC. Through her company, she also acted on behalf of VC investors on due diligence and restructuring of several VC funded portfolio companies including Solflex Energy (Director, Corporate Development), Wildly Sophisticated (Investor), and The Portables (Director).

An active member of the Angel investment community, she has participated as a founder and principal seed investor in several capital pool companies and publicly traded businesses in a range of industry sectors, including Palmarejo Silver and Gold (TSX Venture Exchange), purchased by Coeur d’Alene Mines in a $1billion transaction.

Ms. Scarborough graduated from the University of Calgary with dual bachelor designations in Science and Communications. She was recently honored as a 2008 Top 40 Under 40 Award Recipient and is a participant in The Leadership Forum Series at the University of Otawa. She is also a regular guest of CTV’s TechNow, reporting on investment trends in technology in Canada on a quarterly basis. Ms. Scarborough is a guest lecturer at the eMBA program at the University of Ottawa on venture capital and entrepreneurship, and she currently sits on the board of the National Angel Organization.

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Rick Segal is the Co-Founder of Toronto based Fixmo, a Mobile Utilities Software company. Prior to starting Fixmo, Mr. Segal spent 8 years as a Venture Partner with JLA Ventures. Prior to joining JLA Ventures, Mr. Segal was President and Chief Executive Officer of Microforum, a leader in providing i...
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Rick Segal is the Co-Founder of Toronto based Fixmo, a Mobile Utilities Software company. Prior to starting Fixmo, Mr. Segal spent 8 years as a Venture Partner with JLA Ventures. Prior to joining JLA Ventures, Mr. Segal was President and Chief Executive Officer of Microforum, a leader in providing integrated e-business solutions in a wide array of industry verticals. Mr. Segal joined Microforum in July 2000 from Chapters Online Inc., a leading Canadian e-commerce company, where he held the position of President and Chief Operating Officer (1997-2000). Mr. Segal began working with Chapters Inc. in 1997 as a consultant on the technical development of the Chapters e-commerce venture. Based on this successful collaboration, he was named the President of Chapters Online in August 1998. Prior to joining Chapters Online, Mr. Segal was a partner at the international firm of TMS Consulting from 1996 to 1998. Mr Segal worked at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington from 1992 until 1996 as Director of technical services for the Internet Customer Unit. Mr. Segal is also the author of four books on Network Management and Windows software development.

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International Director, Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, Director – Quebec City Conference and Senior Trade Commissioner - Department of Foreign Affairs. Sunil Sharma is a rotational Foreign Service officer with Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (...
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International Director, Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, Director – Quebec City Conference and Senior Trade Commissioner - Department of Foreign Affairs. Sunil Sharma is a rotational Foreign Service officer with Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and is currently based in the MaRS Innovation Centre in Toronto’s Discovery District.

Sunil is in the midst of a 3-year assignment with Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) where his mandate is to build strategic relationships with centres of risk capital across the world with a particular emphasis on the Middle East, India, China and the United States.

Sunil is also a Director of the Quebec City Conference – an invitation-only gathering of over 400 of the world’s leading venture capital, private equity and institutional investors which takes place each year in Quebec City, Canada.

Sunil has recently concluded his 4-year posting as Consul and Trade Commissioner (Head of Consulate) in San Diego, California and was responsible for opening one of Canada’s newest diplomatic missions.

The Canadian Consulate in San Diego is a diplomatic mission with a focus on pursuing trade, investment and technology partnerships, as well as general and political relations between Canada and Southern California.

Previously, Sunil was on assignment with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and served as Canada’s representative to the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization’s General Assemblies in Geneva and was elected Vice-Chair of a key technical committee.

Prior to his work at CIPO, Sunil served as a Senior Investment Analyst for Technology Partnerships Canada where he completed several investment deals involving emerging Canadian high technology companies.

Sunil possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Victoria and a Master’s of Industrial Relations degree from the University of Toronto.

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David Shore joined Research Capital in October 2007 as Head of Technology Group in the Equity Research department and Technology Analyst. At Research Capital, David's coverage includes Software & Media companies, and he has the added responsibility of coordinating Research Capital's overall strategy...
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David Shore joined Research Capital in October 2007 as Head of Technology Group in the Equity Research department and Technology Analyst. At Research Capital, David's coverage includes Software & Media companies, and he has the added responsibility of coordinating Research Capital's overall strategy in technology equities research. David has been consistently ranked as a leading technology analyst (software) in Canada, and prior to joining Research Capital had been with a number of financial institutions, including Desjardins, CIBC World Markets, and First Marathon. David has also been directly involved in the technology industry, having worked with a technology start-up as CFO and at Celestica where he was responsible for financial analysis for the EMS division. David holds a B.A. (Specialized Honours) degree and an MBA from York University, and also has his CFA designation. David also sits on the board of ESI Entertainment Inc. (CNSX: ESI), a leader in e-commerce payment technologies, hardware based input devices, real time auditing systems, transaction processing systems, graphical 3D displays, e-commerce web services, and payment fraud and risk mitigation.

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Duncan Stewart is the Director of Deloitte Canada Research in the areas of Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT). He is a member of Deloitte’s national TMT executive team and is a co-author of Deloitte Research’s annual Predictions report on trends in TMT.

Duncan has almost two...
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Duncan Stewart is the Director of Deloitte Canada Research in the areas of Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT). He is a member of Deloitte’s national TMT executive team and is a co-author of Deloitte Research’s annual Predictions report on trends in TMT.

Duncan has almost two decades of experience in the TMT industry. As an analyst and portfolio manager, Duncan has provided research or made investments in the entire Canadian technology and telecommunications sector. He has written research on names such as Nortel and Celestica, and been a venture capital investor in Research in Motion among others. Duncan is also founder and CEO of DSAM Consulting, which performs research and analysis on companies in the TMT and GreenTech space. Prior to that, Duncan was a co-founder of Tera Capital, Canada’s first high tech and biotech money manager, where he was responsible for managing both mutual funds and VC funds, and was the Canadian Technology Fund Manager of the Year in 2003. In the mid 1990s, Duncan managed a $150 million small cap high tech/biotech fund at a large Canadian pension fund manager. In his years as an investor he has deployed a cumulative $2 billion of capital into the global TMT and Life Science markets.

Duncan has a high profile media presence and is frequently interviewed on technology and biotechnology issues. He has also been a bi-monthly columnist for The National Post and CBC Radio. Duncan is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

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Ilse Treurnicht is the CEO of MaRS Discovery District, a leading innovation centre located in Toronto. She oversees both the development and operations of the MaRS Centre and its broad suite of entrepreneurship and innovation programs.
MaRS offers advisory services, market intelligence and...
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Ilse Treurnicht is the CEO of MaRS Discovery District, a leading innovation centre located in Toronto. She oversees both the development and operations of the MaRS Centre and its broad suite of entrepreneurship and innovation programs.
MaRS offers advisory services, market intelligence and entrepreneurship education to emerging companies in health care/life sciences, digital media/ICT, clean tech and social purpose businesses across Ontario.
Ilse has worked closely with the leadership of Toronto’s academic institutions and teaching hospitals to create MaRS Innovation, an integrated commercialization platform for 14 Toronto institutions, and served as the interim Managing Director for a year following its formal launch in early 2008.
Ilse joined MaRS in early 2005 from her role as President & CEO of Primaxis Technology Ventures, a start up stage venture capital fund focused on the advanced technologies sector. Prior to Primaxis, Ilse was an entrepreneur with senior management roles in a number of emerging technology companies.
She is an active member of Canada’s innovation community, and has served on the boards of private companies, industry associations and research organizations, and has been a member of several government advisory panels.
Ilse holds a D Phil in chemistry from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes scholar.

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Mark's career began in 1988 at Royal Bank and worked in a number of commercial banking roles. Mark then was recruited by Cisco Systems in 2000 to join Cisco Capital’s structured finance team in Toronto where he financed the sales of Cisco equipment and services to sub-investment grade customers in C...
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Mark's career began in 1988 at Royal Bank and worked in a number of commercial banking roles. Mark then was recruited by Cisco Systems in 2000 to join Cisco Capital’s structured finance team in Toronto where he financed the sales of Cisco equipment and services to sub-investment grade customers in Canada and the U.S. East Coast. Mark returned to Royal Bank in 2001 to lead the bank’s Information Technology Banking team in the Greater Toronto Area. In Mark's last role at RBC, he was the executive responsible for RBC’s entire Knowledge Based Industries practice in the Ontario marketplace in addition to the Toronto Tech Banking Group. Mark joined Wellington as a Partner in the summer of 2006. While at Wellington, Mark has lead over $45Million of transactions with 11 different companies over the past 3 years. Mark has his MBA from Queen’s University and is involved in a number of technology associations and organizations.

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John S. Varghese is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the VentureLink Funds and the President and Director of the General Partner of the Manager. Mr. Varghese’s has over 20 years professional experience ranging from venture capital and investment banking to senior management and board of di...
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John S. Varghese is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the VentureLink Funds and the President and Director of the General Partner of the Manager. Mr. Varghese’s has over 20 years professional experience ranging from venture capital and investment banking to senior management and board of director roles in various industries. He has held COO and CFO positions at start-up organizations, as well as senior management roles within multi-national corporations including Royal Bank Capital Corporation, Midland Walwyn Capital Inc. (Merrill Lynch Canada), Dell Computer Corporation, Jim Pattison Industries Ltd and KPMG Peat Marwick. Currently Mr. Varghese is an observer or board member on numerous investee companies. He is past Chairman of Ventus Energy Inc, Orion Securities Inc. and MCCI Communications Inc, all successful exits of VentureLink. Mr. Varghese is a member of University of Toronto’s Business Board of Directors and is also a Board Member of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation. He is an active member of the venture capital industry, sitting on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Venture Capital Association and the Retail Venture Capital Association where he is the lead director. Mr. Varghese sits on the government relations committee of the CVCA. Mr. Varghese is a founding Board member of Bay Street Fore a Cau$e Inc. a not-for-profit corporation that supports numerous children’s charities across the GTA. Mr. Varghese also sits on the Executive Committee of Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX).

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