Venture Capital Executive Program
(1984 - 1994)
Total Funding: $7M
Total Funding: $20M
Total Funding: $360M
Total Funding: $9M
Total Funding:
Total Funding: $2M
Total Funding: $250K
Total Funding: $730K
Total Funding:
Total Funding: $50K
2016
2016
Highline Beta is a pre-seed VC & corporate venture studio that builds & funds new ventures from inception. Currently investing out of Highline Beta Fund 1 with an active portfolio of 18 startups in collaboration with global corporations including RBC, Intuit & AB InBev. We help ambitious companies grow beyond their core through internal and external innovation. Our venture studio model quickly discovers and validates new investable opportunities. We're then focused on startup formation, recruiting top founding teams, and working with them closely to launch. We serve as co-founders, earning the right on the cap table from inception by having the conviction to invest before anyone else and rolling up our sleeves to do the 0-1 work.
2011
Founded MeshSquared Ventures to invest in vc funds and startups outside of Highline VC & Highline BETA's investment thesis.
2014 - 2016
2014 - 2016
HIGHLINE is a pan-Canadian (Toronto & Vancouver) pre-seed investor & acceleration platform that has 18 active startups (including Andela, Drop, Lighthouse Labs, Finn.AI, Hockeystick & Swept) and many meaningful exits. Formed through the merger of Extreme Startups & GrowLab, HIGHLINE is one of the few accelerators globally that has a 70%+ institutional follow-on rate, 10+ exits to Fortune 1000 corporations and helped create over 1000+ jobs. HIGHLINE has a top decile investment performance, is a leader with Startup-Visa Canada success stories, and is a trusted brand to world class technical founders.
2013 - 2014
2013 - 2014
Extreme Startups was one of Canada's top startup accelerators based investment performance and ecosystem impact. 1st cheque investments & exits include: Meta (acquired by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative), FameBit (acquired by Google), Hurrier (acquired by Foodora), Kera (acquired by Autodesk), and Shoplocket (acquired by PCH International). Founding venture capital investors include the BDC, Extreme Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, Rho Canada Ventures and Relay Ventures.
2011 - 2013
2011 - 2013
Trend Hunter is the world's #1 Trend Platform that helps hundreds of the world's most powerful brands "Find Better Ideas, Faster" leveraging Crowdsourced Consumer Insight™. Role focused on leading business ops, enterprise product development & customer advisory growth. 1. Helped evolve Trend Hunter's digital media business into an Consumer Insights Platform and Innovation Advisory business for customers such as Nestle, Kellogg's and NBC Universal 2. Acted as Trend Hunter's de facto chief advertising officer to focus on creating & monetizing conversational marketing products including branded content, display, social, mobile and video. 3. Worked on strategic initiatives ranging from growth hacking social media footprints to liaising with strategics (investors/acquirers) to help scale the business
2007 - 2011
2007 - 2011
Acquired by Alchemy Systems (backed by Riverside Company, a global private equity firm) A retailer's greatest challenge is the consistent execution of their brand promise to their customers. Frameworks helps solve this problem by providing retailers with the Ontrack business intelligence software applications that optimize store level performance, accelerate learning, and ensure compliant standards at every retail location. Flagship customer Tim Hortons (4,700-unit chain with over 100,000 frontline workers) uses the entire Ontrack platform solution to improve operational productivity at every level of their organization. Focused on managing operations, product management, and key customer relationships. Identified new enterprise opportunities that resulted in 75+ new contracts signed and oversaw all technology implementations. Led team through an agile software development lifecycle, evolved product roadmaps and delivered 51 successful releases. Specifically helped evolve legacy products into the Ontrack Performance Indicator, Learning Management System and Field Audit System.
2005 - 2007
2005 - 2007
AME Learning develops and distributes award winning financial education products to corporate and academic markets. Started up the eLearning division, led the creation of its digital products and drove sales & marketing operations. Specifically built the company’s technology infrastructure from scratch (Learning Management System, E-Commerce site & CRM), managed the online product development from prototype to commercialization and introduced new telesales and partnership marketing campaigns.
1999 - 2005
1999 - 2005
Started up an eBusiness consulting and software development company that was recognized by the Mayor of Montreal and persevered through the dot-com meltdown. Initially focused on web design & system development for small and mid-sized companies. Evolved to specialize in online marketing and eLearning solutions for both corporate and academic clients. Managed all aspects of the business including team leadership, customer development, and digital project execution.
2000 - 2002
2000 - 2002
The SDEVM delivers venture capital, grants, and loans to young entrepreneurs in Montreal.