Speakers

Founder

Andrew D'Souza

Andrew D’Souza is the creator of Boardy, an AI superconnector helping founders make the right introductions across capital, talent, customers, and media. Previously, he co-founded Clearco, where he helped pioneer AI-driven, revenue-based financing and deployed over $2.5B to more than 10,000 startups. Today, Andrew is focused on expanding access to high-trust networks and reshaping how companies are built in an AI-first world.

4x Founder & Serial Entrepreneur

Jayesh Parmar

Jayesh Parmar is a founder, investor, and mentor with 20+ years of experience building and scaling high-growth companies. As co-founder and CEO of Picatic, he led the platform’s expansion into 46 countries before its acquisition by Eventbrite. A trusted advisor and alumnus of top accelerators including Extreme Startups and the Canadian Technology Accelerator, Jayesh supports founders on scaling, go-to-market strategy, and building purpose-driven teams.

Partner

Alison Kaizer

Alison Kaizer is Partner (Talent) at Golden Ventures, where she helps portfolio companies build world-class teams. She most recently led Talent at food-tech startup Lunchbox, scaling the company from 50 to 250 employees. Previously, as Ritual’s first Talent Acquisition hire, she built the systems that grew the team from 40 to 400+ globally. She brings a strategic, people-first approach shaped by high-growth startups and recruitment experience.

Early-Stage Investor

Chris Neumann

Chris Neumann is a 4x founder turned early-stage investor helping founders plug into Silicon Valley. Most recently a General Partner at Panache Ventures, he previously founded Commonwealth Ventures, was a Venture Partner at 500 Startups, and led DataHero as CEO (acquired by Cloudability). He started as the first employee at Aster Data (acquired by Teradata) and brings a true operator’s edge to backing ambitious founders.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Steve Wolfe

Steve Wolfe is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Growth Street Partners, a San Francisco growth equity firm backing profitable software companies beyond the Silicon Valley hype cycle. Since 2017, he’s raised $400M across three funds and led nearly 20 vertical SaaS investments - resulting in more than 10 liquidity events. Steve partners with founders building durable, fundamentals-first companies.

Director

Dr. Monique Simair

Dr. Monique Simair is a scientist-entrepreneur and two-time exited founder who has built and scaled hard-tech ventures in the environmental and mining sectors. She currently serves as the inaugural Director of the Slogotski Hunt Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Saskatchewan and previously founded Maven Water & Environment (2022 ABEX Business of the Year).

CEO

Karen Greve Young

Karen Greve Young is CEO of Futurpreneur and a seasoned operator with global experience across Bain & Company, Gap Inc., and MaRS Discovery District. She is focused on advancing inclusive economic growth at scale and building pathways for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Karen also serves as Chair of Ovarian Cancer Canada and holds an MBA from Stanford and an A.B. in Economics from Harvard.

CEO

Joanne Fedeyko

Joanne Fedeyko is a global connector and ecosystem strategist focused on bridging international networks and advancing inclusive innovation. She is VP of Mentorship at Startup Genome and Founder of the Canadian Women’s Network, where she leads initiatives like Pathway to Silicon Valley to help 1,000+ female founders scale globally. Joanne also co-founded an angel fund to get more women on the cap table and serves as Publisher of Disruption Magazine.

COO

Juanita Lee-Garcia

Juanita is an artist-operator building at the intersection of learning, talent, and impact. As COO of Growclass, she scales training programs that help people access real economic opportunity. She previously helped grow Venture for Canada from an early-stage nonprofit to a national organization, and later led The Upside Foundation through its acquisition by SickKids Giving Foundation. She brings a systems lens to everything she builds, grounded in education, equity, and execution.

CEO & Founder

Nic Beique

Nic Beique is Founder & CEO of Helcim, building simpler, more affordable payments with a human touch. A technical founder with 15+ years in the space, he’s scaled platforms for SMBs and Fortune 500s alike, with a strong focus on product, culture, and growth. Recognized as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Prairies Technology (2018) and Avenue Calgary Top 40 Under 40 (2019).

Founder & CEO

Shari van de Pol

Dr. Shari van de Pol is a veterinarian, engineer, and founder & CEO of CATTLEytics Inc., a dairy tech company turning everyday farm data into clear, actionable decisions. By digitally twinning dairy operations, connecting cows, teams, and workflows, CATTLEytics helps farms improve animal health, labour efficiency, and profitability without adding workload. With a rare blend of computer engineering and veterinary expertise, Shari is building AI-driven systems that bring clarity, consistency, and smarter decision-making to modern dairy operations across North America.

CPO

Lisa Reeves

Lisa Reeves is Chief Product Officer at TriNet, where she leads at the intersection of product, innovation, and scale. Throughout her career, she has championed emerging technologies, navigated market disruption, and supported the growth of entrepreneurial ecosystems on a global stage.

CEO

Brendan King

As Co-Founder and CEO of one of SK’s leading tech scale ups, Brendan is at the forefront of driving Vendasta's growth, innovation, and business strategy. Vendasta offers an end-to-end platform for local experts and agencies, who have delivered digital solutions to over 8.2M small and medium businesses.