Advisors

Alexander has 30 years of experience as CEO, President and Executive Chairman at public and private global businesses covering a broad range of sectors. Prior to taking on executive roles, he was a Partner of McKinsey & Company and worked at the Toronto, Brussels, Montreal, and Stockholm offices. Alexandre is primarily focused on developing the Firm’s executive and advisor network as well as serving on the Inovia Capital Investment Committee.

Allyson Letteri is a marketing executive and startup advisor who’s spent her career building marketing teams at fast-growing tech companies in Silicon Valley (Intuit, Thumbtack, and Handshake). She now advises founders and leaders at VC-backed startups so they can create powerful marketing growth engines and build teams that deliver results.

Allyson began her career at the Boston Consulting Group, creating marketing and growth strategy for consumer goods companies. At Intuit she led market entry strategy in Asia, go-to-market for Intuit’s mobile payments products in Canada and the UK, and retention marketing globally for QuickBooks Online. At Thumbtack, Allyson built and led the Pro Marketing team, significantly increasing the number of small business owners getting hired on the platform. As VP Marketing at Handshake, Allyson launched a new brand identity and led significant growth in college students using the platform to get hired for internships and jobs.

Allyson lives in San Francisco with her husband and two kids. Allyson holds a BS in Business Administration and BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (‘03)l.  She received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (‘07). Allyson loves to hike and is an avid watercolor artist.

Andre joined Inovia Capital as a Venture Partner in November 2019. Most recently, Andre was an operator at Hired as VP of Strategic Development and also raised his own fund called Maple VC. At Hired, Andre was one of the first 15 employees and led the company’s expansion to 16 markets across 6 countries.

At Maple, Andre is focused on investing in exceptional Canadian founders (regardless of location) and partnering with them on talent and growth. Maple has invested alongside top Silicon Valley funds including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock and Sequoia. Previously, Andre was one of the first 25 employees at Uber and led new market entry for the company into Canada. Prior to tech, he started his career in investment banking at Wachovia Securities. Andre holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Toronto.

Bernard Paradis has been active in the venture capital industry since 1985, mainly as Senior VP of Desjardins Capital de Risque. Recently, he has focused his activities on advising SMEs as well as managers of VC funds. Bernard played a key role in the launch of Capital Régional et Coopératif Desjardins, Desjardins Innovatech and Fier Partenaires. Bernard has been a Board Member or Advisor with Inovia Capital since 2004.

Colleen is Chief Client Officer at Osler. She is responsible for implementing Osler’s client-focused business development strategy. Colleen works closely with the Managing Partner and the members of the firm’s Client Relations Committee to deepen and strengthen existing client relationships and also provides advice and guidance on new markets and business development opportunities.

Colleen has extensive experience building successful companies and valuable brands. She is a respected business leader with senior management experience in financial services, technology, business and web-based services. Colleen has held a variety of corporate leadership positions and has a deep understanding of business development strategy in the services sector.

Colleen has had a long successful career in the financial services industry that spans over 20 years. She began her career at Merrill Lynch and CIBC. Colleen was a co-founder and President of E*TRADE Canada — building the firm from its pioneering roots as an e-commerce start-up to its position as the largest independent on-line investment firm in Canada. She also served as Vice President and General Manager of E*TRADE Financial Global Corporate Services. In her role as President and CEO of Nexient Learning, Colleen successfully restructured and recapitalized this company, transforming it into Canada’s leading corporate learning and skills development provider. As Entrepreneur in Residence at the private equity firm Signal Hill Equity Partners she worked to identify and evaluate new Canadian mid-market investment opportunities and also assisted portfolio companies with strategy execution. Colleen is a Board member of Merrco Payments Inc.

Since 1981, Dan Freedman has founded, grown, sold, integrated, managed, and financed software companies, primarily in the networking and security sectors. Dan served as VP of Security Products at anti-virus giant McAfee Corporation, and has established successful companies in the networking, security, financing, and Internet Telephony spaces. Dan joined Inovia Capital in 2008 as a member of our Investment Committee, and has since moved into an advisor role. His leadership roles today include executive coaching, corporate governance, strategy development, negotiation, and advising on complex sales/marketing scenarios.

Originally trained as a medical doctor, Dr. Ray Muzyka co-founded BioWare, a video game development studio focusing on story and character, in the early 1990s. He practiced Emergency/Family Medicine for two years full time, with medicine transitioning to part-time over the following decade as he focused on his role as BioWare’s CEO. BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2007 and Ray took on the roles of Senior Vice President at Electronic Arts and General Manager of EA’s BioWare division, which grew over the next five years to span eight development locations worldwide with ~2,000 staff (1,400 full time).

He retired from video games in October 2012, with his third ‘career chapter’ at ThresholdImpact focused on sustainable, profitable impact investing – mentoring and angel investing in information technology, new media and medical innovations with social entrepreneurs. He is an active angel investor and entrepreneurial mentor.

Dr. Muzyka is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the A100 , and the Ashoka Support Network. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta (serving as Chair of the Human Resources Committee and on the Learning and Discovery Committee, as well as a member of the University of Alberta Advancement Council), is Chair of the University of Alberta’s entrepreneur Venture Mentoring Service, and is an Advisor at Inovia Capital. He also serves on a number of private company boards. He previously served on the Board of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences from 2001-2008 and was on the Board of Trustees of the Stollery Children’s Health Foundation from 2012-2015.

He was inducted the JA Alberta Business Hall of Fame in 2018, into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the International Game Developers’ Choice Awards 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Muzyka received the inaugural Alumni Innovation Award in 2015 from the University of Alberta. He was named as the 2017 Allard Chair in Business at the MacEwan University’s School of Business, and as an Honorary Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary Club International in 2016, in recognition for his philanthropic efforts. Other awards include entry into Canada’s Top 40 under 40 and Ernst and Young’s 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year (IT, Prairies). He obtained his Bachelor of Medical Science from the University of Alberta in 1990, his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Alberta in 1992, and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario (Ivey School of Business) in 2001.

François Gauvin is a CPA, CA with over 35 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, international tax planning and venture capital. He has provided Inovia Capital steady, diligent leadership for over more than a decade, ensuring that transparency and rigour remain core to the Firm’s reputation.

Prior to joining Inovia in 2007, François was the Investment Director at the Fonds de Solidarité FTQ (FsFTQ), a $16B Montreal-based labour-sponsored fund, where he was responsible for FsFTQ’s investments in venture capital funds. After investing in Inovia’s first fund on FsFTQ’s behalf, he joined the Firm as Partner-CFO and has been involved in every single transaction Inovia has ever done. He is a board member of Réseau Capital and an active member of the CVCA CFO task force.

Jan Peeters is the President and CEO of Olameter, which he founded in 1998. Olameter is a leading meter service and data management company in North America. Jan was also the founder (1988) of ƒONOROLA Inc., a highly successful long distance telephone company, and the main developer of inter-city fibre-optic-based networks in Canada and northern United States. The company was sold to Sprint in 1998. He has served on the Board of Intersil Corporation (2000-2016). He is a Governor Emeritus of McGill University, having served on that Board from 1999 to 2008. While there, he helped launch MSBi (now Inovia Capital). Jan is a graduate of McGill University with degrees in Engineering and Accounting.

Kristine Steuart is the founder of Allocadia, a Vancouver-based marketing planning, budgeting, and performance management software company. As the company’s CEO, Kristine led Allocadia from a start-up to a global organization with hundreds of customers – including Unilever, Philips and ServiceNow – and partnerships with industry leaders including Oracle, IBM and Adobe.

In 2021 Kristine led the company to a successful transaction for its customers, shareholders, and 150 employees by bringing together Allocadia and BrandMaker. The combined company has more than 350 people around the world, a broader suite of complementary products, and the full backing of a global PE firm. Kristine and her twin sister co-founder Katherine Berry hold the distinction of one of the largest exits by a female founded company in Canada. Kristine was named one of the “Top 10 Women in Tech to Watch” by inc. magazine, and one of B.C.’s top 35 most influential women in business. Kristine currently serves as director on the board of the BC Tech Association.

She has a bachelor of arts degree from Simon Fraser University.

Marcos began his career by teaming up with a fellow UofC alumni and starting his own company, Bitonic, shortly after graduating. Calgary-based Solium acquired Bitonic in 2002, with Marcos taking on the role of Chief Technology Officer, before taking on successive roles helping the company grow and becoming the CEO of Solium in 2015.

Morgan Stanley bought Solium in 2019. Post-acquisition, Marcos worked to ensure the successful integration of the business as Co-Head of Morgan Stanley at Work, ultimately helping create the largest employee share plan administration business globally. Under Marcos’ leadership, Solium’s Shareworks platform became a world class product used by some of the largest and most innovative companies, such as Uber, SpaceX, Google, and Shopify, among others, with 900 employees spread across seven countries. He was with Solium from its founding days, writing the initial lines of code through to the global commercialization of a product used by millions of employees around the world. Marcos holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Calgary, and was the winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the technology sector, Western Canada.

Marianne is a seasoned sales expert who joined Inovia in November 2022. With over a decade of experience, she has a proven track record of helping founders grow their businesses and reach their goals by building solid go-to-market, acquisition, and retention strategies.

Throughout her career, she has played a crucial role in driving the success of companies like Heyday (bought by Hootsuite for $48M) and Silofit. Her expertise in partnership development, software implementation, sales and retention strategy, have helped these startups reach millions in revenue.

At Inovia, she continues to make a positive impact as she works with the Venture team to help companies achieve their full potential. With her unique blend of experience and expertise, Marianne is assisting companies across various industries to boost their revenue growth.

A graduate of ESG with a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercialization, she is a valuable resource for anyone looking to supercharge their sales success.

When brands like Google, Starbucks, Shopify and GE want to leverage technology to better connect with their consumers, they call Mitch Joel. He has been called one of North America’s leading visionaries and the Rock Star of Digital Marketing by Strategy Magazine, but he is much more than that. Mitch Joel is Founder of Six Pixels Group – an advisory, investing and content producing company that is focused on commerce and innovation (although he prefers the title, “Media Hacker”). Prior to Six Pixels Group, Mitch spent close to two decades building, running and (eventually) selling his business. He was President of Mirum — a global digital marketing agency operating in 25 countries with close to 3000 employees. Mirum is owned by WPP.

Mitch has been named one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly prestigious Top 40 Under 40.

Mitch’s first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful blog and podcast is a business and marketing bestseller. His second book, CTRL ALT Delete, was named one of the best business books of 2013 by Amazon. Mitch is frequently called upon to be a subject matter expert for publications like Fast Company, Strategy, Forbes, The Globe & Mail and many others. He is a columnist and journalist for the Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, The Huffington Post and many other magazines and newspapers.

Mitch speaks frequently to diverse groups like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Microsoft, Procter and Gamble, Twitter, Unilever and every organization and association in between. Since 2005 he has given anywhere between 40-60 keynote presentation a year.

Mitch is also the host of Groove — The No Treble Podcast, where he is slowly trying to build the largest oral history of electric bass players in the world.

Rasool is a serial entrepreneur with experience in the software, healthcare, and organic grocery industries. He continues to maintain his passion for technology as an active angel investor with a focus on b2b, consumer SaaS and health tech. Rasool maintains an active role with CEO’s as a board member, mentor and advisor. He currently serves on the boards of the Victoria Foundation, VIATEC, and Checkfront Software.

Robin Bienfait was the chief enterprise innovation officer and senior advisor for Samsung, responsible for building strong partnerships with large global customers to deliver enterprise class services. Robin joined Samsung with over 30 years of experience in mobility, security, business development, enterprise sales, wireless network operations and engineering. As a global intrapreneur, Robin launched Samsung Business Services and advised on the B2B investment strategy. Now as CEO for Emnovate, Robin is advising and providing software solutions to emerging businesses. Prior to Samsung, Robin served as chief information officer for BlackBerry, where she led the enterprise business unit and software development team, end to end product security, tier 3 technical customer service, global network services, corporate security and corporate IT. For the majority of her career, Robin held senior leadership positions across AT&T including Bell Labs, Global Network Services/GNOC, business continuity and disaster recovery, and compliance. As an officer at AT&T, Robin’s last role was leading global network services and chief compliance officer, environment, health and safety.

Robin holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Central Missouri State University and a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a master’s degree in management of technology. A global influencer holding 15 patents, she is the recipient of several awards and was named as one of the top 100 CIO’s in STEM. Robin currently serves on multiple boards as an independent director, Empower Retirement, Putnam Investments, GW Lifeco and MUFG.

Sarah has over 20 years of executive leadership experience in large-scale Operations, Customer Experience, and Technology roles within the Financial Services and Telecommunications industries, most recently as Chief Operations Officer at Manulife and SVP, Digital, Product & Service Delivery at Shaw Communications.  Sarah provides deep expertise in building resilient and effective operating models, customer success strategy, go to market strategy and execution, digital transformation, organizational design/culture, and leadership development.  She is a passionate proponent of transforming great vision and strategy into exceptional execution to drive successful outcomes.  

Sarah holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a BA in Social Science from York University. 

Todd has over 25 years of experience as an accomplished entrepreneur and C-level technology executive. Todd joined us after serving as Chief Strategy Officer at AVG, repositioning the company via multiple acquisitions, ultimately leading to AVG’s own acquisition by Avast for $1.3B. Todd was a co-founder of Call Genie (taken public in Toronto), Ezone Networks, and Conversion Works, as well as CEO of Jasomi Networks (sold to Ditech Networks, where Todd then became the CEO). Todd also served as Chief Innovation Officer at Mozilla, which spurred an interest in decentralization, a core theme to his investments at Inovia Capital.

Todd holds a BSc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Calgary. He is a frequent speaker and writer (including a Science Fiction trilogy) and holds multiple patents. Todd currently serves on the board of Lambent, and is an advisor to Spatial and PEX.