Technology and Innovation: Stories from the Mid-Market

This discussion focuses on disruption and investment opportunities arising from the adoption of new technologies in the Western Canadian middle market.

Moderator

Ramit Kar, General Manager for Western Canada, Uber

Ramit Kar is Uber's General Manager for Western Canada. At Uber he has helped pass Canada's first set of ridesharing regulations in Edmonton as well as launch Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge. He is currently responsible for BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Before joining Uber, Mr. Kar was a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company working with technology companies; a consultant with Canada's largest Venture Capital firms; and an investor and operator for several start-ups. He has a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.

Speakers

Irfhan Rawji, Principal, Totem Capital Corporation

Irfhan Rawji is a Principal with Totem Capital Corporation, a private capital firm focussed on investing in Western Canadian small businesses, and is a Venture Partner with Relay Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm exclusively focused on mobile computing.

Irfhan has been a strategic consultant, public company senior executive and investor for over 15 years. Irfhan has also been an Adjunct Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia where he taught in the areas of finance, public policy, strategy and leadership.

Irfhan is presently Board Chair of two Totem Capital investee companies: Carrot Insights; and The Organic Box. Irfhan is also Board Chair of the Community Hypertension Prevention Initiative (CHPI), a partnership between the Federal government, private investors and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada aimed at reducing the incidence of stroke; the CHPI represents an innovation in social finance as Canada’s first social impact bond.

Irfhan is actively involved in civic affairs as a Board Member of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Vice Chair of Glenbow Museum, Treasurer of imagiNation150, member of the Harvard Business School Global Alumni Board, and member and Finance and Investment Sub-Committee Chair of the Calgary 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Bid Exploration Committee.

Irfhan holds an MBA with High Honors from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar and a BCom with High Honours from the University of British Columbia where he was a Wesbrook Scholar. He is a recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Award of Merit, the Sauder School of Business’ Teaching Excellence Award, and Business for the Arts’ Arnold Edinborough Award. Irfhan was recently recognized as member of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

Brad Johns, Partner, Yaletown Partners

Brad Johns is a Partner with Yaletown Partners, a private equity/venture capital firm investing in emerging-growth technology companies in Canada that enhance productivity and sustainability for industrial and enterprise customers.  Brad brings over 30 years of experience in private capital, product management, engineering, manufacturing, and business development, primarily focused on the information technology, telecommunications and energy sectors.

Brad joined Yaletown in 2011 and leads the Fund’s investments in Chaordix, co-manages the Accelerator Company investments in Fund II and the recently launched Accelerator Fund which focuses on early stage technology companies in Alberta, and led the Fund’s realized investment in Monexa, which was acquired by Netsuite in 2015.  Prior to Yaletown, Brad was VP, Business Development for Moneta Energy Services, a private natural gas storage and marketing company, and a partner at Moneta Capital where he was responsible for information technology and industrial technology investments. Previously, he was vice president of Launchworks, a Calgary-based technology-focused venture capital firm, where he was a key contributor to the fund’s performance, which significantly exceeded that of its vintage-year peers. Earlier in his career Brad was an executive at Calgary-based technology startups J-Commerce and MCK Communications, following a decade with Canadian telecommunications giant Nortel as a manufacturing process engineer and product management executive in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Brad has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University, a Masters in Systems and Robotics Engineering from McMaster University and an MBA from INSEAD. He is a director of the Venture Capital Association of Alberta, and a member and past chair of the A100, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Alberta’s next generation of technology startups become successful globally.

Peter Kinash, CFO, Replicon Inc.

Peter Kinash has been the CFO of Replicon Inc. since 2002, and was Replicon's India COO from 2010 until August 2017. Replicon is a 20 year old cloud based software company with six offices in five countries and thousands of customers. Peter has served as a director and CFO of several public and private companies, all in the technology space, and been an officer or director of several companies during Canadian and US venture and public financings.  Prior to 2000 Peter led the KPMG Calgary Technology Practice for 10 years.

Patrick Lor, Managing Partner, Panache Ventures & 500 Startups Canada

Patrick Lor is Managing Partner at Panache Ventures, a $40m fund that will invest in over 140 seed-stage ventures over the next 3 years. He is also Partner at 500 Startups Canada, which has a portfolio of 36 seed companies concentrated in AI and enterprise software. 

Previously, Patrick was co-founder of iStockphoto, which was sold to Getty Images in 2006. More recently, he co-founded Dissolve, and was head of North American operations for Fotolia, which was acquired by Adobe in 2014. 

Patrick is also an active angel investor and LP in several venture capital funds including iNovia Capital, Version One Ventures, and Garage Ventures. He is also an advisor and mentor at several technology incubator programs, and is a charter member of thea100.org and thec100.org. 

Cameron Hall, President, Canada and Global Head of Marketing, Solium

Cameron Hall joined Solium in 2013 to transform its marketing organization and help Solium rise to new levels. Standing at 6’8”, Cameron has a unique vantage of the business. In his current position, he provides executive oversight on Canadian customer service and business development, while leading Solium’s global marketing function. In this unique dual role, Cameron’s leadership has deep customer focus balanced with broad market awareness. In the past, he has held sales and marketing leadership positions with several Fortune 500 companies, including Coca-Cola and Monsanto, and has experience in the financial services industry with both Versus Technologies (acquired by E*Trade) and Oanda. Cameron graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Management Science and completed the Executive Development Program at the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management. He currently sits on the Board of Advisors for NASPP and is a member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO).