OUR NETWORK

NEXT entrepreneurs are given access to internationally acclaimed faculty, entrepreneurs, C-suite executives, investors and domain experts who provide them with education, feedback and actionable insights that can be applied as they build their ventures.

NEXT Canada Faculty

NEXT Canada Faculty are a roster of internationally acclaimed faculty members from the world’s top universities, prominent business leaders, and technical experts who deliver tailored content for all NEXT Canada programs.

AJAY AGRAWAL
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Vector Institute, NBER

AJUNG MOON
McGill University, Open Roboethics Institute, Government of Canada Advisory Council on AI

AVI GOLDFARB
Rotman School of Management

BETH PORTER
Riff Analytics, MIT Media Lab

CHRISTIAN CATALINI
Sloan School of Management, Libra, Calibra, Facebook

DAVID SHRIER

University of Oxford

FLORIAN SHKURTI
University of Toronto

GRAHAM NEUBIG
Language Technologies Institute of Carnegie Mellon University

GRAHAM TAYLOR
University of Guelph, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Google Brain Montreal

HONG LUO
Harvard Business School

HOSSEIN RAHNAMA
Flybits, Ryerson University, MIT Media Lab

JOSHUA GANS
Rotman School of Management

KOSTA DERPANIS
Ryerson University, York University, Vector Institute, Vision: Science to Applications

MARA LEDERMAN
Rotman School of Management

MARC BUSCH
Georgetown University

MARCUS BRUBAKER
York University, University of Toronto

RAMANA NANDA
Imperial College London

RAQUEL URTASUN
Uber ATG, Vector Institute, University of Toronto

REZA SATCHU
Alignvest Management Corp

SANDY PENTLAND
MIT

SANJA FIDLER
University of Toronto, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, NVIDIA

WEIGUANG GUAN
McMaster University

Next AI - Montréal Faculty

Next AI – Montréal Faculty are collection of internationally acclaimed faculty members from the world’s top universities who deliver tailored content for Next AI – Montréal.

AJAY AGRAWAL
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Vector Institute, NBER

AJUNG MOON
McGill University, Open Roboethics Institute, Government of Canada Advisory Council on AI

BRIAN KING
HEC Montréal

COREY PHELPS
University of Oklahoma

DENIS GRÉGOIRE
HEC Montréal

GABRIEL PARENT
GPSE Consulting

GAÉTAN MARCEAU CARON
MILA

GOLNOOSH FARNADI
HEC – Dept. de sciences de la décision

JACKIE CHEUNG
McGill University, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

JEAN-FRANÇOIS OUELLET
HEC Montréal

JEAN-FRANÇOIS PLANTE
HEC Montréal

JEREMY PINTO
MILA

JOELLE PINEAU
McGill University, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

KEVIN REGAN
Google

LAURENT CHARLIN
HEC Montréal, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

LUCIANO BARIN-CRUZ
HEC Montréal

MÉLANIE ROBINSON
HEC Montréal

MIRKO BRONZI
MILA

NADINE VAILLANT
HEC Montréal

SARATH CHANDAR
École Polytechnique of Montreal

VALÉRIE PISANO
MILA

YOSHUA BENGIO
Université de Montréal, Mila, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, IVADO, UdM – Dept. d’informatique et de recherche opérationnelle (DIRO)

Scientists-in-Residence

SiRs are PhD candidates and professionals specializing in various areas of artificial intelligence. They provide dedicated 1:1 support and guidance to entrepreneurs in the Next AI program.

BORIS KNYAZEV (TO)
University of Guelph

CARLOS OLIVER (MTL)
Ozeki Inc.

DEVINDER KUMAR (TO)
University of Waterloo

DR. MOHAMED NAIEL (TO)
University of Waterloo

MARTIN WEISS (MTL)
MILA

MICHAEL ZHANG (TO)
University of Toronto

PAUL CROUTHER (MTL)
MILA

SILVIUS PITIS (TO)
University of Toronto

Investment Committee

The Investment Committee is a group of investors, venture capitalists, and NEXT Canada representatives who assess investment opportunities from NEXT Canada ventures.

PETER CARRESCIA
Chair, NEXT Canada Investment Committee; SVP Strategy and Corporate Development, Wave

KEVIN KIMSA
General Partner, ScaleUP Ventures

MATT SAUNDERS
President, Ryerson Futures

ALEXANDRA MCGREGOR
Director of Programs, NEXT Canada

JIM ORLANDO
Managing Partner, Wittington Ventures

Mentors

Mentors are seasoned entrepreneurs and accomplished industry professionals who provide dedicated ongoing assistance to select Next AI and Next 36 ventures.

AARON ZIFKIN

Managing Director – Canada, Lyft

ADAM AGENSKY

EIR, ScaleUp Ventures

AIDAN TRACEY

Founder, Brandsell Group

ALEX NORMAN

Co-Founder and Managing Director / Partner, AngelList / N49P Ventures

ALEX PALMER

Director of Product, Tribe

ALEXANDER BARCLAY

Sr. Investment Manager, MaRS IAF

ANA MARINESCU

Founder, URBANA Marketing

ANDREW GRAHAM

Co-Founder & CEO, Borrowell

BARTOSZ MISELIS

AI Tech Lead, Tooploox

BEN YOSKOVITZ

Founding Partner, Highline Beta

BRENDAN CALLAGHAN

Senior Sales Principal – VP Sales, Portag3 Ventures

CONNOR EDWARDS

Investor, MaRS IAF

CRAIG FOLLETT

Co-founder & CEO, Peggy

DALE HOOPER

Partner, C-Suite Executive

DAVID SCIACCA

COO, LIFT Digital

DAVID STEIN

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Leaders Fund

DAVID YACH

Engineering Director, Google Cloud Platform

DHARMESH GANDHI

EY Canada Partner & National Quantitative Services Leader

DOMINIKA BASAJ

AI Tech Lead, Tooploox

EDYTA PETTERS

Growth / Business Development, Tooploox

EVA LAU

Founding Partner, Two Small Fish

GEORGE KARIDIS

VP, Equinix Metal Corporations

IAN BURGESS

President, Validere

IAN MCKINNON

Independent Director

JAN SAMPSON

Senior Vice-President, Client Experience, CI Financial

JASON DEGLINT

Founder, Blue Lion Labs

JASON GRAY

Founder & Managing General Partner, Pioneer Fund

JOHN COADY

Board Member / COO / CFO, Tangerine / INFOR Financial Group

JOHN POULOS

Founding President and CEO, Dominion Voting

JORDAN BORTOLOTTI

Executive VP, Canada, Studio71, LP

JULIE WARD

Associate, Hatch

KATARZYNA KAMIŃSKA

Head of Growth, Tooploox

KATE GRANT

Business Advisor, Fasken

LARA ZINK

President & CEO, Women in Capital Markets

LAURA CURTIS FERRERA

Global Chief Marketing Officer, Scotiabank

MATT FOGEL

SVP Product, Ideanomics

MAURO REPACCI

CEO, NestReady

MELANIE TEED-MURCH

CEO, ONroute Canada

MICHELLE MCBANE

Managing Director, StandUp Ventures

NICOLE LEBLANC

Partner, Platform, 2150

PETER RICCIARDI

COO & SVP, Spectrum Health Care

PETER VUKANOVICH

Member, Board of Directors, Real Matters

RICK BRACE

Past President, Rogers Media

SNITA BALSARA

Sr. Investment Manager, MaRS IAF

SOKMEAN NOU

Founder & CEO, Calixa Technologies

SUBIN UPADHYAY

Director, Lead Public Cloud Architect, RBC

SYBIL RAMOS SHEEN

Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis Manager, Polytainers Inc.

TED REESER

Director and Treasurer, West Parry Sound Health Centre Foundation

TERRY RYBOLT

Chief Revenue Officer, LiveXchange Corporation

TODD EMBLEY

Senior Startup Advocate, Agora

TONY BLANK

Director of Startup Programs, Agora

UMAIR TAZEEM

Founder, Embold

VALERIE SWATKOW

Chief Marketing Advisor, DealEngine

VANESSA CHERENFANT

Head of Strategy & Operations, XRM Vision

VANESSA HENRI

Lawyer, Information Security Governance Committee Member, Fasken

VERNON LOBO

Founder and Managing Director, Mosaic Venture Partners

DAVID F. MASOTTI

Corporate Director and Business Leader

Next AI - Montréal Mentors

Mentors are seasoned entrepreneurs and accomplished industry professionals who provide dedicated ongoing assistance to select Next AI – Montréal ventures.

ALEX PALMER
Director of Product, Tribe Community Platform

ALEX SHEE
Head of Partnerships, Samasource

ANNIE BERGEVIN
Founder, OnPoint Business Plans

BENJAMIN TUFF
Managing Partner, Benjamin David Group

CARL BREAU
CEO, Saimen

CAROLINA BESSEGA
Co-founder and CSO, Stradigi AI

CAROLINA OSORIO
Research Chair – Scale AI, HEC – Dept. de sciences de la décision

CATHERINE ROUSSEAU-SAINE
Director – Partnerships & Strategy, MILA

CHARLES NOUŸRIT
Partner, Orevon Ventures

CHRIS MATYS
Founder, Ignite AI

CHRISTINE BEAULIEU
Professor MBA, HEC Montréal – École des Dirigeants

DANIEL MULET
Investor, Radical Ventures

DAVID DUFRESNE
Partner, Panache Ventures

DEBORAH HAYEK
Senior Product Owner, Manulife Innovation Lab (LOFT)

DEREK CHEUNG
Manager, Mattamy Homes

DOUGLAS HARRISON
Board Member, Metro Supply Chain Group

DOV AMIHOD
CTO/Co-founder, Stealth Startup

ELAINE KUNDA
Founder, Managing Partner, Disruption Ventures

EMILIE FOURNELLE
VP Product & Operations, Sportlogiq

ERIC DAHAN
Canadian Sales Manager, Nvidia

FRANTZ SAINTELLEMY
President and COO, LeddarTech

FRÉDÉRIC BASTIEN
Vice-President, Artificial Intelligence of Things, Aspen Technology

GABRIEL DAMANT-SIROIS
CPO & Co-founder, Local Logic

JACOB LANYADOO
President, TechBonjour

JATIN MALHOTRA
Senior Data Scientist, SSENSE

JEAN-FRANCOIS DENAULT
CEO, Impacts.ca

JEAN-FRANCOIS GAGNON
CEO & Founder, LVL

JEAN-FRANÇOIS PARISEAU
Partner, Amplitude Ventures

JEAN-PHILIPPE BRADETTE
Co-founder and CEO, Apprentx

JENNIFER MCDONALD
COO, Moka

JILLIAN RUIZ
Head of Marketing, Local Logic

JOHANNE SÉVIGNY
Managing Partner, Fonds Ecofuel I s.e.c.

KJELL KOLSTAD
VP Alliances and Business Development, Vehicle Mind Technology

LAUREN JANE HELLER
Executive leadership coach, Shiny Leadership

LLOYED LOBO
Co-founder, Boast.ai

LOUIS RENÉ AUCLAIR
Founder, RocketRide Games

LUDOVIC ANDRÉ
Managing Director, CIC Capital Canada

MARC VAUCHER
Investment Director, Scale AI

MARCO DODIER
President & CEO, Du Proprio & Purplebricks Canada

MARIE-CLAUDE CÔTÉ
Head Data Scientist, IVADO Labs

MARINA CORTES
Venture Partner, Hike Ventures

MASOUD CHITSAZ
Principal Developer, Kinaxis

MICHAEL MEE
Principal, Amplitude Ventures

MIKIHIRO YASUDA
General Partner, Hike Ventures

MOHAMAD SALAMÉ
Co-founder & CTO, Cashflow.io

MOHAN MARKANDAIER
Managing Partner, Good News Ventures

NABEELA MERCHANT
Associate, Relay Ventures

OLIVIER FISCHER
Head of Business Development, Nakisa

OLIVIER LOCUFIER
CEO, Orevon Ventures

PATRICIA ESCOFFIER
Investment Manager, Theodorus Investment Funds

PATRICK D’ASTOUS

EY Canada Partner

PHILIPPE FRIZON
Principal, PMP Conseil

RAMY SEDRA
Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company

RAPHAEL CHRISTIAN-ROY
National Managing Director of Front Row Ventures, Real Ventures

RAPHAEL STEINMAN
CEO, Maxa AI

RHIANNON DAVIES
Founding Partner, Sandpiper Ventures

RICHARD CLOUTIER
Managing Partner, Fonds Ecofuel I s.e.c.

ROBERT HANNA
Sales, BD, Marketing Coach and Consultant, GreenAscot

RUSS ARMSTRONG
Director, Business Development, Boast.ai

SALIM ADAMON
Product specialist, Sharp XRM

SAMI AHMED
Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Omers

SIDITA ZHABJAKU
Managing Director, Wealth Management Data & Analytics, BMO Financial group

SOLMAZ SHAHALIZADEH
Founder, BackBone Angels

SYBIL RAMOS SHEEN
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager, Polytainers Inc.

SOODEH FAROKHI
Founder & CTO, C2RO

THÉO RISOPOULOS
Investment Manager, Theodorus Investment Funds

TRISTAN MALLET
Partner, BCG Gamma

VANESSA CHERENFANT
Head of Strategy, Products & Innovation, XRM Vision

VIGEN NAZARIAN
President, Venture Services, Nubinary

VYARA NDEJURU
CMO, Late Checkout

YASIR ASIF
Co-founder & Partner, Shuhari Consulting

YVES ERIC LALIBERTE
Board Member, Worximity

Advisors

Advisors are a volunteer network of seasoned entrepreneurs and accomplished industry professionals who provide à-la-carte assistance to ventures across all three programs.