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 AI – Montreal Faculty | SiRs | Investment Committee | Mentors

Next AI – Montreal Mentors | Advisors | Next AI – Montreal Experts | Academic Partners

NEXT Canada Faculty

Our world-class faculty, supported by the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, is 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

BRIAN KING
HEC Montréal

DENIS GRÉGOIRE
HEC Montréal

DEVINDER KUMAR
Layer 6

GABRIEL PARENT
GPSE Consulting

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

JOELLE PINEAU
McGill University, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

KEVIN REGAN
Google

LAURENT CHARLIN
HEC Montréal, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

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)

ANN-FRANCES CAMERON
HEC Montréal

CAMILLE GRANGE
HEC Montréal

KEVIN HILL
HEC Montréal

NEGAR ROSTAMZADEH
Research scientist, Element AI

ALICIA DeSANTOLA
University of Washington

PRIYANKA DWIVEDI
Texas A&M University

JACQUELINE B. KIRTLEY
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

MARCUS BRUBAKER
York University, Vector Institute

KOSTA DERPANIS
York University, Vector Institute

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

SALEM LAHLOU (MTL)
MILA

DEVINDER KUMAR (TO)
University of Waterloo

DR. MOHAMED NAIEL (TO)
University of Waterloo

HAGER RADI (MTL)
MILA

MICHAEL ZHANG (TO)
University of Toronto

CHRISTOS TSIRIGOTIS (MTL)
MILA

SILVIUS PITIS (TO)
University of Toronto

DORA JAMBOR (MTL)
MILA

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 F. MASOTTI

Corporate Director and Business Leader

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

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

ALEXIS SMIRNOV
CTO, Dialogue

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

CATHERINE ROUSSEAU-SAINE
Director – Partnerships & Strategy, MILA

CHRIS MATYS
Founder, Ignite AI

CHRISTOPHE MURATET
Director, Innovation, North America, Thales cortAIx

CRAIG BUNTIN
CEO, Sportlogiq

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

EHSAN MIRDAMADI
CEO, Nubinary

ELAINE KUNDA
Founder, Managing Partner, Disruption Ventures

EMMANUELLE COPPINGER
Managing Director, Front Row Ventures

ENRICO CREMONESE
AI Solutions – Principal, IVADO Labs

ERIC DAHAN
Canadian Sales Manager, Nvidia

ERIC MORROW
Managing Director, Data Science & AI, DnA, BMO Financial Group

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

HAKIM MERAH
Senior Manager, Acceleration & AI Ecosystem, Scale AI

JACOB LANYADOO
President, TechBonjour

JANE UNDERHILL
Director of Operations, Strategy and Management, Praxisco Ethical Business Consulting

JEAN-FRANCOIS GAGNON
CEO & Founder, LVL

JEAN-FRANCOIS DENAULT
CEO, Impacts.ca

JEAN-PHILIPPE BRADETTE
Co-founder and CEO, Apprentx

JENNIFER MCDONALD
Fractional COO

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

KJELL KOLSTAD
VP Alliances and Business Development, Vehicle Mind Technology

LUDOVIC ANDRÉ
Managing Director, CIC Capital Canada

MANO KULASINGAM
Managing Partner, Flair Ventures

MARC VAUCHER
Investment Director, Scale AI

MARIE-CLAUDE CÔTÉ
Head Data Scientist, IVADO Labs

MARINA CORTES
Venture Partner, Hike Ventures

MASOUD CHITSAZ
Principal Developer, Kinaxis

MICHAEL MEE
Principal, Amplitude Ventures

MOHAMAD SALAMÉ
Co-founder & CTO, Cashflow.io

NICHOLAS NADEAU
CTO, Halodi Robotics

NICOLE PARROT
Director of Technology chez Modular Robotics, Modular Robotics

OLIVIER FISCHER
Head of Business Development, Nakisa

PATRICK D’ASTOUS

EY Canada Partner

PHILIPPE FRIZON
Principal, PMP Conseil

RAMY SEDRA
Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company

RAPHAEL STEINMAN
CEO, Maxa AI

RHIANNON DAVIES
Founding Partner, Sandpiper Ventures

RITA BAKER
Baker Pivot & Acceleration, Lean Startup Circle – Montreal

SALIM ADAMON
Product specialist, Sharp XRM

SAMEH AWAIDA
Chief Data Scientist, Canada Clean Fuels

SAMI AHMED
Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Omers

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

SOLMAZ SHAHALIZADEH
Founder, BackBone Angels

SOODEH FAROKHI
Founder & CTO, C2RO

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

THÉO RISOPOULOS
Investment Manager, Theodorus Investment Funds

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

VICKIE JOSEPH
Co-Founder, Groupe 3737

YASIR ASIF
Co-founder & Partner, Shuhari Consulting

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.