MetroTech Connect March MeetUp

 

Funding Symposium
Come listen to 5 speakers discuss the different stages of funding from bootstrapping to post-commercialization. Also, what it was like to go through the process from beginning to end. It will be an interesting & informative evening!

WHO

Jean-Louis Iaconis, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.
Founder, iaconicDesign and CEO, Modena Smart Home. A Mechanical Engineer with 18+ years’ experience working in various hardware technology start-up companies where he successfully led multidisciplinary teams through numerous new product development cycles. He now devotes his passion for creating new products to his dual roles as founder of iaconicDesign and CEO of Modena Smart Home. Jean-Louis holds a master’s degree from UBC, where he graduated top of his class & was recognized by NSERC as 1 of the top 2 engineering graduate students in Canada. He is a professional member of the Engineers & Geoscientists of British Columbia (EGBC) and is widely recognized for his creativity, with over 90 worldwide patents to his name.

Yaser Roshan
After finishing his studies at Simon Fraser Universities & getting involved with a couple of startup ventures, Yaser joined a small university in Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering. After a couple of years living in U.S., he returned to Vancouver & became more involved in business development activities. As an entrepreneur, he has experienced the financial issues that many startups struggle with in their early years, which made joining Mitacs as a Director of Business Development a good fit to help startup companies raise funds, focus on their R&D activities & utilize their resources effectively. Currently, Yaser’s role is not only to support startup companies, but to develop partnerships with larger (potentially multi-national) enterprises to form sector-specific ecosystems for local talent to succeed.

Travis Gu
Senior Account Manager, BDC Finance team. In his 12 years with the Bank, Travis held various roles in Underwriting, Portfolio Management and more recently, Business Development. He has worked with hundreds of customers & prospects from Kenora, Ontario to Victoria, BC. Travis’ expertise is with Canadian small business start-ups & growth needs and has access to both financing & consulting resources within BDC for SMEs. Travis also collaborates regularly with other financial institutions & government program partners to jointly help entrepreneurs. Travis has an Honors MBA from University of Western Ontario and has been a CPA, CMA since 2009.

Jaap Siekman MSc, PEng, PMP
As Regional Manager for NorthBridge Consultants, Jaap educates start-ups & growing companies on Government Funding programs that support R&D and Innovation in Canada.
He has 28 years of managerial experience in New Product Development, Engineering & Manufacturing in a variety of industries.
NorthBridge was started 25 years ago with ~20 professionals in offices in BC, ON & QC, and is an expert consultancy firm assisting businesses across Canada with Government Funding that supports R&D, Innovation & Growth.

Jasper Dikmans
Manager of Deal Acquisition, FrontFundr; Canada’s leading online investment platform. Experience at Silicon Valley & Amsterdam-based startups fueled Jasper’s passion for fostering & facilitating entrepreneurship. This ultimately led him to pursue a Master’s in Entrepreneurship at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Before joining FrontFundr, Jasper completed projects for Rabobank Group, a Dutch company and EQT Partners, a Swedish company; both of which sparked his interest in the financial aspect of entrepreneurship.

WHERE
The stylish Sanctuary Lounge at i-onCONNECT in Burnaby. A short walk or bus ride from Production Skytrain Station; minutes from SFU, BCIT, Hwy#1 & Hwy#7

WHERE:
i-onCONNECT
March 27th, 2019
5:30 pm to 9:00 pm
200 2700 Production Way
Burnaby

HOW
1) RSVP (so we know how much pizza to order!)
2) Show up
3) Network, eat pizza, unwind
4) Sit back & listen to presentations
5) Update the group; vote on our content
6) Go home smarter&more confident

Register here.