Top 50 Manufacturing Angel Investors in Canada in December 2024

Originally trained as a medical doctor, Dr. Ray Muzyka cofounded 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 wasacquired by Electronic Arts in 2007, and Dr. Muzyka 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 about 2000 staff (1400 full time). He retired from video games in October 2012, with his third “career chapter” at ThresholdImpact, where he focused on sustainable, profitable impact investing: mentoring and angel investing in information technology, new media, and medical innovations with social entrepreneurs. An active angel investor and entrepreneurial mentor, Dr. Muzyka is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, the A100, the Ashoka Support Network, and the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta (serving as Chair of the Human Resources Committee and on the Learning and Discovery Committee and as a member of the University of Alberta Advancement Council). He is Chair of the University of Alberta’s entrepreneur Venture Mentoring Service, a venture advisor at iNovia Venture Capital, and a member of the Alberta Research and Innovation Advisory Committee and the Alberta Premier’s Advisory Committee on the Economy. 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 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 additionally 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 there in 1992, and his MBA from the University of Western Ontario (Ivey School of Business) in 2001.

Brian Craig is a Principal of Adventure Capital, a privately held venture capital firm based in Calgary.Brian has had operating roles in many high-tech companies in Calgary and is the former CEO of Solium Capital Inc., a publicly traded financial services firm based in Calgary. Brian has experience leading several successful start-ups and is aco-founder and director of privately held FX Energy, a Calgary-based oil and gas firm.Brian is an investor and serves on the Board of several early-stage companies - public, private, energy and technology. He is a passionate architect of emerging businesses with the knowledge, experience and patience to help guide these fragile companies through their early life experiences. The clarity to succeed, the drive to win and the discipline to execute are all common attributes of the companies Brian associates with.Brian is an engineer with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton).

Nadav Ben-Chanoch - Partner @ Pareto Holdings

Jon Stevenson

Colin is Chief Operating Officer of PMC-Sierra Inc. Colin is a founder of PMC-Sierra, has served as Vice President, Chief Operating Officer since February 2007. Prior to this appointment, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Operations at PMC-Sierra from July 2004 and Vice President of IC Technology from May1997 to July 2004. Colin is anelected member of the Global Semiconductor Association Board of Directors and serves on the advisory board of the Design for E-Beam (DFEB) initiative. Colin currently also serves on the board of directors for Yaletown portfolio company Redlen Technologies

Eric Kwan - Co-Founder & Managing Partner @ Locus Ventures

Jon Oringer is the founder and chairman of Shutterstock.

Jon Oringer is the founder and chairman of Shutterstock.

Pierre Lortie

Jon Oringer is the founder and chairman of Shutterstock.

Rob Stevens

Shane Parrish is the Chief Executive Officer of Syrus Partner.

Ben Orthlieb - Head of Corporate Development @ LinkedIn

James is responsible for managing the vision and growth of Levven Electronics, developing and executing long-term corporate strategies, and building relationships with partners, stakeholders and investors.He is a life-long entrepreneur with a commitment to innovation, excellence and enhancing people’s lives. Prior to founding Levven, Jamestransformed a struggling local manufacturer into a successful international company.James is an active member and contributor to several entrepreneur organizations including Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO Edmonton), Alberta Women Entrepreneurs, and Rainforest Alberta.James’ drive for success also extends into other facets of his life. He’s completed Iron Man competitions and mountain bike races. In one extreme challenge, he swam 15 km across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island.When he isn’t focused on the business, you can find him with his family in Edmonton.

Rasool is a serial entrepreneur with experience in the software, healthcare, and CPG 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 ofthe Victoria Foundation, VIATEC, and Checkfront Software.

Barney Pell was the co-founder, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of LocoMobi Inc. Barney has a long history as a leading technology innovator, product visionary, entrepreneur and angel investor based in Silicon Valley. Barney is known for being an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mayfield, a top Venture Capital firm, which he left to becomeFounder and CEO of Powerset, which built a natural-language based search engine that read each sentence in Wikipedia and answered user queries in plain English. Microsoft acquired Powerset in 2008 to help create its new search engine, Bing. Barney then served Microsoft as Search Strategist, Evangelist, and Chief Architect for Local Search at Bing, until leaving Microsoft in September 2011 to return to the start-up world full-time.Barney also has active investor, board member, and advisory roles with multiple start-up companies and non-profits across a variety of industries. Barney is Co-Founder, Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Moon Express, a private company building autonomous robotic lunar landers to enable exploration and commercial development of the solar system. This builds on his earlier career managing advanced software technologies at NASA. Highlights of innovations during Barney’s career at NASA include mission critical software to support planning and collaboration for the Mars Exploration Rovers mission; Clarissa, the first spoken dialog system in space; and the development of the Remote Agent, the first AI system to fly onboard and control a deep space probe. Remote Agent is widely considered one of the top achievements in the history of Artificial Intelligence and was awarded NASA’s "software of the year" award in 1999. Barney is also Associate Founder and Trustee of Singularity University (SU), a new university created to educate leaders for life in a future driven by accelerating technological change.Other recent active angel investments and advisory positions include: Getaround, Robotex, Halcyon Molecular, SpaceX, and CrowdFlower. Recent start-ups that have had successful exits include: Appjet (now Google), Aardvark (now Google), Hot Potato (now Facebook), Etacts (now SalesForce.com), Movity (now Trulia), and LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social network which recently went public after acquiring its hundred-millionth member.Barney received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and his B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a National Merit Scholar.Barney is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities. These include keynote talks at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computational Linguistics, Search Marketing Expos, International Semantic Web Conference, World Wide Web Conference, the Informational Retrieval Conference, and panels at SXSW Interactive. Barney has also spoken at the NPA and IPI conferences and has been featured in all major Parking industry magazines.

Louis Têtu is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coveo. Prior to Coveo, Louis co-founded Taleo Corporation, the leading international provider of on-demand Internet software for talent and human capital management, acquired by Oracle for $1.9B in February 2012. Louis held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board ofDirectors from the company's inception in 1999 through 2007. In 2004, Taleo was recognized as the 11th fastest growing technology company in the United States within the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and in 2005 it was the only software company among the Inc. 500 winners to have an Initial Public Offering.Prior to Taleo, Louis was President of Baan SCS, the supply-chain management solutions group of Baan, a global enterprise software company with more than 5,000 employees. This followed Baan's acquisition of Berclain Group inc., which he co-founded in 1989 and where he served as president until 1996. Louis is an Engineering graduate from Laval University of Canada in 1985 and in 1997 was honored by Laval for his outstanding social contributions and business achievements. He also received the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year award in the Technology and Communication category.Louis is also Chairman of the Board of PetalMD, a developer of social platforms for the medical sector, and serves on the Board of the Quebec City international airport authority. Louis is involved in private equity within technology, infrastructure projects within emerging countries, education and high school reinsertion for children from financially challenged families. Outside of his professional career, Louis is a commercially licensed helicopter pilot, a skier, a wine and travel enthusiast, and lives in Quebec with his wife and their three children.

Blaine LaBonte

Ali Rowghani is the CEO of YC Continuity. Previously, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Twitter, Inc. from 2012 to 2014, where he was in charge of Twitter’s product, design, business development, developer platform, and media teams. He was hired as Twitter’s first Chief Financial Officer and served in that role from 2010 to 2012. Forthe 9 years prior to his time at Twitter, Ali served in several roles at Pixar Animation Studios, Inc., including as Chief Financial Officer and as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning.Ali holds a BA and MBA, both from Stanford University. Ali is on the Board at Checkr, Lob and Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH), and is a Board observer at LendUp.

Kevin Moore has 10 years experience as an angel/opportunity investor and operator. Prior to that, he has over 15 years of progressive technology i-banking, corp dev, and CFO experience at startups and $Bn corporates.

Jason Warner is the Co-founder, CEO of poolside. He previously worked at Redpoint Ventures as a Managing Director. Jason Warner attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Edward Lando is the founder of Pareto Holdings. He previously worked at Horizons School of Technology as a co-founder. Edward Lando attended the Wharton School.

Eric Patel was first elected to the Ritchie Bros. Board in 2004. Mr. Patel has extensive business and financial experience, most recently as CFO of Pembrook Mining Corp. (formerly Paget Resources Corporation), a private mining company that he left in 2010. Prior to that Mr. Patel acted as the CFO of CrystalDecisions, Inc., a privately heldsoftware company. Mr. Patel joined Crystal Decisions in 1999 after holding executive level positions, including that of CFO, with University Games, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of educational toys and games. Before 1997, Mr. Patel worked for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream as Director of Strategy, for Marakon Associates strategy consultants and for Chemical Bank. Mr. Patel sits on the Advisory Board of ACL Services Ltd, the board of Daiya Foods Inc. and is treasurer of B.C. Social Ventures Partners, a not for profit-organization. Mr. Patel holds an MBA degree. Mr. Patel is currently a member of the Audit Committee and is Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.

Tobyn Sowden is the CEO at Redbrick.He attended University of Victoria.

Jeremy Lai, CEO of Italic.

Malcolm Leggett is a member Board of Directors.

Dr. Fong is a Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. He was formerly the Head of the Department of Radiology at the University of Calgary and the Calgary Health Region. Dr. Fong is active in funding and nurturing start-up companies. Over the past two decades, he funded over 50 companies in diverse technology sectors,with an emphasis in medical devices. Dr. Fong is the co-founder and board member of Calgary Scientific Inc. and is also on the board of Clarius Mobile Health, Cohesic Inc. and Innovere Medical. In addition to seed investing, Dr. Fong is active in the Calgary community sitting on six charitable boards and foundations.In 2015, Dr. Fong joined the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at the University of Toronto business school as a mentor. CDL helps young entrepreneurs to shape or pivot their nascent ideas. He is widely credited with launching CDL at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, bringing together seasoned business leaders from Alberta, Canada and the US to grow budding companies. Dr. Fong is on the Strategic Advisory Board of CDL and a Fellow of CDL in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. In 2017, Dr. Fong was named to the Order of Canada for his contribution to medical technology innovation and philanthropy.

34-year-old Manjit Minhas is the co-founder and co-owner of Minhas Breweries and Distillery and a Dragon on Dragon's Den. Though trained as a petroleum engineer, she has become a specialist in brand development, marketing, sales management and retail negotiations, having been recognized for several business industry awards such as PROFITmagazine's "Top Growth Entrepreneur", Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Canada, Calgary's Top 40 under 40, Chatelaine Magazine's "Top Entrepreneur Woman of The Year 2011" and The Sikh Centennial Foundation Award 2014.When Manjit Minhas was 19 years old, she and her brother Ravinder scraped together $10,000 to launch their first beer in Alberta. In 2006, they purchased the second oldest brewery in the United States and renamed it "Minhas Craft Brewery." At the time, this acquisition officially made the Minhas siblings the youngest brewery owners in the world.Their brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin is now the 10th largest in North America, and as a brand they produce more than 90 beers, spirits, liqueurs and wines that ship all across Canada and the U.S., as well as overseas to 15 different countries. Minhas Brewery makes all of the Kirkland brand beer for Costco worldwide, as well as all the craft beers under Trader Joes' label in the US. Today they run a group of companies that generated over $155-million in revenue last year.Manjit lives in Calgary, where she was born and raised, with her husband and two young daughters.

Anthony Clark is the Development Manager at Shopify.

Rajiv Khaneja is the Founder at AdButler

Philip Donne

Jonathan Becker is a partner at Headline. Jonathan was a software engineer at the Otto Group and studied computer science.

Hugo Arévalo is co-founder of Buytheface , Bright & Sharp , and Albau Ventures . In addition, he has invested in: Jobandtalent , Cabify , Ontruck and Deporvillage : and has led the 50M € round of Hawkers . One of its criteria is the qualification of management. Lately, it is focused on investing in marketplace, fintech and ecommerce, althoughit is open to any sector. Among his exits, Tuenti and Buytheface stand out .

Allen Shim is a Board Member of MSD Acquisition Corp. He attended The Wharton School.

Douglas Gray is the Founder, President and CEO of Graycon Group Ltd. He is a recognized leader in the IT industry and often speaks on how to use IT to achieve business goals, protect the organization and add value to the people and the bottom line. He began Graycon in 1989, with a goal to shift IT from being technology focused to being an enablingfoundation of the business. Since Graycon’s beginnings, Douglas has led the company to support over 1,000 organizations, has gone public and then re-privatized and has built an steadfast IT firm that employs over 170 IT professionals. Graycon has grown to be the reliable and practical choice for IT Support and Solutions throughout Western Canada.While Douglas has a passionate vision around technology solutions that provide clear business value, he also holds an uncompromising commitment to both the Grayconians who have helped make his vision a reality, and to Graycon’s local communities. Graycon Karma, the belief in “do good things and good things happen”, plays a powerful, guiding role in the partnership between Graycon’s clients, staff and local charities. Graycon’s quarter century of success is based on passionate leadership, enabling management, spectacular people and a sincere belief in being part of the community and giving back.

Dennis Bennie is a pioneer, entrepreneur and innovator in the Canadian technology industry. Over the past 20 years, Bennie's entrepreneurial management has powered Mission Electronics, Ingram Canada and Delrina. In 1997, he founded the XDL Venture Capital Fund, focusing on information technology opportunities. The $25 million fund hasyielded exceptional returns to date. One of its most noteworthy investments was a 1997 start-up, Delano Technology Corporation (NASD:DTEC). XDL Intervest, a $150 million fund was started in 1999 and is now fully invested. Bennie currently manages an experienced team investing in private equity opportunities as the XDL Capital Group. From 1988 to 1996, Mr. Bennie was CEO of Delrina Corporation, an independent software developer and publisher, which forged the new software categories of electronic forms and PC fax communications. Under Mr. Bennie's leadership, Delrina pioneered the development of PC fax software called WinFax and became a world leader in the communication software market with annual sales revenue exceeding $130 million. Listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, Delrina cultivated a reputation for leadership, growth and profitability, and completed several public offerings. In November 1995, the company was successfully sold to Symantec Corporation for share consideration valued at $560 million. Mr. Bennie entered the world of technology in 1979, when he co-founded Mission Electronics. He drove the expansion of this leading British audio equipment manufacturer to become a dominant force in the high-end stereo market. In 1982 he sold his interest in Mission Electronics and founded Aviva Software, an independent, mass-market software developer. Under his direction, the company expanded its scope to include software distribution and merged with Ingram Micro Inc. in 1986 to become Canada's largest software distributor. Residing in Toronto, Canada, with his wife Laura and three daughters, Dennis is an avid golfer and runner. A member of the World President's Organization, he also regularly serves on various charitable boards including the Toronto Hospital Board.

Marc Poulin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Company Limited as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sobeys Inc., a leading Canadian grocery retailer and food distributor.A native of Québec, Mr. Poulin has more than 30-years experience in the food retailing, packaged goods and financial services industries.Between 1986 and 1996 Mr. Poulin held a variety of progressively senior retail marketing and management roles with Provigo Distribution, Culinar Inc. and Desjardins-Laurentian Life Group.In 1997 he joined the Oshawa Group as Vice President, Grocery Merchandising and in 2001 was appointed President of Operations, Sobeys Québec. In 2011 he was appointed President, Sobeys IGA Operations, the position he held immediately prior to being named President & Chief Executive Officer of Sobeys Inc. in 2012. In December 2013, Mr. Poulin also assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Company Limited, Sobeys Inc.'s parent company.In 2013 Mr. Poulin was appointed to the Board of Directors of Richelieu Hardware (TSX:RCH), a Québec-based importer and distributor of specialty hardware products. Mr. Poulin is also an active member of his community serving on the Board of Directors for the Montréal Heart Institute Foundation, as a volunteer for the United Way of Greater Montréal and as President of the Québec Chess Federation. He is a past board member of the Montréal Board of Trade and a former participant (1987) in the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference. In 2010 he was recognized as one of Québec's top business leaders by Perform Québec.Mr. Poulin has a Bachelor of Actuarial Science degree from the Université Laval and holds a Masters of Management (Marketing) degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ajay Agrawal is the Co-Founder of Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation. He previously worked at Queen's School of Business as a Assistant Professor. Ajay Agrawal attended the University of British Columbia.

Elected three times as an Edmonton City Councillor, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi was elected the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Mill Woods in 2015.Dedicated to improving Edmonton’s infrastructure and livability, Minister Sohi represented the city on the Canadian Urban Transit Association, and has been a strong advocate for light rail transit.He also advocated municipal interests to other orders of government through his delegation to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. He has been a prominent leader on municipal and provincial issues, volunteering with Public Interest Alberta, the Centre for International Alternatives, and the Canadian Labour Congress.Minister Sohi has worked tirelessly to promote learning and cooperation among cultural communities by leading the city’s Immigration, Multiculturalism and Racism Free Edmonton initiatives. He has received the Edmonton Interfaith Advocate Award and John Humphrey Centre’s Human Rights Advocate Award for promoting welcoming and socially inclusive communities. As a former member of the Edmonton Police Commission, Minister Sohi believes in building safe and strong communities. He also took a leadership role in creating the Police Chief's Indo-Canadian Liaison Committee, the Punjabi Cultural Association, and the Punjabi Arts Association. Minister Sohi has served as a minister since 2015, and is currently the Minister of Natural Resources.

Benjamin Moore is the Founder and CEO of Bubble Paper. Benjamin Moore attended Clemson University.

Ajay Agrawal is the Co-Founder of Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation. He previously worked at Queen's School of Business as a Assistant Professor. Ajay Agrawal attended the University of British Columbia.

Pat Morand is Managing Director of the SWMF Life Science Fund. He currently sits on the Boards of numerous companies in the medical device, biotech, medical informatics, and agtech fields. Prior to joining SWMF, Pat was Executive in Residence of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, a Public/Private investor in regional life sciencescompanies. At PLSG, he grew his personal portfolio from 14 to 65 companies (diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, services), representing $100M of investment and 121 employees. Prior to PLSG, Pat was a three-time CEO in the biologics industry, Vice President of Commercial Operations for Genesis Therapeutics and Executive Vice President of Sequitor Medical Technologies. Mr. Morand is a graduate of The Athenaeum of Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy.

Lisa Shields is FI.SPAN’s founder and CEO. FI.SPAN is Lisa’s second financial technology startup - she also founded and led Hyperwallet Systems Inc for 15 years; today it is recognized as a leading global payments processor for business to consumer mass payouts. She is a member of the Canadian FinPay Committee, was named the EY RegionalEntrepreneur Of The Year in 2015 and received a Women in Payments Innovation Award in 2016.A firm believer in inclusive commerce, Lisa is always looking for new ways to unite ecosystem participants for the benefit of end users. She also has a personal interest in the underbanked and speaks frequently and passionately on the importance of low-cost, compliant payments.

Félix Ruiz, founder of Tuenti and president of Jobandtalent. He has invested in startups Jobandtalent, Syltek, Vitcord, Fudeat, Glovo or Deporvillage. As a business angel does not follow any pattern, invest for the team. Bet on internationally scalable projects that do not depend on a single market. Personal investments are made as entertainmentwithout being involved in day to day. When it involves investors, it decides to be part of the company's operations, such as Jobandtalent. He is considered an architect and accelerator of companies, invests in the technology and restoration sectors. His two exits are Tuenti and Buytheface.

Jerry Grandey is a former president and CEO of uranium producer Cameco Corporation.

Deborah Liu is the CEO at Ancestry. She is also a board memebr of Intuit.

Amit Mital is a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at National Security Council. Amit earned an MS in Engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.

John Risley is Chairman and CEO of CFFI Ventures Inc., a diversified holding company operating internationally. The company has majority or significant stakes in a portfolio of young companies ranging from financial services, renewable energy and the tech sector. He is also the Chair of Northern Private Capital, a Toronto based fund which investsin high growth opportunities, and Chair of MDA Corporation, Canada’s iconic space company.

Tina Swinton

Ross Finlay, a Co-founder and Director of the First Angel Network Association has been an angel investor since 2000. He has assisted many companies in raising private equity. Mr. Finlay is a recognized facilitator, senior business consulting professional and strategic change consultant who has an extensive background in public, private andnot-for-profit sectors. He has implemented major business changes in a number of organizations and has experience in conducting organizational reviews in the public/private and the not-for-profit sectors. He has extensive business networks throughout Atlantic Canada. He has been Executive Director of a provincial professional association and President of a national consulting company working with scientific, engineering and technical areas. Since his move home to Nova Scotia, Ross has managed his own successful consulting practice. He returned to the corporate world for a time with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and SolutionInc Ltd. – a Halifax based software development company. In 2002 Ross was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal for outstanding community service through his efforts in numerous charities.