Speakers
Frederick Hudson
FOUNDER & CEO@
PIGEONLY
(USA)
A born entrepreneur, he launched and sold his first business at the age of 19. His desire to attain the American dream on his terms took him down the wrong path and at 23, he was indicted for distributing over 3,000 kg of marijuana. It was during this four year federal prison sentence a new idea surfaced, one that would give him an opportunity to impact the lives of people no one else was paying attention to - inmates and Pigeonly was born. He went on to raise almost $5M in funding.
Angela Benton
Founder & CEO@
NEWME ACCELERATOR
(USA)
From idea to funded: The journey of the startup
Technology expert, speaker, media personality, and entrepreneur, Angela Benton, is the founder and CEO of NewME in Silicon Valley, a social enterprise that accelerates entrepreneurs with non-traditional backgrounds. NewME has accelerated hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped them raise over $17 million in venture capital funding.
ELAINE LEUNG
DIRECTOR@
MINISTRY OF RESEARCH & INNOVATION ONTARIO (CANADA)
The focused startup: Steps to innovation efficiency from the start
Elaine's experience in helping create an environment for technology startups to grow will be very useful to Caribbean entrepreneurs. Leung is a Director with the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Research & Innovation in the Ontario Government.
Currently on sabbatical, Elaine is assisting the Lazaridis Institute with the launch of operations which will help technology companies significantly accelerate their growth.
OLUFUNBI FALAYI
CO-FOUNDER @
PASSION INCUBATOR
(NIGERIA) Via Live linkup
How to look beyond the hurdles
We have gathered together an amazing team of subject matter experts, global and local entrepreneurs to share with startups and growth stage businesses key insights to building successful companies
Hongwei Liu
Co-FOUNDER @
MAPPEDIN
(CANADA)
Hongwei is a co-founder at MappedIn. He has lead the company's growth from the three person founding team out of the VeloCity residence to the 22 person operation based out of their downtown Kitchener office.
JAY MAHONEY
FOUNDER @
NEW WORLD COMMUNITY
(CANADA)
How to look beyond the hurdles
Jay is the founder and president of The New World Community, a social enterprise that utilizes tourism and community development to positively impact communities across the globe. We use a collaborative approach to connecting developing communities with responsible travelers and volunteers, resulting in a life changing experience and a positive, lasting impact in our partner communities.
Frank Erschen
Pitch Coach@
COMMUNITECH and Angel Investor
(CANADA)
The Artful Science of Pitching ™
Recently called “Canada’s best pitch coach” by Founder Institute, Frank is the originator of The Artful Science of Pitching™, a method for developing start-up pitches that bridges art (telling a story when you don’t have all of the gaps filled) with “science” (how investors and strategic partners evaluate). Frank is also an active angel investor and co-founder.
MARKO SAVIC
CO-FUNDER & CEO @
FUNNELCAKE (CANADA)
Marko is the co-founder/CEO at FunnelCake, a revenue-based analytics platform for B2B marketing teams. Prior to starting FunnelCake, Marko spent eight years working as a digital marketer and is using that experience to create a platform built for marketers.