Menu
Join us on June 4th as we host an informative webinar in partnership with HardTech Investor Network that will address how the deep tech ecosystem seeks to de-risk investments in deep tech.
The webinar will inform deep tech start-ups or scale-ups on where to go for funding, and what programs are available to accelerate the journey to commercialization through facilities that provide rapid design-build-test cycles. It will also provide an investor’s perspective of what is required for investment readiness and partnership opportunities.
Who Should Attend?
Welcome
Marie D’Iorio, President, Deep Tech Canada
The deep tech investment landscape in Canada
Thomas Park, Lead Partner, BDC Deep Tech Fund
Powering HardTech across Death Valley
Sepehr Assadian, Vice President of Founder Success, ventureLAB
De-risking or risk early!
Richard Cloutier, Managing Partner, Ecofuel Fund
Our start-up journey to the Incubator/Accelerator stage
Asees Kaur, Business Operations Coordinator, VoxCell BioInnovation
Our start-up journey to the seed stage
Dolma Tsundu, CEO and Founder, Flutter Care Inc
Roundtable discussion on actions needed to support deep tech investments in Canada
Q&A
Closing Remarks
Marie D’Iorio, President, Deep Tech Canada
Thomas Park
Lead Partner
BDC Deep Tech Fund
The deep tech investment landscape in Canada
Thomas Park is the co-founder and lead partner of the BDC Deep Tech Fund, a VC fund focused on supporting Canadian start-ups developing “hard tech” such as quantum computers, photonics, and foundational AI. Previously, he was the Vice-President, Operations & Ecosystem Development at BDC Capital. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co. and at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sepehr Assadian
Vice President of Founder Success
ventureLAB
Powering HardTech across Death Valley
Sep Assadian is the Vice President of Founder Success at ventureLAB, where he oversees all advisory support for startups while also supporting the York Region's entrepreneurial ecosystem in general. Under Sep's leadership, the Founder Success team assists ventureLAB clients with strengthening their value proposition, commercializing products, expanding their market, improving investment readiness, growing their team, and scaling globally. Sep is also the founder of the HardTech Investor Network, a one-of-a-kind investment network for Canadian and international investors interested in DeepTech and HardTech deals. He also has over fifteen years of experience as a tech entrepreneur and community builder in global innovation ecosystems in the Middle East, Europe, and South Asia, having helped launch several accelerators as well as designing and coordinating national and international programs for scaling tech startups.
Richard Cloutier
Managing Partner
Ecofuel Fund
De-risking or risk early!
Since 2017, Richard has been the Managing Partner of the Ecofuel Fund, an early-stage investment fund focused on climate change solutions. With nearly 40 years of expertise in innovation deployment, business start-ups, and business development strategies, Richard has made significant contributions to the field. Previously, he served as President and CEO of both the Ecofuel Accelerator and the Centre québécois de valorisation des biotechnologies (CQVB), organizations dedicated to fostering innovation and technology transfer in the bio-industry sector.
For a decade, Richard was the Founder, President, and CEO of Gelkem, a private biopharmaceutical company specializing in controlled drug delivery systems. Additionally, he has lectured at Laval University, focusing on innovative start-ups and technology transfer. Richard serves on the boards of various private companies, including as chairperson of Brilliant Matters, a supplier of organic semiconductors and conductors for organic solar panels. He has also served on the board of the Fonds de Recherche Québec Nature et Technologies and other innovative companies. Richard is frequently consulted for developing strategies related to innovation.
Richard holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Sherbrooke University and an MBA from Laval University.
Asees Kaur
Business Operations Coordinator
VoxCell BioInnovation
Our start-up journey to the Incubator/Accelerator stage
Asees Kaur is a co-founder of a prior startup known as Speedy Salad, which focused on using hydroponic systems to grow microgreens for restaurants and caterers within Vancouver, BC. Asees initially worked full-time as a member of VoxCell’s hardware engineering team for over a year, where she provided support on subsystem design and rapid prototyping of VoxCell’s perfusion chamber, among other duties and responsibilities. During her time as a Mechanical Engineer, she assisted the CEO in pitching/fundraising, operations management, and finance management. This prompted Asees’ transition into her current role as the Business Operations Coordinator, where she leads the sales and marketing of VoxCell’s Universal Bioinks™.
Dolma Tsundu
CEO and Founder
Flutter Care Inc
Our start-up journey to the seed stage
Dolma Tsundu is the CEO and Founder of Flutter Care, a health technology company developing a novel, non-invasive wearable device to monitor fetal health remotely. Flutter Care has been supported by deep technology-focused programs such as ventureLAB's Hardware Catalyst Initiative and Techstars Industries of the Future. Dolma also advocates for a national strategy to reduce stillbirth rates and improve perinatal loss support as a Co-Founder of the Canadian Collaborative for Stillbirth Prevention. Through this, she works with health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada where she helped to reform national guidelines on antenatal fetal health surveillance. Dolma's technical and community leadership has been recognized by organizations such as The Globe and Mail, BC Business, FemTech Analytics, and Engineers Canada.
Deep Tech Canada acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples have been and continue to be the traditional guardians of this land we call Canada, where we live and work.