Today, we're announcing the full lineup for the 2023 edition of Entrevestor Live, which we believe is the greatest single showcase ever for innovation in the region. 

This conference highlighting the biggest and best innovation-driven companies in Atlantic Canada will take place on the afternoon of Nov. 14 at the new headquarters of Tribe Network in downtown Halifax. Space to attend in person is limited, though we have an endless number of online tickets. 

To purchase your ticket, click here. 

Hosted by Dr. Dhirendra Shukla of the University of New Brunswick, Entrevestor Live's lineup includes some of the most successful entrepreneurs the region has ever produced. They include John Risley, the co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods and Ocean Nutrition Canada, BIOVECTRA Chief Executive Oliver Technow, Mysa Smart Thermostat CEO Joshua Green, and Radian6 Co-Founder Marcel LeBrun.  

We've priced the tickets so they are affordable to founders, and the program will be preceded by a luncheon, at which Tribe Network will showcase some of its leading startups. 

Here is the complete Enrevestor Live lineup: 

Our introductory panel, which features experts in a range of fields, will delve into the trends determining which startups will thrive in the global market in the coming years.

Leader: Kathryn Lockhart

CEO, Propel

Lockhart’s CV features degrees from Harvard and UNB, as well as a stint running her own startup in Oldenburg, Germany. Before joining Propel in 2020, she was Vice-President of Growth and Corporate Strategy at JVPLabs, a medtech startup focused on telemedicine. Lockhart was the Chair of Entrevestor Live 2022.

Jennifer LaPlante

Chief Growth and Investment Officer, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

LaPlante recently joined the Supercluster, where she works with SMEs, large firms, and academic and research institutions to increase innovation in the ocean economy. Before that, she served four years as the Executive Director of DeepSense, which is dedicated to increasing the use of artificial intelligence in the oceans segment.

Jon McGinley

McGinley is a serial entrepreneur, advisor, investor, and life-long marketer. He has spent more than 20 years in various roles, most recently as a growth coach and advisor. He was previously the Senior Partner with CloudKettle, a specialized consultancy and Salesforce Summit Partner.

Jason Cleaversmith

Executive Director,  PEI BioAlliance

Jason Cleaversmith’s main duty at the BioAlliance is overseeing Emergence, the Atlantic Canada-based life sciences incubator. He brings decades of experience in life sciences business development to this role, including senior positions in companies and organizations in Canada and the U.K.

CEO Kyle Racki and COO Kathy Doucette will detail the growth of the Halifax SaaS company Proposify. The company’s software simplifies the process of writing proposals in the cloud with customizable design templates.

Racki and co-founder Kevin Springer spun the company off from their web-development business early last decade. Doucette, a veteran startup CFO, joined the company in May 2021.

Moderated by Sarah Young

Partner at National Public Relations

One of Atlantic Canada’s top communications professionals, Sarah Young became a partner in NATIONAL in 2012 when the firm acquired a majority stake in her former company MT&L Public Relations. She is also a founding partner of Sandpiper Ventures, an Atlantic Canadian VC fund that backs female founders.

Sponsored by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and livestreamed from Fredericton.

We look back on one of the most successful startups ever launched in Atlantic Canada, Radian6, which Salesforce bought for $326 million in 2011.

Marcel LeBrun

Former Co-Founder and CEO of Radian6

LeBrun is best known for growing the social media monitoring startup Radian6 and leading the company to its landmark exit. He is now the Chairperson of Fredericton’s Potential Motors, and the Founder of 12Neighbours Community Inc., which builds tiny homes for homeless people.

David Alston

Alston is a repeat tech and marketing startup entrepreneur and Founder of Marketswell Solutions’ CMO Accelerator program. He is a former Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the New Brunswick government. He was previously the Chief Marketing Officer at Radian6.

Moderator: Heather Libbey

Vice-President Strategy and Operations, NBIF

With more than 20 years in strategy and operations, Libbey recently took on this senior role with NBIF. She previously served as Vice-President and Board Liaison, as well as acting co-CEO, at Envision Saint John: The Regional Growth Agency, and a Vice-President, Chief Culture and Brand Officer (Assistant Deputy Minister) at Opportunities New Brunswick.

Sponsored by Life Sciences Nova Scotia.

Named by Communitech as the only Atlantic Canadian innovation company on track to hit $1 billion in revenues by 2030, Charlottetown-based drug manufacturer BIOVECTRA is growing aggressively despite its size. U.S. private equity firm H.I.G. Capital bought the company for US$250 million in 2019.

Oliver Technow

Technow’s career in the pharmaceutical industry has spanned more than three decades and included senior positions at companies in Europe and North America. He joined BIOVECTRA as President in 2015 and became CEO in 2019. He is also the Chair of the PEI BioAlliance.

Moderator: Doris Grant

Vice-President of Business Development, Life Sciences Nova Scotia

For over 20 years, Grant has led commercialization, IP protection and business development initiatives in the healthcare and innovation segments. Most recently, she served as Senior Director of Innovation at Nova Scotia Health, where she led the implementation of multiple high-priority initiatives to enhance healthcare in the province.

We’ve assembled a panel of founders who have exited and gone to work for the multi-nationals that bought them. We ask them to give an accurate assessment of life after an exit.

Travis McDonough

Founder and CEO of Kinduct

In 2010, McDonough founded Kinduct and grew it into one of the world’s leading performance platforms for athletes. It had more than 500 clients from around the world, including professional and national sporting organizations. In 2020, Kinduct was acquired by mCube, which was soon taken over by Movella, now listed on the Nasdaq. McDonough headed the company’s Canadian operations until September 2023.

Sreejata Chatterjee, COO, and Tukan Das, CEO

Co-Founders of Leadsift

Das and Chatterjee started LeadSift in March 2012 with the aim of developing a platform that could search social media for sales leads. After a major pivot in Year Five, they focused on helping B2B small and medium-sized tech companies find leads. Boston-based media company IDG Communications acquired the business in late 2021.

Moderator: Savior Joseph

President of Breathing Green Solutions

Joseph's company is one of Canada’s leading licensed producers of cannabis. His long and varied career in marketing and communications includes time as Senior Vice-President of Global Marketing for one of the world’s largest publicly traded licensed cannabis producers. He is also the Chair of Tribe Network, which supports entrepreneurs who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour.

Sponsored by Emera.

The CEO of Mysa Smart Thermostats will chronicle the ascent of his St. John’s-based cleantech company, which raised $20.3 million in 2021.

Josh Green

Co-Founder and CEO of Mysa Smart Thermostats

In 2014, brothers Josh and Zach Green started Empowered Homes in St. John’s, NL, to help homeowners reduce their energy consumption by providing energy auditing services. That led to the creation of Mysa Smart Thermostats, which provides complete control of all heating zones in a home through a simple-to-use interface on a smartphone or computer.

Moderator: Mila Milojevic

Vice-President Corporate Strategy, Emera

No stranger to the startup world, Milojevic began her career as a software engineer and worked at several local Nova Scotia tech companies, including HB Studios and Norex. For over a decade now, she has worked in the energy sector, first in Nova Scotia and then in Yukon. She returned to the East Coast last year as the VP of Corporate Strategy at Emera.

Sponsored by the Emera IdeaHUB.

John Risley

One of Atlantic Canada’s most successful business people, John Risley is best known as the Co-Founder and CEO of Clearwater Seafoods. He’s also excelled in the innovation space. His company, Ocean Nutrition Canada, was sold to Royal DSM of the Netherlands for $540 million. His follow-up business, Mara Renewables, raised $39.5 million last year.

Moderator: Erin O’Keefe Graham

Director of the Emera IdeaHUB

O’Keefe Graham has held senior positions with a range of major enterprises, including PwC, KPMG and OMERS. Since June 2021, she has led the Emera IdeaHUB, which supports startups involved in hardware and deep technology.