Gerry Pond, the former telecom executive who championed the startup movement in Atlantic Canada, passed away peacefully on Wednesday. He was 82 years old.

A former CEO of New Brunswick Telecom, Pond was the driving force behind the startup movement in New Brunswick and was an early investor in Radian6 and Q1 Labs, two of the region’s most successful startups. He was the founding CEO of Mariner Partners and its investment arm, East Valley Ventures.

“Widely known and loved, Gerry was an inspiring leader to many people in New Brunswick and across the Maritimes,” said a note released on behalf of the family by Versos AI Founder and CEO Chris Keevill – one of the myriad entrepreneurs supported by Pond. “An Order of Canada recipient, Gerry was recognized through numerous awards for his contributions as an innovator, builder and champion for prosperity in New Brunswick. Gerry’s impact on many people, the businesses he helped build, and the community at large will be felt for generations to come.”

Gerry Pond spent more than 45 years in Canada's information and communications technology sector, helping shape both the telecommunications industry and Atlantic Canada's startup ecosystem.

As chief executive officer of NBTel and later president of its successor, Aliant Telecom, Pond led the company through a period of deregulation in the Canadian telecommunications industry. During his tenure, NBTel became known internationally for its adoption of new technologies and innovation.

Born in Quebec and raised in New Brunswick, Pond earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick and completed executive education programs at Harvard University, McGill University and the University of Western Ontario.

After leaving the telecom industry, Pond became one of Atlantic Canada's most influential tech investors and entrepreneurs. He was chair and co-founder of Mariner Partners and helped launch a series of successful technology companies, including iMagicTV, Q1 Labs, Brovada Technologies, Radian6, Shift Energy and Cirrus9.

He also co-founded several organizations that support entrepreneurship, including Propel ICT, the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick and East Valley Ventures, an incubator focused on helping entrepreneurs build technology companies in Atlantic Canada.

Pond received numerous honours for his contributions to business, education and entrepreneurship. They included the Canadian Information Productivity Association's Innovator of the Year Award and Hall of Fame in 1997, the New Brunswick Knowledge Industry Recognition and Achievement Awards Person of the Year in 2002, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003, and induction into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame in 2007. He also received honorary doctorates from the University of New Brunswick and Saint Mary's University.

National recognition continued in later years. Pond was named Canadian Angel of the Year in 2011 by Techvibes and KPMG, received the Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian Award for New Brunswick in 2012, was honoured as a Champion of Public Education by The Learning Partnership and appointed to the Order of New Brunswick in 2013, and received the Canadian Startup Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He was named the inaugural Business Development Bank of Canada Entrepreneurship Champion in 2015, received the EY Atlantic Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada the same year, and received the National Angel Capital Organization's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. When InnovateNB launched its Hall of Fame in 2022, the first inductee was Gerry Pond.

Pond was known to be generous with both his time and his investment dollars. When he headed East Valley Ventures, the group invested in scores of companies in the Maritimes. He met with countless entrepreneurs, either at his office in Saint John or at the events he attended regularly, delivering candid advice and often becoming an early investor. He often said East Valley supported entrepreneurs far more through mentorship than the money invested.

In his 2019 book Unicorns in the Woods, author Gordon Pitts summed Pond up this way: “Think of Pond as your loveable old uncle who could be a bit grouchy at times but always remembered you at Christmas.”

Pond is survived by his wife Anne, daughter Suzanne and son Gregory.