Board Members
Our board members strive to ensure an organization that meets the needs of both investors and new businesses.
George Damian, Executive Director
George Damian serves as the Executive Director of the Venture Capital Association of Alberta (VCAA), where he is responsible for cultivating a strong sense of community among members, leading professional development efforts, and serving as an effective advocate on behalf of the sector. A proven leader, George previously served as a senior advisor to a host of deep tech startups, as well as an energy sector executive responsible for launching new businesses across Canada, Europe and the Middle East.
Omi Velasco, Graphite Ventures
Outgoing Executive Director, VCAA
Omi leads the VCAA as the Executive Director and is a Principal at Graphite Ventures, a $120M early-stage seeding-for-scale venture capital firm that invests in early-stage B2B SaaS, fintech, proptech, digital health and capital-efficient hardware companies.
Andrea Drager, Azure Capital
Andrea is a Partner at Azure Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm with over $750 million under management. Leading their Canadian office, based in Calgary, Andrea evaluates investment opportunities across Canada and select investments in the US.
Alan Campbell, AEC
Alan is the Director of Industry Development at Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC), a fund of funds with $350 million under management and investments into 25+ venture capital funds. Prior to AEC, Alan co-founded and sold EZ-Robot.
Sara Mohajerani, Bluesky Equities
Sara Mohajerani joined Bluesky Equities in 2017 focussing on financial and operational analysis while supporting the investment committee. She is responsible for evaluating investment opportunities across the portfolio through screening and due diligence processes.
Brenda Slauko, BDC
Brenda has over 26 years of experience at BDC, and currently serves as the National Director in BDC’s Technology Industries group scaling tech companies from seed to Series A with non-dilutive funding.
Ha Nguyen, McRock Capital
Ha is a Vice President of McRock Capital, a venture capital firm focused exclusively on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). She has experience working with tech companies and entrepreneurs in both the venture capital and private equity industries.
Louise Lee, BLG
Louise Lee is a partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group in BLG’s Calgary office. Louise focuses her practice on corporate and securities law. She advises public and private companies as well as private equity and venture capital funds and other investors, in a wide range of industries.
Michelle Scarborough, BDC
Michelle is Managing Director, Strategic Investments and Women in Tech with BDC Capital. She is an experienced Canadian venture capitalist, with a strong track record in the energy technology sector and is a recognized leader in the investment community.
Patrick Lor, Panache Capital
Pat is Managing Partner with Panache Capital, a $100M seed-stage venture capital fund focused on enterprise SaaS, fintech and AI start-ups. A successful entrepreneur, Patrick has co-founded and sold iStockphoto and Dissolve.
Robert Simon, BDC Venture Capital
Robert brings over 25 years of experience as a successful serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the field of Information Technology. He joined BDC Capital in 2011 as Senior Managing Partner in the IT Venture Fund and is responsible for overseeing the IT Venture Fund investments and maximizing value creation across the portfolio.
Shawn Abbott, iNovia Capital
Shawn has a passion for building communications and Internet start-up companies. He has played entrepreneur, investor, technical and general management roles at 15 technology start-ups on three continents over 20 years.
Arden Tse, Yaletown Partners
Arden Tse is the Manager of Accelerate Funds II and III, leading a team that invests in early-stage Alberta-based technology startups. Based in Edmonton, AB, Arden brings over 15 years of private and public sector investment experience.
Michael Grantmyre, Osler
As a Partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Michael works with technology companies that are starting out, and those that are well-established, to advise on a range of corporate matters with a view to adding every bit of value possible for their day-to-day business and legal needs, and assist companies get to that next level by raising capital.
