An icon in the financial services industry with extensive experience as an executive, entrepreneur and angel investor, we are so excited to talk to Joe Canavan.
Over the past decade, Joe has channeled his investments into early-stage companies, notably fueling the tech industry, particularly fintech, which now comprises 80% of his investment portfolio. With a keen eye for spotting promising ventures, Joe has actively backed over two dozen startups.
At our next Wine Wednesday, Joe will share key strategies that have led to his investment wins. With a track record of supporting well-known companies such as Borrowell, Wealthsimple, and Koho Financial, to name a few – Joe's success speaks volumes about his expertise in the field. His most recent venture, LOGiQ Asset Management was recently sold to Purpose Investment and Grenville Capital Corporation and the latter combined entity has been renamed as Flow Capital Corporation.
Drawing from his experiences and successes, he will share valuable insights on how to pinpoint intelligent and profitable investment opportunities. Meanwhile, this session presents a unique opportunity for Ventures and Founders to gain a seasoned investor's perspective and learn essential tips on raising capital and investor readiness.
June 26│5:00 PM MST
Thomsons Social Hub, Hyatt Regency Calgary
Check out the event highlights and photos here.
An active venture capitalist and retired Bay Street veteran, Joe Canavan has played a significant role in backing the tech sector in Canada. Joe has held the positions of Chairman and CEO of Assante Wealth Management and CEO of Synergy Asset Management, a company he founded in 1997 (now part of CI Financial). Before Synergy, Joe launched GT Global (Canada) which quickly grew to a multi-billion dollar asset management company and Fund Company of the year before being sold to Invesco Trimark. As Vice President, Director of National Sales, Joe helped build Fidelity Investment Canada from $60 million to $6 billion.
Prior to selling LOGiQ Asset Management, Joe was Chairman and Interim CEO of the Children’s Aid Foundation, overseeing its restructuring and highly successful turnaround. Joe is a Board Director of the Jays Care Foundation and Singularity University. His outside investment interests are primarily focused on digital ventures including Wealthsimple, Koho Financial, Borrowell, Layer 6 (a machine learning company), Itsme (a virtual reality company), Brand Protect (a cyber security firm), Thalmic Labs and Kira Talent, to name a few. Joe was awarded “Person of Influence of the Decade” during the 2004 Canadian Investment Awards, was honoured as Concordia University’s “Alumnus of the Year” in 2006, and was also the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee II Medal in 2012. Joe completed a Bachelor of Business Administration, Business at Concordia University and holds an OPM, Business from Harvard Business School.
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, strategy and transactions, and consulting services. This year EY is celebrating 30 years of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program. Simply put, Entrepreneurship is in EY's DNA. For 30 years, EY has supported entrepreneurs, over 3200 of them, — large and small, from shore to shore and from every background. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® celebrates diverse entrepreneurs with compelling entrepreneurial journeys — whose unbound ambition and unconventional thinking has produced products and services that are transforming our world and building growth and prosperity. EY is committed to building an ecosystem of connected entrepreneurs, while advancing social equity, through the initiatives that celebrate, support and enable business leaders that reflect the true diversity of Canada.
Aperture Group is a Calgary-based family office that invests in early-stage companies, particularly in the B2B SaaS and Cleantech sectors. They have over 30 active investments in companies with missions ranging from industrial process efficiency and innovative resource extraction to business intelligence and financial services.