Meet our EiRs
Dr. Martin Croteau
An expert in the field of early-stage technology startups with more than 20 years of experience as a founder, an investor, an advisor and an academic. Martin was on the founding team of Slipstream Data, which was acquired by Blackberry. He is currently an active angel investor, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with several incubators, and a Lecturer in entrepreneurship at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Martin was previously the Director of Academic Entrepreneurship at the Ontario Centres of Excellence, where he was responsible for rolling out a network of 59 campus-linked business accelerators and incubators. He was also the founder and Executive Director of Spark Centre, and co-founder and board member of the Spark Angel Investment Network.
Areas of Expertise: Commercialization strategy, Early stage funding
Ran Manoor
Passionate about a better future, experienced leader, mentor and manager in the health sector focused on innovation, business and technology. Senior management and director positions in public and private sectors. Established and delivered incubation models, Led product from inception to market. Very target oriented performance, highly motivated and a team player. International experience in Israel, China, Europe and North America.
Technical, investment, management expertise.
Areas of expertise: Health innovation, Incubation, Photonics, Business development, Investment, Semiconductors, board positions, Algorithms, Aging technologies
John Haslam
John Haslam is the President and Founder of HEARD Consulting International, specializing in assisting companies with Rare Disease Medicines build winning go to market strategies in order to bring their innovation to Canadian patients. As Canadian General Manager, John built and led the Canadian operations for 2 major Rare Disease companies (Alexion & Horizon Therapeutics) over the past 12 years generating combined annual sales of $150M annually. Prior to that John worked in senior commercial roles at major pharmaceutical organizations within the industry including Bayer, Roche and Biogen. John obtained his B.Sc. in Microbiology from University of Toronto and his M.B.A. from McMaster DeGroote School of Business. John is a Board Member of Life Sciences Ontario, founding member of the Rare Innovators group and past Board Member for Innovative Medicines Canada and Biotech Canada. John has been honoured with the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD) corporate partner award and was inducted into the Canadian Pharmaceutical Marketing Hall of Fame in October of 2015.
Areas of expertise: Health innovation, Go-to-market strategies, Rare disease medicines
Vigen Nazarian
A serial entrepreneur, angel investor and cofounder in four companies with successful exits (2X public), Vigen has accrued deep expertise in the development of early-stage ventures in the biopharmaceutical, medical device, health and med-tech areas. He is passionate about early-stage research innovations that require guidance in product development planning, IP strategy, market analysis, business strategy, go to market strategy, funding/venture financing and corporate development. Vigen has deep network of academic and corporate partners that augment, de-risk and accelerate the development of promising ventures.
In the past 20 years, Vigen has mentored over 1000 entrepreneurs as EIR and Mentor at several Canadian incubator and accelerator hubs from coast to coast. He is also a board member and advisor on several public and private organizations such as McMaster Innovation Park, University of Toronto ICUBE, and Protagenic Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTIX).
Areas of Expertise: Biopharmaceuticals, Angel Investors, Venture and Product Development, Strategy.
Dr. Sohaib Siddiqui
Sohaib has focused his career on improving clinical outcomes and increasing access to healthcare for patients. He is a doctor and clinical researcher by trade. He’s recently transitioned to venture capital where he advises multiple stakeholders to invest and scale innovation in healthcare.
He has experience in managing investments alongside private equity, family offices, venture funds, and incubators. He works closely with several start-up by serving as their Chief Medical Officer and board member. He also has an academic appointment at Women’s College Hospital where he helps digital healthcare companies gain market adoption. Sohaib holds a B.ScH from Queen’s University, degrees in Medicine, Surgery & Obstetrics from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Executive Education Certification in Digital Health from Harvard Medical School.
Gabriella Chan
Dr. Chan is a lawyer, scientist, educator, and startup mentor.
Gabriella’s Ph.D. work focused on molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, particularly malaria and SARS-CoV, supported by the University of Toronto’s prestigious Connaught Scholarship and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Doctoral Research Award. As a post-doctoral researcher, she participated in the developed of nanotechnology-based hand-held diagnostic device.
While working for a biotechnology startup and liaising with the company’s lawyers in her role as an Intellectual Property and Technology Manager after completing her scientific training, Gabriella identified a gap. Scientists don’t speak legalize and lawyers don’t always appreciate the science behind their clients’ products. To bridge that gap, Gabriella obtained a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School with a focus in business and intellectual property and trained at a national Bay Street law firm in Toronto. Gabriella continued to hone her legal skills in her role as Vice President of Legal Affairs at another Toronto-area nanotechnology startup and later founded Yocto Law® Professional Corporation, a boutique law firm that advises startups and other stakeholders in the life sciences and health technology sectors.
Sam Ricchezza
Proven, respected leader, and advisor with an entrepreneurial spirit refined over 30 years of diverse industry and situational experience delivering bottom-line results. Expertise in developing innovative strategy and building high performing cross-functional technical and non-technical teams. An engaging communicator and relationship builder with a deep passion for building strong connections and networks.
I work with organizations that need leadership, innovative thinking, and strategic focus. I seek organizations that aim to align their strategy with their values. Having hired and managed many high-performance teams both scientific and non-scientific, I believe the best leaders help those around them find the best in themselves and in others to help them find fulfillment and do their best work.