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At Best Startup Canada we track over 100,000 Canadian startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top British Columbia based President operating in the Financial Services space. If you think a President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.ca.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Peter Drummond
Vice President of Sales of Beanworks
Vice President of Sales at Beanworks.
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About Beanworks: Beanworks is an accounts payable automation solution that helps companies eliminate paperwork and reduce invoice processing costs.
Karim Ben-Jaafar
President and COO of Beanworks
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About Beanworks: Beanworks is an accounts payable automation solution that helps companies eliminate paperwork and reduce invoice processing costs.
Gregory Dean Feller
President of Mogo
Gregory Feller is a co-founder of Mogo and has served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer since August 2011, and has served as a member of our Board of Directors and President of the Company since April 2015. Prior to his appointment,Mr. Feller was a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Technology Investment Banking Group at Citadel Securities, a financial services group. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Feller was a Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank, a global financial institution. Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Feller was a Managing Director with Lehman Brothers where he worked from 2001 to 2008 and a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co. from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Feller has a Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters of Management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he graduated Beta Gamma Sigma.
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About Mogo: Mogo is a consumer finance company that helps in managing and controlling finances.
Hayden James
Co-Founder & President of Fraction
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About Fraction: Fraction is a technology-based lending platform focused on making residential real estate affordable, flexible, and liquid.
Peter Fahlman
Co-founder, CEO & President of E-xact Transactions
Peter Fahlman With over 20 years of experience in the computer industry, with an emphasis on networking, Mr. Fahlman devotes 100% of his time to the company and has served it in this capacity since its beginnings.
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About E-xact Transactions: E-xact Transactions E-xact has provided fast, secure, and innovative online transaction solutions for over 15 years.
Mark Achtemichuk
Vice President & Managing Director of CMLS Financial
As part of the commercial management team, Mark Achtemichuk is responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with institutional placement partners. Having previously led the mortgage analytics group, he now oversees that group’s development as well as commercial and corporate marketing. Mr. Achtemichuk has more than 18 years of experience in the financial sector. Prior to joining CMLS in 2010, Mr. Achtemichuk operated his own firm where he counseled real estate development clients regarding various financing and strategic initiatives. He has held several senior positions, including with a Western Canadian developer and at KPMG’s Transaction Services practice in the United States. Mr. Achtemichuk is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia.
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About CMLS Financial, GreenPower Motor Company: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Lorenzo Cocco
Senior Vice President of Risk Management of CMLS Financial
Lorenzo Cocco is responsible for all aspects of commercial mortgage origination and credit risk across Canada. Mr. Cocco has more than 20 years of experience in commercial mortgages, structured finance and corporate finance. Prior to joining CMLS in 2007, Mr. Cocco held several senior executive positions in the Canadian banking industry. He has led commercial origination operations and credit risk management, and has had responsibilities in mortgage trading and institutional mortgage investor relations. Mr. Cocco holds an undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia and a graduate degree in business from Schiller International University in Heidelberg, Germany.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
David Franklin
President of CMLS Financial
Together with the CEO, David Franklin is responsible for overseeing the overall strategic direction of CMLS. He is responsible for the company’s commercial mortgage business and shares in the oversight of corporate functions. Mr. Franklin has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate finance industry. Prior to joining CMLS in 1995, Mr. Franklin held senior managerial positions with some of Canada’s leading private and public sector real estate finance operations, including CMHC. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s Urban Land Economics program and a member of the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Stephen Meadows
Vice President of Technology Solutions of CMLS Financial
Stephen Meadows oversees all software development and technology infrastructure and support. He has more than 20 years of experience in software development, information technology and consulting. Prior to joining CMLS in 2016, Mr. Meadows developed his career designing, coding, project managing and team managing software development projects in traditional MIS, logistics, secure wireless data communication, reporting and engineering applications. More recently, he explored the various developing virtualization, storage, backup and archiving technologies and was an instrumental part of the senior management team of a startup IT outsourcing company. In this role, Mr. Meadows oversaw the strategic technological and operational direction of the company, including work focused on system performance and I/O requirements for secure virtualized infrastructures. Mr. Meadows holds both a Master and a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the University of Toronto.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Elaine Freeman
Vice President of Finance of CMLS Financial
Elaine Freeman is responsible for all finance and accounting functions. She has more than 20 years of accounting and management experience. Prior to joining CMLS in 2007, Ms. Freeman held a controller position at a publicly traded company for over 10 years, during which she had responsibility for the accounting, tax, reporting, payroll, and ERP system management. Ms. Freeman earned her Chartered Professional Accountant designation through Ernst & Young in Vancouver and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Beverly White
Senior Vice President of CMLS Financial
Beverly White is responsible for providing commercial servicing consultation at a senior executive level. She also works with the executive team on special projects that drive business initiatives. Ms. White has more than 35 years of mortgage servicing experience, primarily in the commercial mortgage arena. Prior to joining CMLS in 2006, Ms. White held several senior positions with some of Canada’s largest diversified commercial mortgage originator/servicers. She has built her servicing experience in commercial construction servicing, merchant banking, commercial mortgage account management, and residential and commercial mortgage servicing. Ms. White holds an undergraduate degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Beverly White
Senior Vice President of CMLS Financial
Beverly White is responsible for providing commercial servicing consultation at a senior executive level. She also works with the executive team on special projects that drive business initiatives. Ms. White has more than 35 years of mortgage servicing experience, primarily in the commercial mortgage arena. Prior to joining CMLS in 2006, Ms. White held several senior positions with some of Canada’s largest diversified commercial mortgage originator/servicers. She has built her servicing experience in commercial construction servicing, merchant banking, commercial mortgage account management, and residential and commercial mortgage servicing. Ms. White holds an undergraduate degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.
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About CMLS Financial: CMLS Financial provides independently owned mortgage services.
Soheil Karkhanechi
Senior Vice President – Institutional of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group
Soheil is Senior Vice President of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, responsible for overseeing various components of the institutional business. His prior career experience includes the founding of the Special Situations business at Deutsche Bank in New York where he managed a portfolio of risk arbitrage investments. Prior to that, Soheil was an M&A banker at Merrill Lynch and he started his career as an M&A lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell. Soheil received his B.A. from Trinity College, University of Toronto, his M.A. in Economics from the University of Toronto and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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About Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group: Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd. provides a broad range of traditional and alternative investment
Robert Phelps
President of Canadian Operations of Silver Chef
Robert Phelps is the president of Silver Chef Canada operations.
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About Silver Chef: Silver Chef provides flexible hospitality equipment funding solutions.
Christopher Morris
President & CEO of GrowthWorks Capital
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About GrowthWorks Capital: GrowthWorks Capital is a Vancouver-based venture capital firm focused on the management of regionally-based venture capital funds.
Pieter Dorsman
President of Redpeaks Management Inc.
Pieter Dorsman is a seasoned advisor, investor and mentor who is President & CEO of Redpeaks Management Inc., a consulting firm focused on advising technology companies on capital raising, M&A and restructuring activities. He has also taken on interim management roles at a number of Canadian tech companies. Pieter is director and CFO at E-Fund, a Vancouver-based angel investment fund. He is also chairman of Lambda Solutions Inc., a cloud-based learning company. Previously, he co-founded and invested in Actenum Corporation and structured the start, financing and exit of ClearVision Technologies. Since 2018 he is a director of Vancouver’s Angel Forum. Prior to relocating to Vancouver, Pieter held a number of senior positions in the project and corporate finance divisions of UBS in Hong Kong where he was responsible for financial advisory, arranging and restructuring mandates in Asia. Prior to joining UBS, he worked for Barclays Bank in Hong Kong and London. Pieter lives in West Vancouver, British Columbia where he is an active community member and where he served as a Trustee to the West Vancouver School Board from 2014 to 2018. Pieter holds a Master’s degree in Economic and Social History from the Erasmus Universiteit in The Netherlands where he also studied law.
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About Actenum, E-Fund, Redpeaks Management Inc.: Capital advisory services and investment
Christine Bergeron
Vice President, Community Business Banking of Vancity
Christine has spent over 20 years working with entrepreneurs, financing innovative companies and building financial firms – all focused within the cleantech, sustainability and impact investing sectors. As a founding team member and Vice President of Chrysalix Energy, an early stage venture firm, she was part of a team that pioneered “cleantech” investing. She then co-founded an alternative asset management firm furthering her expertise in sustainability financing. She currently leads Vancity’s business banking group which finances small and medium sized enterprises in BC, and is growing the portfolio by putting people, communities and the planet first. Christine is a recipient of BC’s Top 40 under 40, Rising Star with the AWF and a Clean16 winner with Canada’s Clean50 awards. She can usually be found enjoying all that Vancouver offers – running, hiking, skiing, cycling. She is passionate about education, entrepreneurship and innovation, democracy, social trends and empowering people to be their best.
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About Vancity: Vancity is one of Canada’s largest credit unions, with $17.1 billion in assets, more than 492,000 members and 57 branches throughout Metro
Christine Bergeron
Vice President, Community Business Banking of Vancity
Christine has spent over 20 years working with entrepreneurs, financing innovative companies and building financial firms – all focused within the cleantech, sustainability and impact investing sectors. As a founding team member and Vice President of Chrysalix Energy, an early stage venture firm, she was part of a team that pioneered “cleantech” investing. She then co-founded an alternative asset management firm furthering her expertise in sustainability financing. She currently leads Vancity’s business banking group which finances small and medium sized enterprises in BC, and is growing the portfolio by putting people, communities and the planet first. Christine is a recipient of BC’s Top 40 under 40, Rising Star with the AWF and a Clean16 winner with Canada’s Clean50 awards. She can usually be found enjoying all that Vancouver offers – running, hiking, skiing, cycling. She is passionate about education, entrepreneurship and innovation, democracy, social trends and empowering people to be their best.
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About Vancity: Vancity is one of Canada’s largest credit unions, with $17.1 billion in assets, more than 492,000 members and 57 branches throughout Metro
Nicole Benson
President of CRI Canada
Nicole Benson, a prominent business woman, is the President of CRI Canada. Nicole became President of CRI Canada in 2006, since then, Nicole’s leadership and passion have been a guiding force in the expansion that has occurred in the organization over the last 5 years. Nicole has over 12 years experience in delivering client-focused technology and Financial Solution in the financial services industry. Nicole is a strategic visionary with a clear sense of purpose and urgency when faced with diverse situational challenges during periods of both declining markets and rapid growth. Nicole is skilled at establishing operational excellence within culturally diverse environments, known for her exceptional ability in translating conceptual models into specific growth strategies, and planning/executing multi-faceted national business development campaigns. She is a hard working, ambitious leader and motivator of people, recognized for flexibility, adaptability, and for a high degree of expertise in the Technology and Financial field. Nicole graduated from the Australian Catholic University and from the University of Western Sydney, where she obtained degrees in Science, Technology and Education. She is currently undertaking an Executive MBA whilst maintaining her involvement within numerous groups and associations. Nicole is a current board member of the MS Society Manitoba and is involve with the Credit Union Executive Society, The Executive Committee (TEC group) and The Financial Advisors Association of Canada. Most recently Nicole was recognized into “Strathmore’s Who’s Who” for outstanding business and professional achievement.
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About CRI Canada: CRI Canada provides integrated insurance solutions.
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