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 Alberta based CEO’ operating in the Information Technology space. If you think a CEO’ 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.
Ryan Johnson
President & CEO of Whipcord
Ryan Johnson is a President and CEO at Whipcord. He received a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in geography from the University of Lethbridge. In 2000 he started a small geomatics company in Lethbridge that, through his leadership, grew to the third largest imaging company in the world – BlackBridge Geomatics. Ryan’s commitment to Lethbridge has continued through his ownership of Whipcord, founded in 2009. He was the founding president of the U of L Graduate Students’ Association and in 2005 was inducted into the U of L “Alumni Honour Society.” In 2005 Ryan was recognized by Alberta Venture Magazine as one of 13 leaders of the next generation and again in 2012 as one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential people.
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About Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Inpivota, Verge Ag, Whipcord: Whipcord is a high performance IT services company that specializes in colocation, cloud and disaster recovery.
Lisa Shields
Founder and CEO of FISPAN
Lisa Shields is FI.SPAN’s founder and CEO. FI.SPAN is Lisa’s second financial technology startup – she also founded and led Hyperwallet Systems Inc for 15 years; today it is recognized as a leading global payments processor for business to consumer mass payouts. She is a member of the Canadian FinPay Committee, was named the EY Regional Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2015 and received a Women in Payments Innovation Award in 2016. A firm believer in inclusive commerce, Lisa is always looking for new ways to unite ecosystem participants for the benefit of end users. She also has a personal interest in the underbanked and speaks frequently and passionately on the importance of low-cost, compliant payments.
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About FISPAN: Fintech Service Management for Financial Institutions
Georgia Nelson
President & CEO of PTI Resources
Georgia Nelson joined Ball Corporation’s board of directors in July of 2006. She is president and CEO of PTI Resources, LLC, an energy and environmental consulting firm. Georgia also provides executive coaching services to senior executives. She is the former founding president of Midwest Generation EME, LLC, an Edison International company headquartered in Chicago. Midwest Generation is a large independent power generation company. In her 35 years at Edison International, Nelson served as general manager of Edison Mission Energy – Americas, was senior vice president of worldwide operations for Edison Mission Energy and held executive responsibilities for Edison Mission Marketing and Trading, Inc., a Boston-based energy marketing and trading subsidiary. She also was a senior executive with Southern California Edison, a large U.S. electric utility. In addition to her directorship with Ball Corporation, Nelson serves as a director of Cummins Inc., TransAlta Corporation and Sims Metal Management Ltd. She was formerly a director of Nicor Inc., Tower Automotive and CalMat Corporation. Georgia also serves as a director of CH2MHill, a privately held company. She is a former trustee of the Manufacturers Alliance. She serves on the advisory committee of the Center for Executive Women at Northwestern University and formerly served on the Women’s Advisory Board of the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. She is a member of numerous organizations including The Commercial Club of Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network. Georgia holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.
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About PTI Resources: PTI has consistently delivered results to clients since 1997 by staying ahead of the technology curve, maintaining strong relationship.
Ton Bi
Founder & CEO of NVO
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About NVO: NVO are building a secure and fast decentralized exchange and wallet.
Joshua Littlejohn
Founder and CEO of Norgress
Joshua Littlejohn is an entrepreneur, writer, marketer and author. In January of 2017, he launched Norgress, an Edmonton-based technology company where he currently serves as the chief executive officer.
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About Get Ready World, Norgress, The Joshua Littlejohn Report, Tire Needs On Wheels: Canadian-based technology company.
Muhammad Sami
President & CEO of Skyplan Services
Muhammad Sami is President and CEO at Skyplan Services Ltd.
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About Skyplan Services: Skyplan Inc. is a global provider of flight operations support services to airlines, corporate aircraft operators, and public.
Donna Mandau
Co-Founder, President & CEO of Graphene Leaders Canada
In combination with 28+ years of experience in executive management, senior leadership, finance, operations, business development for private and public companies, Donna brings strategic direction and vision to the organization and offers business management and investor relations expertise. Donna is currently working to complete an Executive Management MBA and has achieved a degree in Human Sciences from the University of Alberta. Donna’s entrepreneurial is responsible for reviving and leading the business development of a clean technology company, its operations initiatives, development of strategic partnerships and stakeholder relationships, investor relations and supporting the overall marketing and advertising platforms in elevating the company’s business model and vision. Working with a technology and engineering team in the development of a switchable glass technology, Donna came to realize graphene as a valuable solution to that market sector. Conducting further research into graphene, Donna realized the immense potential and business opportunity to exploit the properties of graphene and formed a team of like-minded individuals looking for technology solutions utilizing graphene for applications solutions to serve Alberta and Canadians that would support global initiatives. Donna’s vision in GLC is to develop graphene innovative solutions to serve global markets and enable technological, environmental, economic and human advancement; to provide opportunities worldwide for human advancement through stewardship that embodies responsible planning and management of our environment; and to serve our planet.
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About Graphene Leaders Canada: Graphene Leaders Canada (GLC) Inc. is an early stage private graphene production and applications solutions company.
Kelly Cherniwchan
CEO & Founder of Chata
Kelly Cherniwchan is Founder & CEO of chata.ai. He was also a Co-Founder & COO at Circle Cardiovascular Imaging.
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About Chata: Chata’s easy-to-use analytics allows businesses to make in-the-moment and short-term decisions based on data, not intuition.
Reza Alaghehband
CEO of Envio Systems
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About Envio Systems: Envio Systems develops cloud-based building technologies for existing commercial buildings.
Scott Burton
Co-Founder and CEO of Askott Entertainment
Scott Burton is CEO and co-founder at ESP (esportspools.com). Prior to ESP he co-founded and launched a licensed peer-to-peer betting exchange Tedbets.com, winner of the ICE Totally Gaming Game to Watch Award in 2014.
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About Askott Entertainment, eSportsPools: Askott Entertainment is a full-service development company that combines esports with the regulated iGaming space.
Brett Chell
President, CEO, and Founder of Cold Bore Technology
Brett Chell is the president, CEO, and co-founder of Cold Bore Technology. Chell is a prolific oil and gas entrepreneur and leader with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Chell started his career working on drilling rigs; his in-the-field background has informed his practical approach as he’s built disruptive technologies, processes, hardware, and software to reduce workload, infrastructure, and cost for the completions industry.
As the CEO of Cold Bore Technology, Chell is revolutionizing the oil and gas industry. The company’s primary offering – SmartPAD™ – is the world’s first Completions Master Control System. It is built to fully connect all services on-pad with bi-directional communication capability to execute fully autonomous completions operations. SmartPAD™ connects to digital frac trees to track the workflow of the entire pad with absolute accuracy. The central control system with a universal timestamp connects all the separate control systems on-site, replacing human interaction between service companies with computer-based logic and communication. This advancement is a true revolution for the entire industry, one that is already drastically changing the entire economics of operations for dozens of the largest oil companies in the world. SmartPAD™ is quickly transitioning the industry to a fully automated operation where service companies show up, connect and go.
Before leading Cold Bore Technology, Chell spent a decade building other startups that have modernized the oil and gas industry through automation and connectivity. He is also the founder of Energy Block Services, a company that provides custom performance-based Smart contracts to oil and gas companies, and a founding partner at Raptor Rig, the world’s first fully automated drilling and coil rigs. Additionally, Chell spearheaded the creation of an oil and gas
technology-focused partner company, Axial Energy Technologies, in 2010.
Under Chell’s leadership, Cold Bore Technology was awarded first place in the Venture Stream Competition hosted by the Haskayne School of Business Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the University of Calgary in February 2017. In October 2018, the Rice Investment Group invested in Cold Bore Technology, bringing Chell’s combined private equity, non-institutional, and institutional capital lifetime fundraising total to more than $50 million.
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About Cold Bore Technology, EnergyBlock Services: Cold Bore develops technology for fracking companies that provides transformative insight into both surface and downhole operations.
John van Pol
Founder & CEO of INGU
Founder & CEO at INGU
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About INGU: INGU offers an operating system for pipeline integrity and performance.
Audrey Charles
Founder and CEO of @Assist
Audrey Charles is founder and CEO at @Assist.
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About @Assist: @Assist is a cloud-based property management and accounting solution for small to large businesses.
Brittney Ramsay
President and CEO of BRITT
Brittney leads with a bold and unconventional vision. She’s always full of new ideas and is fulfilled when she can contribute to a cause and make an impact for our team, clients and communities. She is a personal growth seeker and has an unquenchable thirst for learning and lives in a state of curiosity. Brittney’s wholehearted leadership focuses on inspiring hearts and challenging minds. She shares stories, creates connections and works endlessly to build our brand equity. She has a passion for working with emerging leaders both in and outside of BRITT. On the weekends she loves heading to the mountains with her husband and son.
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About BRITT: BRITT is a consulting firm specializing in land access and stakeholder engagement.
Ken Brizel
CEO of ACAMP
Ken is an advanced technology international executive, with operational experience in public and private corporations. He is a hands-on leader and mentor with extensive operational background strategy, business development, planning, team building, sales, marketing, engineering, operations and manufacturing.
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About ACAMP: ACAMP focuses on electronics hardware development comprised of embedded systems and related firmware, sensors.
Stefan Radeta
CEO North America of Bridgewater Labs Inc.
CEO of Bridgewater Labs Inc and CTO at TLink Golf Inc. Successful entrepreneur with a track record of growing tech companies from idea to full scale. Expert in bootstrapping companies to grow into millions of dollars in revenue while focusing on building strong customer followings. Proudly recognized as Canada’s Top 30 under 30.
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About Bridgewater Labs Inc., TLink Golf: Helping companies unleash the power of technology through Web, Mobile Apps, Cloud Services, and ServiceNow
Stephen Wensley
CEO & Founder of Acuspire
Stephen has over 10 years of experience in building software to streamline business processes. He has delivered more than 125 projects and led his team to a first place win at the Calgary Region Hackathon in 2017. He successfully raised investment to launch Acuspire, a tech startup with a mission of “A Future Without Job Search”, which reached placement as a Top 20 Startup for Calgary in 2017 and placement as a Top 20 Startup at Startup Grind Global Conference 2018. He takes pride in delivering cost-effective technology solutions to increase efficiency for customers and make the world a better place.
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About Acuspire: Acuspire is an AI-powered job search and recruiting platform that connects employers with qualified jobseekers within seconds.
Ashley Dunfield
CEO & Founder of Tether Information Technologies
I am an endlessly curious entrepreneur with a bias for action and an appreciation for (eventual) simplicity. My focus is on how to collect and connect data from our physical world, and how to use that to improve interactions between people, companies, places, and things. I’m driven by a belief that the possibilities of software and technology are dependant on having a digital model of the world that is as complete, accurate and accessible as possible.
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About PetroFeed, Tether Information Technologies: Streamlining the coordination and management of the world’s activity
Hongwen Zhang
Co-Founder, CEO & CTO of Wedge Networks Inc.
Zhang is a co-founder of Wedge Networks. As Chief Technical Officer, he is instrumental in developing Wedge’s high performance security platform. Zhang holds a Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Calgary; an M.Sc in Computer Engineering from the Institute of Computer Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Fudan University. With more than two decades of high-tech leadership experience, Zhang is a co-inventor and holder of several patents in the area of computing and networking. Prior to establishing Wedge Networks, he was a co-founder of the 24C Group Inc., which pioneered the first digital receipts infrastructure for secure electronic commerce. Zhang was previously principal of Servidium Inc., now ThoughtWorks Canada Inc., a global leader in agile development methodology. A speaker and writer on subjects of cloud, networking, and IT security issues and trends, Zhang chairs the Security Working Group and is a member of the board of directors of Open Cloud Connect, a global cloud computing consortium of leading network service providers and technology vendors.
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About Wedge Networks Inc., Wedge Networks Inc.: Wedge Networks is a cyber security software vendor specializing in Real-time Threat Prevention.
Sean Leonard
CEO of JumpDEMAND
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About ActiveDEMAND, JumpDEMAND: Marketing Technology Company
Remi Schmaltz
CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Decisive Farming
Remi Schmaltz is the CEO, president, and co-founder of Decisive Farming. He previously served as an advisory board member at Rocky Mountain Ventures. Prior to that, Remi served as a manager of corporate development at DynAgra Corp.
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About Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Decisive Farming: Decisive Farming provides information technology solutions for farming industry in Western Canada.
William Richards
Founder & CEO of EasyRedir
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About Deap Solutions, EasyRedir: Easily manage URL redirects for business.
Natasha Spokes
CEO of FarCloser Travel
Natasha Spokes manages the Prime Stream at CDL-Rockies and is a startup founder with a background in Geomatics Engineering and Entrepreneurship.
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About Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), FarCloser Travel: FarCloser Travel’s mission is to empower travellers and travel agents to know their travel options without bias or sales pressure.
James MacKenzie
CEO of Wimactel
James, is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience in Business Leadership, Sales and Marketing, Strategic Planning, Technology and cross functional management of all business disciplines.James has been involved in telecommunications for over 25 years and has extensive experience in all aspects of the industry. QuorTech was the leading supplier of payphone systems, phones, repair, refurbishment to the payphone industry,James was responsible for overall management and strategic direction of the company,Gores is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses,James was responsible for due diligence, formulation and execution of detailed operating plans and accountable for strategic direction and financial performance of a portfolio of companies providing direction to assigned CEO’s.
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About Wimactel: Wimactel is call center company that provides voice services and equipment support to the telecommunications industry.
Omer Choudhary
CEO of IQ Interactive
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About IQ Interactive: IQ Interactive is Western Canada’s leading Point of Sale & Digital Signage provider.
Cameron Schuler
President, CEO & Co-Founder of VibeDx
Cameron Schuler is the President & CEO of VibeDx. He was formerly an Executive-in-Residence with TEC Edmonton, specializing in medical devices, healthcare and industrial technologies. Cameron’s multi faceted career has covered finance, business & product development, consumer products, IT and general management from start-ups to mature companies. His industry experience includes Alternative Energy, Banking, Consumer Goods, Information Technology (Consumer and Enterprise), Investment Sales and Trading, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Medical Devices, Nutraceuticals, Oil & Gas, and Oil & Gas Services. Cameron’s roles have included COO, CFO, President and CEO and was COO & CFO of a food manufacturer whose products lead to sales of over 200 million units. Cameron was the Managing Director & Co-Founder of Schuler Law Group, a boutique tax planning law firm. He attained an MBA from Queen’s University and is a Certified Investment Manager and Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.
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About VibeDx: VibeDx develops tools to diagnose back problems.
Shevy Levy
President & CEO of Lambda Solutions
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About Lambda Solutions: Lambda Solutions provides an eLearning platform built for growing companies that sell education.
Jaeson Cardiff
Founder and CEO of CleanO2
Jaeson is the CleanO2 project leader and hardware designer. He has 15 years of experience in the heating industry. Jaeson is responsible for the current design, ongoing refinements and pilot testing of the CARBiNX prototype units currently in operation. He also provides design, technical, market access, heating industry expertise, credibility and reputation, as well as financial expertise to the development of technology.
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About CleanO2: CleanO2 is a microscale carbon capture solution platform for the commercial heating industry.
Jonathan Neufeld
CEO of tecTerra
Jonathan is CEO of TECTERRA, an organization which supports start-ups and small companies to develop and commercialize innovative geospatial technology faster.
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About tecTerra: tecTerra support technologies developed for integrated resource management and other geospatial applications.
Neil Camarta
President and CEO of Field Upgrading
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About Field Upgrading: Field Upgrading Limited is partnering with Ceramatec, an advanced ceramic material technology research and development company
Ivan Gorbadei
CEO of GoodPoint Software
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About GoodPoint Software: GoodPoint Software provides IT solutions like sharepoint apps, public websites development, IT infrastructure development and more.
Ivan Gorbadei
CEO of GoodPoint Software
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About GoodPoint Software: GoodPoint Software provides IT solutions like sharepoint apps, public websites development, IT infrastructure development and more.
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