Alex S. Ross is a lawyer and registered Canadian patent agent with Gowling WLG. Alex delivers a full range of IP services to a wide variety of clients – from start-ups to multinational. His work encompasses all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial designs.

Gowling WLG is an international law firm located in 19 cities around the world — including Hamilton. Harnessing the broad industry expertise of its 1,400 professionals, far-reaching global platform and forward-thinking partnerships with key local stakeholders, the firm connects Hamilton’s top innovators to a world of opportunity and provides the tools they need to accelerate their success.

gowlingwlg.com

Aaron Gillespie is a Partner in KPMG’s Hamilton office, specializing in Canadian tax compliance and advisory services, with a focus on large Canadian controlled private corporations. Aaron has extensive experience with tax planning as it relates to acquisitions, divestitures, remuneration planning, estate planning, corporate reorganizations, and various tax-minimization strategies.

With over 160 professionals and support staff in their Hamilton, Oakville, and St Catharines offices, KPMG has the resources required to provide a full range of services. KPMG has the strength of their national and international member firms but with a local touch. KPMG is proud to work closely with their clients, helping them to manage risks and take advantage of opportunities.

kpmg.ca

Chantel Broten the President & CEO of Jan Kelley and is an experienced strategist who knows how to find key insights that transform organizations and drive growth. A career marketer, she has spearheaded the development of brand and marketing programs for over 200 organizations. She has MBA in Marketing and Innovation from McMaster University and is a graduate of Communitech’s Innovation Basecamp program.

Jan Kelley is an award-winning digital marketing agency and helps businesses grow by using their proprietary digital growth framework to develop and optimize and iterate strong digital-first marketing strategies and programs. Jan Kelley’s philosophy brings together the power of technology and the brilliance of humanity to spark ideas, generate momentum and drive lasting results.

jankelley.com

Julie Ellis is a speaker, author and leadership coach to corporate leaders and scaling Entrepreneurs.  She is a co-founder of award-winning Mabel’s Labels, one of Canada’s greatest small business success stories. Julie’s book, Big Gorgeous Goals is written for women entrepreneurs who want to step out of the small box they find themselves in and set world domination in their sights.  In discussion with over a dozen women entrepreneurs, Julie explores their stories of why and how they have achieved great things in their lives and careers, and pairs that knowledge with her own stories of how she built, grew and sold her business to a giant in her industry.
You can buy her book here.

Dr. Frank Naus is the Chief Executive Officer of Lumedi Inc., a data and data warehousing company, and a Venture Partner at Launchit Ventures, a healthtech SaaS focused venture studio. He is an Instructor in the Clinical Trials Management program at Western University. He started his career in clinical research and sales with Astra Pharma Inc. and ran several clinical research organizations. He spent five years in the public sector as Director of Research Administration and then Vice President, Research at Hamilton Health Sciences. Dr. Naus earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from Walden University and has an MBA from Wifrid Laurier University and MSc and BSc degrees in Applied Health Sciences from the University of Waterloo.

Len Kofman is a Partner with the IP Backed Financing Group at BDC. Before this, he served as the Chief Investment Officer at Quantius, an alternative lender focusing on IP Backed lending where he had responsibility for the underwriting and approval of all investments. Previous to that, he worked at Sunlife Financial as Director, Credit Portfolio Management and at the Bank of Montreal, where he held a number of roles in risk management and corporate finance.