Our Team

Peter-Paul has over 15 years of experience in finance, investment management and business consultancy. He's held multiple senior management positions with global banks in the areas of corporate strategy, commercial and investment banking. Peter-Paul has also held management consultancy roles in Europe. While Peter-Paul enjoyed a successful career in international banking, he decided to embark on the entrepreneurial path. His career move coincided with he and his family jumping the pond and landing in Canada. Upon relocation to Canada in 2010, Peter-Paul worked as a consultant for several early stage and growth companies. In that period he experienced the challenges that young companies face in attracting capital and realized how the venture financing space was essentially not using any of today's available technology. In 2013 Peter-Paul founded FrontFundr to address this challenge and take on the opportunity to create the New Capital Market. He also serves as a director on the National Board of the Private Capital Markets Association in Canada (PCMA). Advisor to the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association Canada (NCFA) and member of the Ontario Securities Commission - Fintech Advisory Committee. Peter-Paul holds a Master of Science in business economics and finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

Previous to embarking on a career in the securities industry, Anthony spent many years as a content creator, sound designer, administrator, post production supervisor and entrepreneur in the film and television industry. Prior to joining Frontfundr, Anthony worked as a Research and Due Diligence analyst with BlackOre Research, providing insight into both public and private securities. He brings to Frontfundr extensive experience conducting due diligence within the exempt market and has a passion for helping start-up companies reach their goals. Additionally, Anthony oversees compliance managerial duties for Frontfundr, assisting new companies with onboarding materials and regulatory oversight. Anthony holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the University of British Columbia and has completed the CSC.

Passionate about exploring the connection between technology and human work, Francois holds an engineering master degree in mathematics and computers sciences from INSA Rouen (France). Prior to joining FrontFundr, Francois worked 5 years for financial institutions in France (Neuflize OBC and Banque De France) where he had the opportunity to develop his technical and management skills.

Will Tang is the Chief Revenue Officer at FrontFundr, where he oversees the sales and marketing functions. He has over 10 years of experience in business development, partnerships and corporate development across many industries. Previously to joining FrontFundr, Will headed sales at Hockeystick, a leading fintech company that helps companies achieve growth using data. He was also head of sales at we2o, a San Francisco based startup in the philanthropy space whose mission is to unlock the billions of dollars of unused vacation time so employees can support charities of their choosing. Will also worked as a consultant for Third Core Venture Expansion Partners, a pioneering enterprise sales execution practice that helped fuel the growth of early-stage technology companies across North America’s SaaS, enterprise software, telecoms and services landscape.

Aaron is a graduate of the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria, where he specialized in entrepreneurship. This concentration paved the way for his passion working with start-ups. Prior to joining FrontFundr, Aaron was introduced to venture capital and private equity through his work with GreenAngel Energy at the Globe2014 event in Vancouver. Aaron then continued his exploration of the investment industry by joining Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management as a marketing and business development assistant. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Commerce, Aaron has completed the Canadian Securities and Exempt Market Products Courses.

Prior to FrontFundr, Stephen worked as an Account Manager at Ricoh Canada, where he developed a passion for problem solving while working with small to mid-sized companies. During his time at Ricoh, Stephen learnt to manage client relationships and actively prospect new business. Stephen was first introduced to entrepreneurship in 2010, while working as a Marketing Intern at Native Shoes during their growth to international success, and his interest in the start-up space has continued to grow.

Jaime McNally has earned over four years of professional service experience working at Big 4 firms, including both Deloitte and Ernst & Young, in Assurance, Corporate and Personal Taxation, and Transactions Advisory. She has her Masters of Professional Accounting and Chartered Professional Accounting (CPA). At FrontFundr she leads the Due Diligence team, and has since gained exposure to over 40 successful private capital raises.

Christine Bhatt is a driven business professional with a passion for using her skillset to support organizations set and meet their future goals. She draws on the technical knowledge gained through obtaining the Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant and the U.S. Certified Public Accountant designations and her professional background to do so. After obtaining progressive accounting and financial operations experience through working as a full cycle accountant with various small businesses, an Income Tax Auditor at the Canada Revenue Agency, and Senior Accountant at public practice firm D&H Group LLP, Christine Bhatt joined FrontFundr to further develop her entrepreneurial spirit.

Trieste’s relationship with FrontFundr started as an investor. Having already invested in real estate and publicly traded companies, the concept of investing in private companies supported her own personal financial goals. Quickly becoming a brand advocate, Trieste looked to leverage her experience with a role at the company. Combining her BBA in Marketing Management, Minor in Communications, and a Masters of Global Business, Trieste has worked with companies in North and South America. Consulting with early and growth stage companies in the areas of marketing, communications and strategic planning has led to Trieste developing a passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed. Now she uses this passion to coach entrepreneurs through their fundraising campaigns.

Mitchell Nagy graduated from the University of Western Ontario, earning a Honours business degree from Ivey Business School. Complementing his educational experience, Mitchell studied abroad at a top-ranked European business school, the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland. Prior to joining FrontFundr, he worked in the insurance and hospitality industries, while developing his passion for finance through school and self-motivated studies. He passed the CFA exam Level I in December 2019. Mitchell has also completed the Exempt Markets Products course and is registered as a Dealing Representative of FrontFundr.

As our Business Development Manager, Christine engages with entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners in the Western Canadian venture ecosystem. Christine completed her MBA at the Sauder School of Business (UBC), specializing in Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship. During her MBA, she was involved with the e@UBC incubator and CDL- West accelerator, solidifying her interest in startups and technology innovation. After getting her feet wet by founding a women’s health startup, Christine decided to pursue a career in the private markets. Christine brings a unique perspective, having a technical and operations background coupled with an interest in innovative ways of raising capital. Before pursuing her MBA, Christine spent 6 years working as a project engineer in the energy sector and is passionate about growing the community of female entrepreneurs in STEM industries.

Quan has 16 years' experience with diversified IT in the commercial enterprise software, non-profit research and provincial healthcare sectors. Quan has comprehensive software development lifecycle experience ranging from business analysis, requirements documentation, software architecting and design, coding, quality assurance, implementation, training and support. Prior to his current role, he was the Development Manager and Architect for a web based provincial occupational health and safety surveillance and data warehousing solution. Quan's focus is on researching and adopting technologies to implement rapid application development of responsive and scalable software solutions.

John is a full-stack digital marketer. He's worked in-house for SaaS startups, set up his own successful consulting business, run a community led accelerator and written as a freelance journalist for one of the world's top 50 websites. He's in charge of all things marketing at FrontFundr.

Philip is a graduate of the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Prior to joining FrontFundr, he worked for an international real estate investment and management company gaining experience in corporate finance. Philip spent a large part of his childhood in Silicon Valley and gained a deep interest in early-stage business and is passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed.

Jill combines her UX (User Experience), digital marketing, graphic design and technology background to manage the roadmap and quality of the FrontFundr platform. After working in economic development and the ski tourism industry for a number of years, Jill wanted to leverage these marketing skills with a UX perspective, in order to deliver better brand experiences. When Jill isn’t directing traffic at FrontFundr, she can be found jogging along the sea wall or cooking up a feast for family and friends.

Castiel is a recent graduate from the Computer Systems Technology (Web & Mobile Option) program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where he graduated with distinction and hands-on experience in web development. Castiel brings a diversity of experiences in the newest technology to FrontFundr and has a particular passion for UI/UX design. Casitel joined the fast-paced and collective environment at Frontfundr because of his drive to see the impact of his work.

Ross Mackay was one of the first employees of FrontFundr in 2015. Over the next two years, he was instrumental in helping grow the business, assisting, and eventually managing, the first 19 campaigns that were successfully funded. Ross left FrontFundr to finish his degree, while working on some entrepreneurial pursuits of his own. After a couple years of venturing down the entrepreneurial path, Ross decided to complement his existing skills by pursuing an accounting degree. He is excited to be back with the FrontFundr team, in an Accounting and Finance role. Outside of work you might be able to find Ross camping, giving back to his community, or playing sports.

Erin Stockwell got her start in the private capital markets in 2015. Since then, she's applied her high-touch, client-focused approach in investor relations, sales and marketing roles for a handful of issuers across Western Canada and Ontario. With a ten-year track record of driving innovation to help companies meet the needs of their market, Erin is passionate about helping Canadians access the exempt market by connecting qualified investors to quality investment opportunities. Erin specializes in helping her clients grow their wealth by allocating part of their portfolio to compelling investments in well-selected private companies. Erin's commitment to her investors is that she only promotes offerings that she understands very well and only works with seasoned management teams that she knows and trusts. To date, she’s assisted more than 150 investors access opportunities to invest in Canadian private companies yielding returns of 8-12% per annum. Erin is registered as a Dealing Representative of FrontFundr.

Charles Vander Griendt has been involved with exempt markets for more than 25 years, as an Issuer and Distributor of offerings. He has also assisted issuers in structuring their offerings. He has a focus on pre-IPO Investments as well as private placements in publicly traded companies. Prior and Current Offerings have been in the Technology, Blockchain, Cloud Security, Financial, Resource, Health Care, Green Energy, Cannabis, Consumer, and Real Estate Sectors, many with exits into Public Markets. In addition to increasing distribution of FrontFundr Offerings through his network of clients and business associates, his roles with FrontFundr are to source additional investment offerings and to assist in further build out of the FrontFundr team by recruiting additional Dealing Representatives. Prior to his involvement in the Exempt Markets, he was licensed as a Mutual Fund Representative. He began his career in the Financial Services Industry in 1981, and he has held his Insurance licenses continuously since that time, and he holds his ChFC and CLU designations. Charley has maintained business relationships with many clients for more than 30 years

David has served on 39 different boards of directors and been chairman of nine public companies in five different countries. He was on the board of the Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group) for over 20 years. In 2018, he was awarded the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) Lifetime Achievement award. ICGN is an investor-led organization that includes over 200 Asset Managers who manage over US$34 trillion.

Lauren has had a successful career as a senior executive and director in both the business and public sectors. She has had leadership roles with responsibility for business strategy, policy development, stakeholder relations and corporate governance, as well as human resource development and currently consults and finances private entities. Lauren has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary; and has served as co-head of mission for the Government of Canada overseas during the International Expo 2000 held in Germany. Lauren was an elected member of her professional association in Alberta and a national member of a board formed through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to enhance economic partnerships with China. She has also served as a director for publicly-traded and other commercial company boards as well as non-profit and charitable boards including the Calgary Region Arts Foundation, the Calgary Heritage Advisory Board, the LEAF Endowment, the United Way and most recently, IMPACT BC.

Peggy is an advisor at Portag3, Power Financials VC fund. In her capacity, Peggy supports the portfolio companies in establishing strategic partnerships with major corporations. She also supports the innovation and diversity agenda across Power Financials’ operating companies. Prior to joining Portag3, Peggy was VP, Innovation at CIBC enabling the digital transformation of the organization. Peggy also started a couple of Fintech ventures, invested in the space, managed a family office, consulted for large and small entities, and worked at CGI and BMO on their strategic technology investments. For many years, Peggy has been very involved in the fintech space as lecturer, mentor, speaker, angel and everything in between! A finance professional by trade, Peggy started working on technology 15 years ago. A board member of the Digital Finance Institute and of the National CrowdFunding Association, Peggy is also very passionate about gender diversity and environment. Peggy holds a M.Sc. and a B.B.A. from Ieseg School of Management and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Barry is a corporate director and strategic advisor. He focusses on governance, business growth and innovation, international expansion, and accounting/finance in a variety of industries. Barry retired in 2016 as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, after a 34 year career with them. From 1990 to 1997, Barry was a partner in PwC's Hong Kong firm, their only partner from North America. His PwC expertise area was transfer pricing/cross border tax planning. He also held various executive leadership roles with the firm, including large client relationships (eg HSBC Canada and Sierra Wireless), HR, Recruiting, and was their Canadian Inbound Clients Leader. Barry has lectured and given presentations in over ten countries. Barry has also been elected 2018/19 Chair of the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC (35,000 members), with whom he is currently a vice chair. Barry is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCA) and a qualified director with the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2005, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC awarded Barry his Fellowship distinction, in recognition of outstanding leadership in his career and contributions to the community. Barry is a Board director of these companies; EasyPark, SFU UniverCity Real Estate Trust (chairman), Truvera Trust and Mortgage Corporation, and Valhalla International Games Studios (chairman 2016 to 2017, previously audit committee chair). He is a North American strategic advisor to TMF (global business services provider). In addition to corporate boards, Barry is passionate about community service. He chairs or serves on many non-profit boards, including a number of boards at Simon Fraser University, the Hong Kong Canada Business Association (past National Chairman) and Arts Umbrella Foundation (chairman).

Serhat is a senior executive with 25+ years of experience, successfully leading global organizations and brands, with an emphasis on building high performance teams. Prior to his tenure as CEO at Dawn Foods, Serhat has had numerous roles as senior executive in the consumer goods space both in B2C and B2B, in companies such as Unilever, JohnsonDiversey and Dawn Foods, where he had escalating responsibilities in the areas of business strategy, sales, marketing and general management. Recently at Dawn, Serhat initiated and led the company’s digital transformation journey. Serhat also serves on the Board of The Bon Company, an IoT based analytics start up. Throughout his career, Serhat worked and lived in Turkey, Canada, USA and Netherlands, which made him passionate about working with multiple cultures and achieving success through a diverse team and a selfless leadership style. Serhat holds an MBA degree from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management; Msc. Degree in Mech. Eng. from the University of Cincinnati in the field of artificial intelligence & robotics, and a Bsc. degree in Mech Eng. from Bogazici University of Istanbul. Serhat is often invited as a speaker to share his insights on business strategy, innovation and leadership at business events and at various universities.

Jill Earthy is an entrepreneurially-minded leader with a passion for supporting entrepreneurship. After completing her MBA, she successfully built two companies, grew them nationally and then sold them. For the past 8 years she has led two non-profit organizations focused on supporting entrepreneurs through the provision of financing, mentorship and education. As a community leader and active mentor, Jill serves on the Board of Governors for Simon Fraser University and the Board of the Women's Enterprise Centre, and is Co-Chair of the WEB Alliance, a collective of over 25 women's business networks. She has been recognized as a BIV Top 40 under 40 (2010), Top 100 by The International Alliance for Women (2011), as a finalist for the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, and recently as one of University of Victoria's 25 Alumni to Watch.

Charmaine Crooks, C.M, B.A, OLY Five Time Canadian Olympian and Olympic silver medalist (Athletics) Charmaine Crooks is a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M), entrepreneur, speaker, moderator and advocate for sport and Athletes in Canada and internationally. Based in West Vancouver, she founded NGU Consultants Inc (1994), a global consultancy and management firm, which provides strategic cross-sectional advisory and business development services to a variety of business sectors including technology and major events. She is a corporate director, serving on a variety of profit and non-profit Boards, including co-founder of the 365 International Sport Foundation and Our Cityride. Former Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), she served on the IOC Athlete’s Commission, IOC Press Commission, IOC Culture and Education Commission, New Media working group, IOC 2000 Reform Commission and the founding IOC Ethics Committee. As one of the founding board members of the 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Winter Games (Vanoc), she was the only member to serve from the initial bid phase through to the successful end of the Games. Also a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Olympians Canada, Canadian Soccer Association executive board and the FIFA Competitions Committee. Charmaine is inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Texas El Paso Sports Hall of Fame, where she attended on a full Athletic scholarship. She has received numerous awards including the “IOC Women in Sport Trophy” and was named BC "Top 40 under 40" and one of the "Top 50 Women of Power" in Canada. Charmaine is a free-lance TV host/producer and co-hosted "Cycle", -- Canada's first national TV series on cycling and fitness as well as "In the Company of Women", "No Laughing Matter" and the "World Athletics Gala".

Daryl Hatton is founder and CEO of the innovative social commerce company ConnectionPoint, producer of the award-winning global crowdfunding platform FundRazr and the sponsored crowdfunding system Sponsifi. He has founded multiple tech start-ups and helped bring one to a successful NASDAQ IPO in 1999. He actively serves as board member or special advisor to handfuls of other hot companies in Canada. In addition, he is a Director and Crowdfunding Ambassador for the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada. As a social media guy and frequent public speaker, his Twitter tagline reads “#KingOfGastown, entrepreneur, cardiac survivor, foodie, whisky nut, philosopher, mentor, father, and friend.”

Annie is an innovative investor, entrepreneur, and executive with a background in venture capital, royalty finance, and lending. She adds value to the organizations she works with by developing effective growth strategies and solving complex business challenges by focusing on the data and what's possible. She is known as an exceptional networker and is driven by bringing partners together towards successful transactions and long-term partnerships. She is the Chief Investment Officer at Grand Challenges Canada, an organization that has developed a world-class innovation platform to invest in game-changing solutions for the needs of disadvantaged populations in Canada and Low and Middle Income countries, including in the areas of maternal and newborn health, reproductive health, sanitation, humanitarian assistance and early childhood education, among others. She also leads the investment practice of The Big Push, an accelerator for women-led tech companies she helped get off the ground and is an advisor to the CEO of Silver Maple Ventures, a fintech company that operates the FrontFundr and SMV Capital Markets platforms to allow Canadian private companies to capital from retail and accredited investors.