Paul Kirkconnell
Executive Vice President, Venture Capital
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-8030
Contact by email

Paul Kirkconnell was appointed Executive Vice President, Venture Capital in 2011.

He leads all of BDC’s Venture Capital activities, including direct and indirect venture capital investments in technology-based businesses and strategic initiatives to stimulate Canada’s venture capital environment. BDC has approximately CA $1 billion in current and planned investments.

Mr. Kirkconnell has over 25 years of experience in investments, business development, corporate strategy and consulting gained in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Prior to joining BDC, he owned P-A-K Limited, providing strategy, financing and corporate development advice to emerging companies and their investors. From 2005 to 2007, he was Managing Director of DRI Capital, a privately held investment management company with US $1 billion under management. Before this, he established Aventis Capital which had over US $750 million under management.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, of the Advisory Counsel of the International Center for Healthcare Innovation at the Ivey Business School at Western University and of Osteoporosis Canada.

Mr. Kirkconnell holds an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.

Glenn R. Egan
Managing Partner, Diversified Venture Fund
Ottawa
Phone: (613) 995-8780
Contact by email

Glenn Egan became Managing Partner of the stage and sector agnostic Diversified Venture Fund in 2011.

He leads a team of seasoned investment and operating professionals with backgrounds in information and communication technology (ICT), life sciences, electronics and advanced materials who are responsible for maximizing value creation across the investment portfolio.

Mr. Egan has over 20 years of operational experience, including 15 years in wireless products and services.

He joined BDC Venture Capital in 2000 as an investment professional. He became Managing Partner of the Telecom Group in 2003 and Vice President Information and Communication Technologies Venture Capital in 2008.

Prior to joining BDC, he spent 3 years as Vice President, Business Development for EMS Technologies. Over the course of his career he has held various senior positions in sales, business development, marketing, and product development with wireless products companies and wireless carriers, including a start-up.

Mr. Egan holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Senia Rapisarda
Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Investments
Montréal
Phone: (514) 496-2438
Contact by email

Senia Rapisarda joined BDC in 2010 as Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Investments.

In this role, Ms. Rapisarda leads BDC’s efforts to develop a healthy VC ecosystem in Canada through several key strategic initiatives and investments.

Ms. Rapisarda has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors, including roles as senior advisor at NUR Energie, a London-based investment fund specialized in renewable energy; and Managing Director of the Technology Private Equity Team at Nomura International, managing over $300 million of investments in 42 companies across Europe, Israel and the U.S.

She is the founder of the Coller Institute at the London Business School – the first in Europe to provide a forum for the exchange of views and analysis of trends and policy issues in venture capital and private equity.

Ms. Rapisarda has a law degree from LUISS University in Rome, a Master’s in Law and Economics from Columbia University in New York, and is a Fulbright Scholar.

Karl Reckziegel
Vice-President, Operations and Performance Management
Montréal
Phone: (514) 496-0725
Contact by email

Karl Reckziegel was appointed Vice President, Operations and Performance Management, Venture Capital in 2011.

He leads the team responsible for all aspects of the operational management of BDC’s direct and indirect venture capital investment funds.

An engineer with close to two decades of corporate finance experience, Mr. Reckziegel is familiar with all aspects of debt and equity structures.

He joined the BDC Venture Capital team in 1992. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Mr. Reckziegel was Managing Director of BDC’s Special Situations team, overseeing turnarounds, workouts and divestitures within BDC’s Venture Capital portfolio at the national level. At BDC, he has served as Vice President of the Virtual Banking unit, which included responsibility for managing BDC's strategic alliances. Prior to that, Mr. Reckziegel was Vice President responsible for BDC's lending and consulting practice in Vancouver.

Before joining BDC, he held positions in engineering, technical sales and industrial marketing in the oil industry, and later served as a senior executive in an international trading company.

Mr. Reckziegel holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of New Brunswick and an MBA with a major in Finance from Concordia University.

Neal Hill
Vice President, Fund Investments
Ottawa
Phone: (613) 943-0329
Contact by email

Neal Hill joined BDC Venture Capital in 2012 as Vice President, Fund Investments.

His main responsibilities are to develop BDC Venture Capital’s reputation as an investor of choice, expand BDC’s industry presence and develop sector knowledge, and identify and develop high-potential general partners (GPs).

Mr. Hill has more than 30 years of experience in technology management and marketing, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions in Canada and the U.S.

Before joining BDC, he held senior management and consulting positions in various sectors. Most notably, he was founder and Senior Managing Director of Great Northern Capital, Canada’s first attempt to create a growth-stage venture capital fund of substantial size focusing on emerging technology firms. Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, for Cognos Incorporated, the Ottawa-based $1 billion worldwide leader in business intelligence and performance management software, now a unit of IBM. In this role, he was responsible for mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances, including the IBM alliance that led to its acquisition of Cognos.

He has also served on the Boards of a number of start-up companies.

Mr. Hill holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Physics and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Charles Cazabon
Managing Partner, GO Capital
Montréal
Phone: (514) 496-0708
Contact by email

Charles Cazabon was appointed Managing Partner of GO Capital in 2011.

In this role, he is responsible for supervising and coordinating the investment activities of GO Capital, a venture fund supporting the creation of companies in all sectors of science and technology in Quebec.

Mr. Cazabon has over 25 years of venture capital experience. During his career with BDC, he held a variety of positions, including Acting EVP, Investments, Vice President, Venture Capital, and Managing Director, Life Sciences, BDC Venture Capital.

Before joining BDC in 2001, he served as Vice President at one of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec's investment subsidiaries where he managed a team that provided venture capital, expansion and acquisition services for Quebec-based businesses. Previously, he worked in PE and VC firms in Montréal and Toronto, with an M&A boutique in Montréal and in commercial lending in Southern Ontario.

He has served on numerous public and private company boards and is a former President and member of the Board of Réseau Capital, the Quebec Venture Capital Association.

Mr. Cazabon holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, a Master of Science degree in Biology from Laurentian University and an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo.

Robert Simon
Managing Partner, IT Venture Fund
Calgary
Phone: (403) 292-4253
Contact by email

Robert Simon joined BDC Venture Capital in 2011 as Managing Partner in the IT Venture Fund.

He is responsible for overseeing the IT Venture Fund investments and maximizing value creation across the portfolio.

Mr. Simon brings over 25 years of experience as a successful serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the field of Information Technology.

He began his career as co-founder of T/Maker Graphics, a developer of Macintosh and IBM PC graphics and desktop publishing products. After founding and co-funding other high tech businesses, in 1997, he moved into venture capital as a partner with Sierra Ventures, where he identified, sourced and evaluated business opportunities in the internet e-commerce and enterprise software sectors. During this time, he also founded DotBank, a direct competitor to PayPal, where he negotiated partnerships and sale to Yahoo for over $100 million.

In 2000, Mr. Simon became General Partner with Alta Partners, with an investment focus in internet infrastructure, enterprise software, network security and wireless. More recently, he has been the Managing Director/Venture Partner with Saints Dakota/Saints Capital, a portfolio of companies purchased from Safeguard Scientifics.

Mr. Simon holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.