Jacques Simoneau
Executive Vice President, Investments
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-8030
Contact by email

Jacques Simoneau is responsible for the venture capital and subordinate financing portfolios.

Before joining BDC in 2006 , Mr. Simoneau was CEO of Hydro Québec CapiTech Inc., Senior Vice President, Investments at Fonds de solidarité FTQ and CEO of Société Innovatech du sud du Québec. He is a director of Transat A.T. Inc., Sustainable Development Technology Canada and Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. He is a member of Quebec's Conseil de la science et de la technologie and the University of Montréal's Faculty of Medicine's Advisory Committee.

Mr. Simoneau is a professional engineer. He holds a MSc from Université Laval and a PhD from Queen's University.

Charles Cazabon
Vice President, Venture Capital
Montréal
Phone: (514) 496-0708
Contact by email

Charles Cazabon is Vice President, Venture Capital responsible for BDC’s Life Sciences investments and Special Situations. He joined BDC in 2001 as Managing Director, Life Sciences. Mr. Cazabon has over 20 years of venture capital experience. Before joining BDC, 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.

Glenn R. Egan
Vice President, Information and Communication Technologies
Montréal
Phone: (613) 995-8780
Contact by email

BDC’s Information and Communications Technologies investment activities are led by Mr. Glenn Egan who joined BDC Venture Capital in 2000. Mr. Egan brings 20 years of operational experience to the position including 15 years in wireless products and services. Prior to joining BDC, he spent 3 years as Vice President, Business Development for EMS Technologies. He spent the previous 12 years in various senior positions with wireless carriers including a wireless start-up.

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

Information & Communication Technologies: Our portfolio

Robert Inglese
Vice President, Energy, Environment, Electronic & Materials (EEEM)
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-7542
Contact by email

Robert is responsible for the EEEM investment portfolio (energy, environment, electronics and materials) as well as Technology Seed Investments across Canada. He joined BDC Venture Capital in 1994. He built an outstanding team of investment professionals in every technology sector including Biotech, IT, Industrial Tech and Cleantech. Over the years, Robert and his colleagues have invested in some 75 Seed and Early-stage businesses across Canada representing more than $200 million in total investments.

Robert has been involved in venture capital since 1985 when he was at the Agence québécoise de valorisation industrielle de la recherche (AQVIR), the first seed investment fund in Quebec.

An entrepreneur who understands both sides of a technology venture, he founded and operated a service-based company, designing electronics and firmware as well as prototyping and pre-production testing for the original equipment manufacturer clients. He has held technology and management positions in other companies, developing, producing, and selling information technology products such as computer graphics hardware, data acquisition, real-time control systems, and mobile communications.

Robert Inglese holds Bachelor's degree in Electrical Technology and Major in Telecommunications from the École de technologie supérieure (University of Quebec).

Technology Seed Investments: Our portfolio

Frank Pho
Vice President, Fund Investments
Vancouver
Phone: (604) 666-7828
Contact by email

Mr. Pho leads BDC’s Fund Investments Group, which currently has commitments in several Canadian private capital funds. In his capacity as the Asia liaison for the Venture Capital division, he leads technology missions helping to introduce Canadian companies and commercialize their products in Asia. He also advises portfolio companies on their market development strategy in the region.. Previously, Mr. Pho was responsible for Venture Capital investments in Information Technology at BDC Capital. Before joining BDC in 1991, he worked for the Corporate Finance Group at CP Rail. Mr. Pho was also a guest lecturer at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for both the Executive MBA program and the MBA program in Information Technology. He is an Advisory Board member of Enterprize Canada and currently serves (2008-2010) as Chair of the Monte Jade Science Technology Association, an international organization with 15 chapters in North America and Asia which works to promote the commercialization of technology companies.

Frank Pho holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Diploma of Accountancy from Concordia University, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia.

Marie-Hélène Nolet
Assistant Vice President, Operations and Strategic Initiatives
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-1096
Contact by email

Mrs. Nolet brings more than 10 years of negotiation, investment and financing experience to the BDC team. She is currently Assistant Vice President, Operations & Strategic Initiatives in the Venture Capital group. She formerly worked for Hydro-Québec CapiTech, Coopers & Lybrand and GTI Capital. Her spirit of adventure also took her to the Czech Republic, where she worked for a year for Cesky Mobil, a start-up company in the Telecom industry. Keen to be involved in the community, she was president of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal, then chair of its board. She is now president of the Fondation de la Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal, member of the advisory committee of Premières en affaires and finally does volunteer work for Défi Sportif (an organization for athletes with disabilities).

Mrs. Nolet is a CFA and has a bachelor of commerce from McGill University.