Gary Bantle
Partner, Health Venture Fund
Calgary
Phone: (403) 292-6931
Contact by email

Gary Bantle is a partner in the Health Venture Fund. He joined BDC in 1998 and has over 13 years of venture capital experience. Prior to joining BDC, Mr. Bantle worked as a research scientist in the area of drug discovery for a number of pharmaceutical companies including Syntex (USA) and Boehringer Ingelheim. Mr. Bantle holds a M.Sc. in organic chemistry and MBA in New Venture Development. He is the co-inventor on two pharmaceutical based patents and co-author on over a dozen scientific publications.

Mr. Bantle has been the lead investor on a number of healthcare related investments over the past 13 years. He currently sits on the Board of multiple healthcare companies and is active with executive, audit and compensation committees. He is also active with BDC's Corporate Social Responsibility Advisory Council.

Ela Borenstein
Partner, Health Venture Fund
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-4380
Contact by email

Ms. Borenstein is a partner in the Health Venture Fund. She joined BDC in 2007 and has over 20 years of management, entrepreneurial and consulting experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining BDC, she was chief operating officer and held the position of vice president in clinical, regulatory affairs and product strategy for various biotech companies, as well as senior vice president of scientific affairs for a public pharmaceutical company. Ms. Borenstein's diversified background includes senior management responsibilities in drug and medical device development as well as key involvement in product acquisition and M&A activities, which included a business development role and the building of multi-disciplinary teams involved in all aspects of research and product development. Ms. Borenstein is currently serving on the boards of several of our Life Sciences portfolio companies.

Ms. Borenstein holds an Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, an M.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto and an MBA in Bio-Industries from UQAM.

Dominic Jaikaran, Ph.D.
Principal, Health Venture Fund
Toronto
Phone: (416) 973-0076
Contact by email

Dominic Jaikaran, Ph.D., is a principal in the Health Venture Fund. He joined BDC Venture Capital in 2010. He brings a diverse scientific background and experience in project management, marketing and business development to the Health Venture team. Before joining BDC, he was a staff scientist at San Diego-based Diversa Corporation (now Verenium Corporation), a NASDAQ-listed company focusing on protein discovery and evolution for various applications, including alternative fuels, industrial processing and agriculture. In Canada, Dr. Jaikaran has worked as an independent consultant for a biofuel start-up and with the commercialization team at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He has published more than ten articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a co-inventor on a provisional patent application with the US Patent Office.

Dr. Jaikaran holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, both from the University of Toronto. He also has an MBA (Health Care Administration) from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Jean-François Pariseau
Partner, Health Venture Fund
Montréal
Phone: (514) 283-1401
Contact by email

Jean-François Pariseau is a partner in the Health Venture Fund. He joined BDC Venture Capital in 2001 and has over 17 years of investment and entrepreneurial experience in the life sciences sector. Prior to joining BDC, Mr. Pariseau was an investment manager with CDP Capital Technology Ventures, a $2 billion global fund investing in healthcare, information technology and advanced technologies, where he was responsible for healthcare investments in Canada and the United States. He has invested and managed more than $200 million in biopharmaceutical and medical device companies in North America. Mr. Pariseau’s experience includes transactions in private and in public companies, IPOs, M&A and fund investments. Prior to this, he was CEO of a consulting company specializing in regulatory affairs, and was VP, R&D for a pharmaceutical-product distribution company, both of which he founded.

Mr. Pariseau holds a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from Université de Sherbrooke, a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences from Université de Montréal, and an MBA from HEC-Montréal. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of AngioChem Inc., Osprey Pharmaceuticals USA, Profound Medical Inc. and BioQuébec.