Platform Investor Coaches will connect investors, founders, ideas, and capital

In September 2023, we announced the launch of the National Bank Investor Hub in the Platform Innovation Centre. This strategic partnership with National Bank was designed to bring investors and Calgary tech startups together – driving faster connections between investors, founders, ideas, and capital. 

Since its launch, the National Bank Investor Hub has been hosting pitch breakfasts and reverse pitch events, hosting investors and funds from within Calgary, and nationally, as well as conducting office hours.

The next step of growth for the Investor Hub is the activation of Platform Investor Coaches. As part of the National Bank Investor Hub, these dedicated individuals will support startups currently raising money, or preparing to do so. Investor Coaches will work one-on-one, helping founders to build and refine their pitch decks, data room construction, and facilitate connections to investors and Calgary’s tech community as a whole. 

Additionally, they’ll work with investors who are looking to expand into tech, by offering education and industry-specific insights. They’ll also play a key role in activating the National Bank Investor Hub by hosting events and meetups focused on relevant topics. 

“The National Bank Investor Hub is accelerating connections between founders and a diverse group of investors looking to participate in the growing venture ecosystem in Calgary. Investor Coaches will play a pivotal role in preparing founders for their capital raising journey, and providing investors with the resources they need to invest in early-stage tech,” says Nathan Karbonik, Associate, Investor Engagement.

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Get connected with a Platform Investor Coach

Are you a founder looking to raise your next venture round? Connect with a Platform Investor Coach to gain valuable insights and leave with direction and connections.

To get connected Apply Here.

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Meet Platform Investor Coach: Darby Sieben

Darby Sieben is a seasoned technology executive, investor, and mentor with over 25 years of experience scaling businesses through product innovation, strategic partnerships, and revenue growth. He has led high-performing teams across startups and enterprises, driving over $1 billion in revenue and impacting millions of users—from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies.

Born in Saskatchewan to a farming family, Darby developed an early appreciation for resilience and hard work before moving to Calgary in 1991. His career has taken him across Canada, including three stints in Toronto, giving him deep insight into both Prairie entrepreneurship and national tech ecosystems.

As the former Chief Product Officer at Unbounce and co-founder of RBC Ampli, Darby has built and scaled digital products, led M&A initiatives, and advised early-stage companies on fundraising, market positioning, and growth strategies. He is an active investor, LP in multiple early-stage funds, and a dedicated mentor to founders navigating fundraising and business scaling.

Meet Platform Investor Coach: Danielle Brewin

Danielle Brewin Graham is an accomplished investor, international speaker and entrepreneur, currently serving as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Platform Calgary. As General Partner at Phoenix Fire and Co-Founder of The Firehood, she leads initiatives that provide capital and mentorship to women-led startups, fostering innovation and equity in the tech ecosystem.Her expertise is frequently showcased on global stages, including speaking engagements at GITEX, WebSummit, LEAP, and all prominent tech conferences across Canada. Danielle has also served as a judge for various entrepreneurial awards and competitions, further solidifying her role as a thought leader in venture capital and impact investing.Previously, Danielle was Principal at Sandpiper Ventures, where she focused on early-stage investments in women-led companies. She also managed Ontario’s Ready 4 Market Fund, one of Canada’s most active seed-stage funds. Her affiliations with incubators like Platform Calgary and ventureLAB have allowed her to support founders in fundraising and scaling their business.

Meet Platform Investor Coach: Scott Pickard

Scott Pickard has spent the past twenty-five years in tech and tech enabled growth businesses globally.  He has held C-suite roles (CEO, COO, CFO) and Board positions of public and private companies (Board Chair, Director, Lead Director, multiple committee positions). He has started numerous companies and led full cycle business growth from inception to exit and has bought and sold numerous companies in Canada, USA and the UK.  He has worked with over 200 companies in strategy, business model identification, revenue growth modelling, business development, executive coaching, operations, finance, raising capital and people resource development and is an active company builder.

Meet Platform Investor Coach: Tiffany Linke-Boyko

Tiffany Linke-Boyko is a dynamic leader passionate about fostering technology and entrepreneurship. With a diverse background spanning various industries, she has made significant contributions to the technology community and left a lasting impact on the organizations she has led.

Tiffany is an investor at Flying Fish Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in seed investments within the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) sector. Flying Fish Partners focuses primarily on software and mixed hardware companies that utilize AI or ML as the foundation of their business. Tiffany's role involves identifying promising startups across the U.S. and Canada. Pror to her role at Flying Fish Partners, Tiffany held the position of President at We Know Training. Leading this scaling company through the pandemic and the acquisition of companies to fuel its growth. Her commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation is further highlighted by her role as the Chief Executive Officer of Startup Edmonton. As the head of this entrepreneurial campus and community hub, she played a pivotal role in creating an environment that encouraged collaboration and innovation. Startup Edmonton has been instrumental in transforming ideas into successful companies by bringing together developers, designers, makers, founders, investors, and mentors. For her many contributions to the betterment of business and community, Tiffany was named Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 in November 2014. NAIT recognized Tiffany’s contributions with the 2015 Spirit of NAIT Award.

Meet Platform Investor Coach: Shaheel Hooda

Shaheel Hooda is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He has advised hundreds of tech startups in market validation, growth and financing. He is a Certified Leanstack and GrowthX mentor, global accelerator programs that support early-stage tech startups, and is also a resident mentor in the Silicon Valley-based 500 Global Accelerator. His current interests are in fintech, enterprise SaaS, blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence. His operational experience includes serving as CEO of two high-growth Canadian software startups, being part of the team that launched Canada’s first and highly successful online bank (while at McKinsey), and helping grow a US enterprise software startup to over $100 million in revenue. Shaheel was an early investor in, and board member of, a high-growth enterprise SaaS company that returned 10x to early investors by Series A. He holds an MBA (Entrepreneurial Finance) from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta. In his spare time, Shaheel serves on the boards of a few startups, is an advisor to the Alberta Securities Commission, and volunteers within the startup ecosystem.

Meet Platform Investor Coach: Dan Ellis

Dan is an angel investor and serial entrepreneur originally from Calgary, now based in Austin, TX. He moved to the U.S. in 2010 as part of an expansion of his IT consulting firm, later relocating to San Francisco in 2013, where he founded the HR tech startup Rallyteam. The company raised venture capital and was acquired by Workday in 2018.

As an active angel investor having invested in over 50 companies, Dan is passionate about supporting startups. He specializes in strategic direction, pitch and narrative coaching, and product consulting for early-stage venture-backable startups. A recognized expert mentor, he was selected as a Techstars All-Star mentor, placing him in the top 1% of their 5,000-strong network. He has also worked with 500 Startups and the Alchemist Accelerator. Dan represents Sher Ventures, a family office deploying capital in early-stage B2B and consumer startups, with a focus on AI-first companies.

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