MANAGING DIRECTOR - FUEL CANADA

Dina is a dynamic and accomplished leader with over 17  years of expertise spanning finance, operations, manufacturing, sales, strategy, law, municipal governance, and team management. Her professional journey has been marked by a commitment to driving innovation, fostering economic growth, and empowering entrepreneurs to thrive in competitive markets. Over the past decade, Dina has dynamically led diverse teams across North America, showcasing her ability to unify efforts and deliver exceptional results.

Dina has excelled in team coaching, helping organizations and individuals achieve their strategic goals through tailored guidance and support. She is also a skilled program creator, having developed and launched initiatives that address critical business needs, stimulate innovation, and drive measurable outcomes.

One of Dina’s most notable accomplishments is successfully negotiating a groundbreaking agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (MEDJCT). Through her leadership, she transitioned a privately funded innovation center into Ontario’s 17th Regional Innovation Centre (RIC), securing its place as a critical resource for entrepreneurs and innovators in the region.  She has worked extensively with entrepreneurs, providing mentorship, strategic guidance, and advocacy to help them overcome challenges, scale their ventures, and achieve sustained success.

ENTREPRENEUR IN RESIDENCE - COMMERCIALIZATION AND TECHNICAL - FUEL CANADA

With over 25 years of experience in commercialization, licensing, and product management, I have honed my skills in transforming innovative ideas into market-ready products. My journey has been rich and diverse, marked by roles such as President and CTO at Strainprint, where I leveraged my therapeutics, data, and machine learning to provide research regulatory and physician decision support. More recently, I've joined NordSpace as a corporate development advisor. Concurrently, I serve as a senior partner at Behr & Associates, further broadening my understanding of the industry and enhancing my capabilities.

As a serial entrepreneur and consultant, I've been privileged to work with hundreds of early-stage companies, guiding them through the intricate paths of commercialization and corporate strategy. My essential skills include product development, business intelligence, corporate development, corporate strategy, and board advisory, focusing on AI, machine learning, and data analytics in technology, CleanTech, AgTech, MedTech, Industrial IoT and SpaceTech.

By applying my wealth of experience and knowledge, I aim to drive product commercialization, corporate development, and overall success. I am particularly passionate about mentoring budding entrepreneurs and guiding them through transforming groundbreaking ideas into successful, market-leading products.

MANAGING DIRECTOR - FUEL GLOBAL

Tom is a distinguished leader with a rich history of driving innovation and fostering impactful partnerships between enterprise giants and emerging tech startups. With over three decades of experience spanning the retail, supply chain, logistics, and medical sectors, Tom's career highlights include a decade-long tenure at Walmart, where he served as the Director of Emerging Technology. At Walmart, Tom and his team assessed over 1000 startups annually, spearheading innovation initiatives for the world's largest company.

Driven by a passion for bridging the gap between corporate innovation and startup dynamism, Tom founded Catapult Consulting. His mission is clear: to facilitate collaborations that propel both the growth-stage startups and enterprise corporations towards sustainable success. Tom's expertise lies in advising and consulting with innovation leaders across corporations, universities, and government entities, empowering them to achieve impactful innovation outcomes.

Tom excels in curating strategic partnerships, managing accelerators, executing product demonstrations, and developing engagement strategies that foster enduring relationships. His approach emphasizes revenue growth and mutual success, aiming to create positive social and economic impacts within ecosystems.

MANAGING DIRECTOR - FUEL GLOBAL

Darian is a seasoned entrepreneur with a diverse portfolio of successful ventures spanning multiple industries, including marketing, education, and sports technology. His entrepreneurial journey began with founding and leading multiple companies to successful exits, demonstrating his expertise in identifying market opportunities and executing scalable business strategies.

Driven by his passion for entrepreneurship, Darian has dedicated himself to empowering fellow entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals. He excels in mentoring and advising startups, leveraging his experience to connect strategic dots and catalyze growth for emerging ventures.

Before his current role leading the Fuel Accelerator, Darian gained valuable experience at Walmart, where he served as a Merchant, honing his skills in product management and retail operations. His tenure at The Harvest Group further enriched his understanding of client relations and business development strategies.

With a track record of scaling companies, creating shareholder value, driving toward liquidity events, and a commitment to fostering innovation in business, Darian continues to be a driving force in the entrepreneurial ecosystem across North America, shaping the future of industries through his leadership and strategic insights.

ENTREPRENEUR IN RESIDENCE - FUEL GLOBAL

Albert is a globally-recognized innovator and leader focused on technology commercialization. He led two companies to acquisitions by Microsoft and Symantec. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Behr has been in the technology industry for more than three decades. His experience spans high-level corporate development, strategic marketing, operational, engineering and financing roles across leading technology companies and startups around the world.

While based in the U.S. and Asia, Behr held executive leadership roles with technology giants such as AT&T, Fujitsu, and Symantec. While in Canada, he served as Chief Strategy Officer for BorderWare Technologies, COO of NRG Group, Senior VP for Platform Computing/IBM, and most recently CEO of BehrTech.

For the past 25 years, Behr has been at the helm of the technology commercialization and strategic partner consultancy he founded, advising more than 1,100 tech companies. During that time, he led numerous large-scale strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and funding efforts for some of the most promising IT, Clean Tech, SpaceTech, AgTech, Mobility and Medtech firms in North America and Europe. In early 2017, he began devoting time to speaking engagements around the globe and curriculum development for one of Canada’s top universities, where he is a professor in the faculty of engineering and teaches a course focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology commercialization strategies.