Our team
Sion Balass
Managing Partner
Sion Balass
Managing Partner
Sion Balass is a Founder and Managing Partner of The Group Ventures, bringing over a decade of leadership and business development experience in the US, UK, Israel, and Canada. Sion’s areas of expertise include strategy development and execution of go-to-market strategies, international business growth and fundraising. Sion has extensive work experience in the technology and healthcare industries, with a focus on digital healthcare, analytics and big data.
Anatol Von Hahn
Chairman
Anatol Von Hahn
Chairman
Anatol von Hahn is a Founder, Chairman and Partner of The Group Ventures. He brings to The Group a deep understanding of and commitment to the tech sector — in particular Fintech – as well as more than three decades of senior and executive management, and board experience in the financial industry. Anatol is deeply involved in the tech/fintech eco-system in Canada, as a venture capitalist and a strategic advisor to primarily early-stage tech companies. He has worked closely with a broad range of founders and their teams to help drive rapid growth, capital development and the critical build-out of professional management teams to create successful businesses. 
Michael O’Sullivan
Partner
Michael O’Sullivan
Partner
Michael O'Sullivan is a Founder and Partner at The Group Ventures, bringing deep expertise in customer experience, data analytics, marketing and operations. Michael is a high-energy, skilled leader with a track record of delivering high returns to shareholders and creating a dynamic work culture for a large number of employees. He believes in using lean management to test, learn, and innovate efficiently. Michael has extensive experience in the financial services, retail, travel, telecommunications, and CPG industries. 
Kevin O’Brien
Partner
Kevin O’Brien
Partner
Kevin is a Founder and Partner at The Group Ventures, bringing over 25 years of experience in leadership, strategy development, data-centric strategies and business development. He believes customer insight is key to the success of a company, and leverages data to develop business strategy and drive outcomes. Kevin is the Head of International Markets, WW / WeightWatchers. 
Anthony Toldo
Partner
Anthony Toldo
Partner
Anthony G. Toldo is a Partner at The Group Ventures. Anthony has been active in and a driving force behind the Toldo Group enterprise since its inception in 1980. He is currently CEO of the Toldo Group, which is composed of several privately held manufacturing and diversified asset based corporations. Anthony has operated manufacturing businesses in the automotive parts, plastics and commercial furniture industries. He also has operations experience in the gaming, food service and aviation service sectors and has served as a board member or in an advisory capacity for several non-related start-ups. 
Sharon Taylor
CFO & COO
Sharon Taylor
CFO & COO
Sharon is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the The Group Ventures. Prior to her current role, Sharon had a 27 year career in Banking, grounded in Financial Planning & Analysis, which extended to Commercial Client Experience, International Finance and Operations, Risk Management and Strategy. While at Roynat Capital, Sharon was the CFO and Head of Operations, and was Comptroller for Scotiabank's International Banking Division. 
Sarah Whittaker
Associate
Sarah Whittaker
Associate
Sarah is an associate at The Group Ventures, focused on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities. She has experience in corporate finance and supporting start-ups from inception through early-stage fundraising. She holds a BSc in Genetics and Sociology from Western University. 
Lexie Von Hahn
Investor Relations
Lexie Von Hahn
Senior Analyst
Lexie von Hahn covers investor relations at The Group Ventures, with a background in business, history of art and law. Her previous role at a Canadian startup, introduced her to the world of fintech and developed her interest in the bustling tech ecosystem we operate in.
Strategic advisors
Marla Schwartz
Marla Schwartz
Marla is a Senior Advisor at The Group Ventures, is a relentless entrepreneur and leader in financial services and healthcare. She has more than 35 years of varied experience ranging from multi-national insurers and agile niche financial services organizations. Most recently, Marla was President of Benecaid for thirteen years leading the company through exponential growth until the company was sold to French Insurer April. Marla has been recognized by Profit magazine as one of Canada's Top Women Entrepreneurs 2009-2014.
Charaka Kithulegoda
Charaka Kithulegoda
Charaka is a Senior Advisor at The Group Ventures, he brings with him a deep understanding and vast experience in banking technology. Charaka contributed to the transformation of how Canadians conduct banking, having built the software and infrastructure that safely embedded banking on mobile devices. In 2011, ComputerWorld Canada recognized Charaka as IT Leader of the Year in the large enterprise category and in 2013, he was recognized as Mobile Banker of the Year by American Banker. Charaka is now EVP & Chief Information Officer Retail Banking at PNC. Kevin Dougherty
Kevin Dougherty
Kevin, a senior advisor at The Group Ventures has significant and diverse leadership and board experience in the insurance and asset management industries at one of the top-ranked global insurers. Kevin is a strategic thinker, creative problem-solver, and an innovative bold competitor, with a strong focus on people, teamwork, and culture. He has a unique background in digital and AI and is an active community board director. Chiko Nanji
Chiko Nanji
Chiko Nanji is a Senior Advisor at The Group Ventures. He is a prominent Canadian businessman based in Montreal and Toronto. As the CEO and founder of Metro Supply Chain Group and the Chairman of LDC Logistics Development Corporation, he has extensive experience in the transportation, real estate and investment fields. Chiko has been incredibly involved with the Canadian Armed Forces and is a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012, the Provincial Commendation from the Order of St John in 2013, alongside being appointed a Chevalier of the Order of St George. Chiko is an active philanthropist and currently supports hospitals, educational institutions and Ismaili charities through his Nanji Family Trust. Ron Dembo
Ron Dembo
Dr. Ron Dembo is a Senior Advisor at The Group Ventures. Ron was the Founder and CEO of Algorithmics Incorporated, growing it organically from a startup to the world's largest enterprise risk-management software company, with offices in fifteen countries, over 70% of the world's top 100 banks as clients, and consistent recognition as one of Canada's 50 best-managed companies. He is a lifetime fellow of the Fields Institute for research in Mathematical Sciences and was awarded a distinguished Alumni Medal from The University of Waterloo. He is currently working with the Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto and is working with numerous startups to help them scale. He has also received numerous awards for his work in mathematical optimization, risk management, finance, and climate change. Laurent Mareschal
Laurent Mareschal
Laurent is an advisor at The Group Ventures. Laurent is also the CFO at GoodLeaf Farms and advises companies in other industries, including Real Estate and Financial Services. Prior to his current roles, Laurent had a 25 year career in Banking, with strong experience in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Mergers & Acquisitions, and financial engineering. While at Scotiabank, Laurent was the Managing Director and CFO of Capital Markets, led all FP&A, was CFO of Canadian Banking and lastly, Laurent assumed leadership of Small Business Banking. Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh
Ian is The Group Venture's People & Culture Strategic Advisor, bringing a unique blend of expertise in human resources, c-suite support, corporate communications, strategic planning and execution, and public policy. Ian has a strong passion for developing people and teams, and over three decades of experience coaching and advising CEOs and senior executives. Chris Hodgson
Chris Hodgson
Chris is a Venture Partner at The Group Ventures. Over his 25 year career Chris has been an engineer, entrepreneur, executive, angel investor and advisor. Throughout this time he's learned a lot about building businesses, and teams, within a tech environment. Chris has been on the founding team of two tech startups - the first was acquired for over $300m, and the second is profitable and now has over 2.5m members. Chris also spent 6 years on the leadership team at Google Canada, where he helped grow the business from 50 people to over 300. He was also part of the executive team at RBC which built RBC Ventures - an internal corporate incubator - from concept to over 200 people in 1 year. Most recently, Chris has advised the founders of an eCommerce business as they grew revenue from $11m to $41m in one year.
Chris is a Board Director at KidStart Ltd (UK) and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). He has supported Baycrest Hospital & Foundation for three years as an active member of the Board's Marketing Sub-committee. Chris also serves on the Personal Advisory Committee of one of Canada's Ultra-High-Net-Worth families. Chris has an MBA from INSEAD, in France, and an Engineering degree from Queen's University, in Canada.
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