Growth Acceleration Program

Krista Jones is the chief delivery officer at MaRS Discovery District, North America’s largest innovation hub and Canada’s leading science and technology innovation ecosystem. MaRS builds communities of innovators and provides direct support for startups at every stage of growth. MaRS-supported companies currently employ over 33,000 workers, and have contributed over $29.6B to GDP since its inception. Since joining MaRS in 2008, Krista has focused extensive entrepreneurial and leadership experience to advise executives, motivate teams and develop programs aimed at scaling Canada’s most innovative companies. With a unique combination of technical expertise and a deep understanding of innovation ecosystems, Krista serves as a catalyst for change, enriching the ecosystem through initiatives such as the MaRS Momentum program, which targets high-growth companies to achieve $100 million in revenue. With over three decades of experience navigating complex stakeholder environments, Krista's leadership emphasizes adaptability, determination and excellence, fostering collaboration and employing data-driven strategies to seize growth opportunities. Passionate about addressing societal challenges, Krista's career is defined by her ability to inspire teams and transform ideas into reality. Before MaRS, Krista worked in successful venture backed startups like Personeta, Metronet and Allstream and large telecommunications companies holding technical leadership roles were marked by groundbreaking achievements that have left a lasting legacy on the Canadian tech landscape. She currently serves on the boards of BioConnect and TriOS College.

Scale-up experience:

• CEO of TransGaming (now FinDev, TSX-V: FDI), a leading digital media company Previously served as CFO/COO
• Took company public via RTO and raised over $25M
• Through strategic M&A acquired key talent and titles/brands to become first cloud-based games provider in cable TV segment
• CFO of Viron Therapeutics
• Raised US$20M Series B including venture and strategic investors

• Directly involved in over $500M of financing and M&A transactions in the past 10 years
• Past-CEO of Equation Angels, Canada's second largest Angel network, whose model he helped architect in 2017
• Investor and Past-Chair of the Board of Sensory Technologies, a health-tech venture
• Chartered Business Valuator

• Strategic Planning
• Inorganic growth / M&A
• Pitching for capital
• Mentorship

Asvini leads our Grow stage programming at MaRS which includes the Growth Acceleration & Capital Programs, where alongside Dennis Ensing, Chief Venture Advisor & VP Growth she developed the GAP and Series A capital programs. Prior to that she was part of the founding team for the Women in Cleantech Challenge where she co-designed the MaRS flagship cohort program. Before joining MaRS, Asvini worked at Oracle Canada where she headed projects that introduced customized software solutions to improve operational efficiency and client management processes. Asvini has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of British Columbia. Ask me about:

• Accessing investor readiness support & investor introductions at MaRS
• Accessing post-Series A stage scaling support

Aoife has contributed to the creation and ongoing development of the Growth Acceleration Program at MaRS, including the operating structure and value proposition to technology companies scaling to $20M in revenue. She leads recruitment by sourcing, analyzing and selecting companies for the program, as well as executing on an account management strategy ensuring high-value client experience to executive teams. Aoife is passionate about meeting new people and building relationships, solving problems, and contributing to the growth of a business. Prior to joining MaRS, Aoife worked at EY where she managed the Entrepreneur Of The Year Program for Ontario.

Scale-up experience: CEO of Argus Software

• Scaled to $60M ARR/$15M EBIT
• >80,000 customers in nine countries with 40,000 SMB users
• Transitioned company to SaaS model

• Company in turn-around; stabilized and refocused business to supporting 2.4M daily travelers
• Launched an innovative customer experience

• Ranked Wall Street analyst, Managing Director RBC Capital Markets. Covered B2B, B2B2C and other tech companies
• President, Rogers New Media
• BS/MS Engineering MIT; MBA from Harvard
• Creative Destruction Lab Mentor

• Optimizing your value proposition, demand generation and product value pricing strategies
• Positioning your company for success in public markets and late-stage financing, including understanding and managing investor and board stakeholder perspectives

Tony leverages over 25 years of sales and senior leadership experience to challenge and inspire the next wave of Founders in achieving their unrealized potential. He guides management teams in executing growth plans and achieving consistent success where previously they had struggled to meet business objectives. Tony rose through the ranks of Gartner, a leading global research and advisory company. During his tenure, Gartner grew by driving 30+ consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. From individual contributor and sales management to sales leadership and senior corporate leadership, Tony’s charge: to drive consistent growth and retention programs that accelerate business performance across new and tenured sales professionals. As a MaRS Senior Advisor, Tony drives Growth Marketing and Sales Programming for Founders/CEOs and Sales Executives. He mentors’ entrepreneurs, supplying them with the necessary tools, skills and networks to accelerate consistent Growth results. Helping startups prepare for long-term scalability and consistent success. He currently works with ventures at MaRS, MaRS IAF, Stand Up Ventures and BDC.

Scale-up Experience:

• Global CMO of Ceridian
• Scaled Dayforce from $0 to $20M leading to acquisition by Ceridian
• Led Ceridian marketing team to most successful tech IPO of 2018 and $1B in revenue
• Restructured marketing organization into Revenue Center of Excellence leading to 40% of revenue driven by marketing
• VP Marketing of Workbrain
• Scaled Workbrain from $10 to $200M leading to acquisition by Infor
• Grew marketing organization from team of two to 20 people

• Founder of ACCELLE Women in Leadership, which accelerates the personal and professional success of women
• Board member of Orion Talent, Trios College

• All things pre-sales and marketing: brand, awareness, demand generation, PR, performance marketing, etc.
• Sales and marketing operations
• Leadership, organisation structure and team engagement
• Corporate scorecards, metrics and analytics

Scale-up experience:

• HR executive for several later-stage companies
• Scaled headcount from 30-50% YOY
• Significantly decreased turnover and re-engaged employees
• Supported the HR integration of two smaller companies and spun out of another

• Co-author of 2021/22 People Benchmarking Report for High Growth SaaS Companies
• Frequent contributor to The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, HR Reporter
• Top 25 Human Resource Award winner

• M&A cultural integration
• Building a magnetic employer value proposition
• How do you measure up to external HR benchmarks

A senior, award winning global executive leader with over 30 years’ experience, serving in roles such as Chief People Officer, Global Head of Talent as well as SVP, Human Resources for several multinational organizations. Faith is an entrepreneur, Principal & Founder of Infinite Potential HR Consulting & Coaching. She is currently working part time as a Senior Advisor, Talent at MaRS Discovery District. She also recently instructed part-time at York University in the disciplines of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management. Faith serves as an active Professional Advisory Committee board member for degree programs for Sheridan College. Most recently, Faith has been awarded the 2021 induction into the Sheridan College, Pilon School of Business Hall of Fame. Faith has expertise and specialization in: Talent Management, Organizational Design & Development, HR Strategic Planning, Succession Planning, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Employee Relations, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Public speaking as well as media and public relations. Faith’s background has given her broad experience across industries such as, Technology, Pharmaceutical, Engineering, Manufacturing, HR Services, and Insurance.

Scale-up Experience: Head of Drug Development at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals

• Successful product development partnership with multinational Pharma
• Team member raising venture capital financing and eventual IPO
• Early-stage research through to clinical development

• Growth of drug development programs from 10 staff to over 200.
• Successful regulatory approval and marketing authorization

• Founder of Advanced Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Consortium - industry-academic partnership
• Integrated multi-site contract manufacturing and clinical development facilities

• Biotech strategic partnerships
• Therapeutics product development strategies
• VC interactions and financing
• Product licensing (in-/out)

Scale-up experience: Executive Vice President, Pentair

• Grew company from $55M to $180M in 11 years
• Managed five integration projects
• Developed and championed Sales Process Excellence initiative across $250M global business unit
• Deployed globalization and channel growth strategy

• CEO of PE-owned company acquired for $32M and sold for $165M in five years
• Improved EBITDA margin from 9% to 20% via operational excellence strategy
• Acquired one bolt on company as vehicle to enter new market
• Built new US and Belgium plants to expand operations

• Investor and Board member of 2 growth ventures
• Investment thesis advisor to two PE firms

• Sales process
• Product portfolio management
• Strategy execution
• Operations/manufacturing continuous improvement

Scale-up Experience:

• President of Grapevine6. Led the sale of Grapevine6 to Seismic, a unicorn and leader in Sales Enablement Software
• Scaled an enterprise SaaS company by 10x over 3 years

• Advisor and Member of the Investment Committee at Luge Capital
• Spearheaded the enterprise innovation team at RBC

• Business Operations Strategy, Planning and Execution including financial planning, strategy development, corporate development and business operations optimization
• Go-to- market, channel development and partnership strategies and execution
• Building and scaling a successful Customer organization - Services, Success, Support

Scale-up Experience:

• CEO of Vive Crop Protection, a leading Canadian Agtech company
• CEO of Vector Innovations which was grown and sold to AmeriSource Bergen, a Fortune 50 firm
• Directly raised $40M+ in financing
• Active investor in mid-sized Ontario businesses through Abbeywood Partners

• Restructured and financed companies on 3 continents
• Board director for YPO Gold Toronto, Bioenterprise and Vive
• Former Governor and Business Board Chair for the University of Toronto
• Former board member for Washington-based CropLife America

• Entrepreneurial Operating System for scaling your businesses
• Setting up a repeatable and scalable sales engine
• Mentorship and management coaching, including peer mentoring in YPO-type forums
• Financing and pitching for Series B capital