MaRS-based Skymeter Corp was founded in 2006.
Management Team:
Preet Khalsa, CTO and Interim CEO: joined Skymeter Corp in 2006 as CTO. He is responsible for overseeing the hardware and software development activities of the firm. Mr. Khalsa has served as CTO or other senior technical positions in entrepreneurial firms Zeno Global, HYWY Corp, Information Advantage and USoft Inc. He started his career with IBM, Oracle and Ernst & Young. Mr. Khalsa has a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.
JD Hassan, CCO: joined Skymeter Corp in 2007 and has taken on the role
of Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Hassan is responsible for leading Skymeter's
business development, sales and marketing activities. He has a 19-year
career in automotive and industrial business development and a degree
from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA from HEC in France.
Keith Mortimer, UK/EU Business Partner: joined Skymeter Corp in 2010 to
support UK and other EU sales activities, especially in road user charging.
Mr. Mortimer is the current chairman of ITS UK, has served previously as
Chief Executive for Efkon UK, and has held sales and marketing roles with
multiple companies in the ITS, IT and defense industries.
Foppe Mijnleiff, NL/EU Business Partner: joined Skymeter Corp in 2009 to
support NL and other EU sales activities, especially in parking and fleets.
Mr. Mijnleiff previously managed an entrepreneurial RFID technology
company, after starting his career as a business consultant in logistics.
Mr. Mijnleiff has an engineering degree in Transport and Logistics from the University of Delft.
Board of Directors:
Donald Johnston, Chairman: joined Skymeter Corp in 2008 as Chairman. Mr. Johnston is the chair of the Technology Team at Aird & Berlis, LLP, and is a well-known technology lawyer with broad experience as a corporate and commercial lawyer. Don is the past President and Co-founder of the Canadian IT Law Association. He is also a member of the International Technology Law Association.
Bern Grush, Director: founded Applied Location, the predecessor firm to Skymeter Corp, in 2002 and co-founded Skymeter Corp in 2006. Mr. Grush has also co-founded three previous entrepreneurial firms. He continues to consult Skymeter, while also supporting the growth of the industry as a whole through his writing, speaking and industry standards work.
Kamal Hassan, Director: Mr. Hassan served as CEO of Skymeter Corp from 2006-2011. He built and led the team, and was responsible for strategy, finance and operations. Mr. Hassan previously served as CEO of In Your Pocket and as Interim COO for Zeno Global. He was also a management consultant with Bain & Co and in R&D with Imax Corp. Mr. Hassan is a graduate of Queen’s University, and has an MBA from INSEAD. He currently serves on the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council for INSEAD. BNN Interview
Donald Lenz, Director: joined Skymeter Corp board in 2009. Mr. Lenz is a Managing Director at Newport Partners, an investment firm he co-founded in 2001. He was previously Vice President and Director of the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of RBC Dominion Securities form 1986 and prior to that, was Vice President Corporate Finance with Goldman Sachs & Co. from 1976.
Barry Giekere, Observer: joined the Skymeter Corp board in 2010, as an observer on behalf of the Ontario Government's Investment Accelerator Fund. Mr. Giekere is Managing director of the MaRS IAF and has over 20 years of experience in venture capital and private equity. He has been a partner at Ventures West, making early stage technology investments in IT, communications, cleantech and medical device companies. He has also served on the board of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association and the IAF.
Advisors:
Skymeter is supported by a number of experienced advisers. These include industry executives who have invested in Skymeter shares, others who support the firm's vision, and the advisory team at MaRS, a Skymeter supporter. Advisers include:
Alan Hutton: has supported Skymeter Corp and its board since 2008. Mr. Hutton is an experienced director, who has served on public, private and NGO boards. Mr. Hutton served as President and CEO of FundSERV Inc from 2001 to 2007, and as President and CEO of First Data from 1996 until its acquisition by CGI in 2001. Earlier in his career Mr. Hutton was with Amdahl and IBM.
Tom Rand: has supported Skymeter Corp since 2009. Mr. Rand is the Lead Cleantech Advisor at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. He is an author, serves on a number of boards, co-developed North America's "greenest" hotel, and founded VCi Green Funds where he remains a director. Mr. Rand's previous entrepreneurial experience includes the founding of Voice Courier Inc in 1991. He is an Action Canada Fellow, holds an MSc from the University of London, and MA and PhD Degrees from the University of Toronto.
Mark Stirling: joined Skymeter Corp as an advisor in 2010. Mr. Stirling is a Vice President of Investments in Ontario at GrowthWorks Capital. He has been actively involved in over 60 Canadian and trans-border M&A and financing deals. He has served as Chairman of xkoto Inc in Boston, and currently sits on the boards of several software companies. Mr Stirling's previous executive positions were at the President, COO or COO/CFO level with Nakisa Inc, ISOPIA Inc, GSA Consulting Inc, Obvious Systems Inc and International Data Corporation (IDC) Canada. He has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and was previously a theoretical physicist with NASA.
Sunny Kumar MHSc, PhD, is an experienced business advisor recognized for engaging directly with early and growth stage technology companies and mentoring them to secure investment capital. He has extensive scientific expertise, investment acumen, and a vast network of contacts that he has leveraged to spearhead numerous financial transactions in which several millions of dollars have been deployed. Dr. Kumar is currently CEO of ASK Solutions Inc., a firm that provides venture advisory and commercialization services to entrepreneurs of early and growth stage technology companies. Dr. Kumar is also Commercialization Manager at the Center for Commercialization of Research (CCR) at the Ontario Centres of Excellence, where leverages his expertise and acumen to manage the portfolio of CCR invested companies. Prior to his current role Dr. Kumar was with the Investment Accelerator Fund, an early stage venture capital fund. Dr. Kumar holds MHSc and PhD degrees in molecular biology from the University of Toronto and completed post-doctoral work in cancer biology from Harvard Medical School.
