Sam Vassa

Sam Vassa heads PaymentEvolution - Canada's largest and most loved cloud payroll and payments service. Seeing the desperate need of the payroll industry for low-cost, innovative and full-featured services, he started the company with a mission: to empower small businesses allowing them to manage their own payroll.

Previously, Sam led business development for the capital markets industry at Microsoft Corporation. His team worked with leading Microsoft partners to build compelling solutions for the financial services industry. Sam was responsible for alliance relationships with Microsoft’s largest global partners, as well as sales and marketing execution with the community. He has worked with Microsoft’s US and Canadian subsidiaries and is known for his passion for forming strong partnerships.

Before Microsoft, Sam was a channel manager at Digital Equipment Canada and served with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade at their foreign missions worldwide. He is a board member of Telecompute – a leading software development firm pioneering the use of portable database technology for vertical markets.

Sam is active in the emerging business market as an advisor and mentor to firms seeking management and technology expertise. He is often sought after by the media for his expert comment on IT issues.

Sam is a graduate of McMaster University where he studied biochemistry.

Blog | | Phone  +1-647-776-7600 |  @samvassa

Nirav Mehta

Nirav Mehta heads client services and operations for PaymentEvolution. Nirav brings a deep understanding of world financial markets. As a board member and Vice President of Telecompute, Nirav oversees the development of secure, highly-available custom solutions for Canadian businesses.

A true entrepreneur, Nirav has also owned and operated Naida Corporation, a management consulting firm, for over 10 years. He led the operations for Endless Communications, a leading IT services firm and developed the concept for DigitalStick – a database enhanced device for true application portability. Nirav was also part of the Twine team – an early innovator in integrated HR, payroll and accounting solutions. His entrepreneurial mindset and skills have resulted in the continued success of this business within the ever changing and evolving IT industry.

| Phone  +1-647-776-7600

Ameet Mehta

Ameet Mehta heads development for PaymentEvolution.

Ameet is a leading contributor to secure, portable applications and has patents pending for his innovative work. As a board member and VP of Telecompute, Ameet oversees the development of secure, highly-available custom solutions for Canadian businesses.

| Phone  +1-647-776-7600

Sanjay Dhawan

Sanjay is Vice President of Finance and Operations at Exinda.

He is a technology leader and payments expert having been a member of the stakeholder advisory council of the Canadian Payments Association.

Sajay lead finance and operations for EnStream, was the managing director and co-founder of Pluris Advisory. He is a charter member of the Toronto chapter of TiE - whose mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education.

Mark Horvath

Mark is Research Director for Secure Application Development at Gartner.

He is an expert in security and financial services technology. Before joining Gartner, Mark was an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley where he oversaw Identity and Access Management. Previously, Mark was the Principle Technical Strategist for Microsoft’s US Capital Markets team. He was responsible for mapping current industry problems to Microsoft’s array of partner and product offerings to provide industry-level solutions for problems like algorithmic trading, back office settlement and security and privacy. He also served as the company's Director of Security Mobilization

Mark has a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from Penn State and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from University of Massachusetts.

John Macdonald

John's experience in the software and technology industry spans large and medium organizations such as Microsoft and Navision Software as well as emerging tech-based firms and startups. He is passionate about helping emerging technology firms get to revenue faster, as well as assisting mid-sized firms to build operational capacity and sustain growth. As part-time Entrepreneur-in-Residence for RIC Centre in Mississauga, John connects and develops the network of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurs within the Greater Toronto Region.

Cameron Peters

Cameron is the founder of Trilogy Software.

Cameron has been creating software for the Canadian tax and accounting communities since 1985. He started his first company, 'Cameron Peters Software Products' in high school, and subsequently built Cantax©. Cameron went on to develop a series of innovative products. He co-founded GreenPoint Software in 1995. As CEO and chief architect, he developed the ProFile© Professional Tax Software Suite that became part of Intuit Canada in 2000. After leading the Professional Tax Business at Intuit Canada for a few years, he became the Director, Consumer Tax in Intuit U.K. In 2005 he returned to Canada as the CTO of Intuit Canada & U.K. leading over 250 development and support staff and helping take the QuickBooks© product from 41% to 60% retail market share. Cameron founded Trilogy Software in 2010, where he is defining the future of tax preparation services and software.

Mark Relph

Mark is the Global Business Development Lead at Amazon Web Services.

Mark is a technology evangelist, experienced business leader, team builder and Microsoft veteran. His 20 year track record in tech includes executive leadership, technology evangelism, marketing, sales, business development and product management. Mark has deep roots in the Canadian tech community and most recently ran Silicon Valley VC and startup engagement for Microsoft.

In addition to his role at Amazon, Mark is a mentor and advisor at HIGHLINE.vc. As a proud Canuck, Mark is a Charter Member of the C100, an organization dedicated to supporting Canadian technology entrepreneurship and investment. Mark also sits on the board of the Neil Squire Society, a national not-for-profit organization that empowers Canadians with physical disabilities through technology.

Michel van Leeuwen

Michel van Leeuwen is the Group CEO of Hawksford.

He has an impressive track record of success as a business leader in the global financial services industry for more than 20 years. Michel is also an active private equity investor and consultant. Michel is currently involved in multiple businesses as an investor, non-executive board member and business process consultant.

Michel ran the global Capital Markets practice at Microsoft Corporation, was the CEO of Misys Risk Management Systems. Managing Director of Global Sales and Marketing at State Street in its risk management unit and he led the European, Middle East and African operations for Algorithmics. He is an execution engine – growing the top line and user community for Quotron Financial Systems in the Benelux and Bloomberg Financial Markets LLP in Germany, Switzerland and Austria while he co-founded Tenfore Benelux.

Institutional Investor recognized Michel as the 16th most influential innovator in the global financial industry in their Online Finance 30 ranking in late 2008. Michel is an avid cyclist and runner – competing in multisport events around the world whenever he can. He is a PADI dive instructor and a geek at heart.