Human Resources

Lightspeed's Dax Dasilva wins Startup Canada's entrepreneur of the year

Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed, a Montréal cloud point-of-sale platform, has received Startup Canada's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award." Dasilva was honoured at this week's third annual National Startup Canada Awards in Toronto. Lightspeed, which has raised $145 million in total funding, accounted for Canada's largest venture capital deal in 2015. Other Startup Canada award winners included Nadia Hamilton, founder and CEO of Magnusmode, who took the "Woman Entrepreneur Award," and Randy Yatscoff, executive vice president of TEC Edmonton, who took the "Adam Chowaniec Lifetime Achievement Award."

Real Ventures' Janet Bannister joins Volta Labs' board of directors

Janet Bannister, a general partner at Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures, has become a member of the board of Volta Labs, a Halifax hub for early-stage technology companies. Bannister, a former eBay and Kijiji executive, joined Real Ventures' Toronto office in 2014. She said she was looking forward to "to getting more involved" in the innovation ecosystems of Halifax and Atlantic Canada. Canadian serial entrepreneurs Leah Skerry and Ross Simmonds were also welcomed to Volta Labs' board.

Pritzker Group Venture Capital adds three to LA office

Pritzker Group Venture Capital is beefing up its Los Angeles office with three new additions. Gabe Greenbaum, a partner from the firm's Chicago office has relocated to lead the LA office. He is joined by Peter Liu as vice president and Nico Gimenez as an associate.

VC-backed The Smart Cube makes three C-suite hires

UK-based The Smart Cube, a global analytics company, has named Ruth Crawford as chief marketing officer, Jeremy Weil as chief product officer and Dheeraj Garg as chief information officer. The Smart Cube is backed by Smedvig Capital.

VC-backed Couchbase hires Henry as SVP and CFO

Couchbase, a database solutions provider for the digital economy, has named Greg Henry as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Previously, Henry worked at ServiceNow. Couchbase's backers included Accel Partners, Adams Street Partners, Ignition Partners, Mayfield Fund, North Bridge Venture Partners, Sorenson Capital and WestSummit Capital.

Lisa Suennen to join GE Ventures as managing director

Lisa Suennen will join GE Ventures on Dec. 1 as a managing director, according to her blog.

Acasti Pharma hires new CFO

Acasti Pharma has appointed Linda O'Keefe as chief financial officer. O'Keefe is a former CFO and executive-in-residence for Gryphon Investors. She also served as a CFO for Delphi Ventures. Based in Québec, Canada, Acasti is a biopharmaceutical company focused on treating hypertriglyceridemia.

Andrew Reid launches VC Labs in collaboration with Vision Critical

Andrew Reid, founder and president of Vision Critical, has left the company to launch a new startup called VC Labs. VC Labs will focus on developing software applications that extend the value of insight communities across organizations. Vancouver's Vision Critical, a customer intelligence software and support platform, will partner in the launch. Reid, who founded Vision Critical in 2000, will remain a significant shareholder. The venture-backed company's last financing, led by Georgian Partners in mid-2014, raised $16 million.

SDTC's Leah Lawrence named a Stevie's female exec of the year

Leah Lawrence, president and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), has been named a female executive of the year award winner by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The Stevie Awards, which recognize female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run, announced Lawrence's win in the government-non-profit category on November 18 in New York. Lawrence has led SDTC since mid-2015. She previously headed Clean Energy Capitalists Inc. SDTC provides funding and support to Canadian cleantech projects.

VC-backed Scholar Rock hires chief scientific officer and beefs up board

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company Scholar Rock has named Alan J. Buckler as chief scientific officer and appointed Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier to its board of directors and scientific advisory board. Scholar Rock's backers include Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity Investments, EcoR1 Capital and Cormorant Asset Management.