Alberta Enterprise Corporation

Rebecca Giffen has over 20 years in Canadian venture capital and has been with AEC since 2010, previously serving as Director of Fund Investments at BDC Venture Capital. She holds MBA and BComm degrees from the University of Calgary.

Christiana Manzocco leads investment work at AEC, having grown the Start Alberta Deal Flow Platform and led the 2021 Alberta Tech Deal Flow Study. She previously worked with Dealroom.co and in management consulting.

Matthew McGrath is a CPA, CA with over a decade in financial services, previously serving as Senior Impact Investment Manager at Vancity and working in audit at PwC. He holds a Bachelor of Management from the University of Lethbridge.

Avital Adler is a Principal on the Arkin Bio Ventures management team at Arkin Capital, which she joined in 2025 to lead early and late-stage investments. She previously spent four years at aMoon, where she conducted scientific and business diligence for private biotech and tools and diagnostics investments and helped establish the firm's public markets platform, aMoon Edge. Adler holds a PhD in Neural Computation from the Hebrew University, completed postdoctoral research at NYU Medical Center, and has authored 21 peer-reviewed publications.

Alan Campbell co-founded EZ-Robot, which exited in 2018, and has since supported the Alberta tech ecosystem through initiatives such as Founder Institute Calgary and Combine Venture Builders. He holds accreditation from UC Berkeley's Venture Capital Executive Program.

Carolina Rahikka is an international business professional with cross-sector experience spanning technology, oilfield services, and other industries. She holds a joint BBA from institutions in Finland and Germany and is fluent in four languages.

Deepashree Bagul is an accounting professional with over seven years in corporate and public accounting, qualified as a Chartered Accountant in India and pursuing her CPA. She holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Mumbai.

Derrick Hunter is President and CEO of Bluesky Equities Ltd., one of the most active angel investors in Southern Alberta, and was named Canadian Angel Investor of the Year in 2019. He is a graduate of Queen's University and the University of Calgary.

Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is president emerita of the University of Calgary and a geomatics engineering expert who has commercialized GPS technology worldwide. She is a corporate director and seed-stage investor, particularly in female-founded companies.

Jenilou Neufeld has over six years of accounting experience, having previously worked at Innovate Calgary and Platform Calgary. She earned a Bachelor of Applied Business Administration from SAIT and is pursuing her CPA designation.

Jennie Allen has over 15 years in the financial sector and previously served as CFO of the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Management from the University of Lethbridge and a CPA, CA designation.

Justin Ferrara is a securities lawyer focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, advising publicly traded and privately held clients on a range of transactional matters.

Leon Thai joined AEC after working as a surety bond underwriter and previously served as CFO and COO of a fitness tech startup. He is a CFA charterholder and a graduate of the MacEwan School of Business.

Milanne Desfosses has seven years of experience as a tech ecosystem builder in Calgary, previously working at Platform Calgary as Lead of Growth. She is a graduate of the Okanagan College School of Business.

Neil Sadaranganey is Managing Director of NTT Docomo Ventures, leading US and Canadian fund and direct investments, and was previously a General Partner at Bay Partners. He holds an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Sharilee Fossum is Chief Operating Officer at design firm DIALOG and previously served as CFO at MacEwan University. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an ICD.D designation.

Ted Redmond has more than 25 years of operating, transactional, and advisory experience across energy, technology, and industrial businesses, including CEO roles at several public and private companies. He holds an MBA from Stanford and lives in Edmonton.

Tracey Scarlett is an experienced board director and former CEO who has started and scaled technology ventures, serving on boards including the Business Development Bank of Canada. She holds an MBA specializing in Technology Commercialization from the University of Alberta.