DMZ

Co-founder and CEO of portfolio company ARKI.

Adrian Bulzacki is an entrepreneur, professor, and investor focused on technology innovation, business strategy, and spatial computing. He founded ARB Labs Inc., a company working in casino table security and gesture recognition technology, and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from TMU along with more than a dozen international patents in areas such as machine learning and gesture recognition. He teaches MBA students, mentors at DMZ, invests in early-stage companies, and has recently worked on quantum technology projects.

Adunni Rufai is a design strategist, innovation coach, and UX leader with over a decade of experience across financial audit, product strategy, and user experience design. She previously served as an Experience Design Manager at TD Bank and as Head of Experimentation at the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Nigeria, and has also worked as a Full-Stack Designer, Product Manager, and Consultant. Her work focuses on design thinking, business model innovation, and growth experimentation to help founders build and scale ventures.

Alex Kolodkin is the founder of Set Scouter, a marketplace that connects commercial and video producers with film-friendly locations, with clients including major brands and agencies. The company is venture-backed and a 500 Startups alumnus. Before founding it, he worked as a corporate video producer, television-series broadcaster, and video editor, and he holds an MA in Media Production from Toronto Metropolitan University and a certificate from UCLA.

Alex Thibault is a tech executive, entrepreneur, investor, and lawyer with experience spanning strategy, product, marketing, sales, fundraising, operational finance, and M&A. His background includes serving as COO of a company with over $100M in revenue, leading North America for a French tech company, working as a law firm partner in Canada, and building and selling the B2B SaaS company Edilex. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson and a law degree from Université de Sherbrooke.

Ali Kiassat is a founder, business development executive, and management consultant who works with DMZ founders on identifying customer personas, closing first sales, building and scaling sales playbooks, and finding product-market fit. He previously was a founding member of a proptech startup, a consultant in the blockchain space, and a people leader at a Silicon Valley SaaS company, and helped grow a Toronto-based startup from 40 to over 170 employees. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and has about a decade of sales and leadership experience in tech.

Alnur Ismail is an entrepreneur and senior executive with over 20 years of experience in product development. In 2016 he co-founded Fourwalls, a real estate technology SaaS platform for residential agents and brokerages in Canada, where he led product and engineering and stayed on as Chief Technology Officer after the company was acquired in 2021. He previously worked in engineering, product development, and as a technical evangelist at Microsoft, and holds an Honours Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.

Andrea Matheson is an Expert-In-Residence at DMZ focused on high-growth strategy and scaling. She advises startups on growth strategy, change management, and founder coaching, and has grown three startups from launch to exit, including one that reached US$175 million in 24 months. Over the past five years she has mentored and advised more than 1,000 entrepreneurs.

Balaji Gopalan is Co-Founder and CEO of MedStack, focusing on healthcare innovation and digital health. He specializes in product management and building software platform ecosystem businesses across multiple industries, and has more than 20 years of experience building digital products, including work on BlackBerry's BBM and platform strategy roles at D2L, Nymi, and EventMobi. He also works as a startup educator, advisor, and mentor, having developed and taught a product management curriculum and been named Founder Institute's Most Supportive Mentor for Canada.

Brian Deck is a tech entrepreneur who has been building companies since 1995, focused on customer engagement, loyalty, and e-commerce platforms. He grew up in a restaurant family that owned Fran's Restaurants and founded Smooth Commerce, a restaurant technology company that processes monthly sales for brands across North America.

Brigitte Hermanns is a marketing professional with over eight years of experience working with brands and entrepreneurs. She started in CPG retail marketing before founding Alveare Social, a Toronto-based social media marketing agency serving B2B, B2C, and solopreneur clients. Her work focuses on growth strategy, content marketing, and analytics.

Cassandra Drake is a digital marketing expert with over ten years of experience building multi-channel strategies for startups, solopreneurs, and global brands, including Meta. She has guided more than 100 early-stage businesses through incubation and supported over 1,500 founders in launching and scaling their ventures. She is the founder of The VIZION, a social enterprise accelerator, and focuses on growth strategy, sales channels, marketing execution, and founder mindset.

Chad Allard is a copywriter focused on brand messaging, content marketing, and SEO-driven content. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, he has worked on marketing campaigns, developed brand voices, and rebranded businesses, producing content such as landing pages, blogs, articles, newsletters, and product descriptions. At DMZ he serves as an Expert-In-Residence, helping founders with copywriting, brand messaging, and content development.

Chris Bardos focuses on product commercialization and growth, with 14 years of experience helping early-stage, B2B venture-backed founders reach product-market fit. He advises pre-seed to Series B startups, emphasizing the creation of market demand over product pushing. Teams he has worked with have appeared on Deloitte's Fast 50 and collectively raised over $53M.

Chris Snoyer is an entrepreneur who serves as an Expert-In-Residence at DMZ, focusing on sales and go-to-market strategy. His areas of expertise include restaurant technology, e-learning, bootstrapping, and business growth. He mentors founders on scaling their businesses, applying technology, and refining go-to-market execution.

Rotimi Tijani leads DMZ's Black Innovation Programs, designing programming and mentoring founders. He has experience launching e-commerce ventures in Nigeria and supporting founders across North America, with a background in venture capital and startup ecosystems.

Shane Flynn leads DMZ's strategic partnerships and ecosystem development, working with governments, corporations, and academic institutions across Canada and globally. He joined DMZ as a student staff member in 2012 and helped transition the organization to an equity-based model and launch its Indigenous entrepreneurship programming.