Niagara Business & Innovation Fund
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Our Leadership & Advisory Team
The NBIF is a not for profit corporation managed by a volunteer Board of Directors with a mandate to provide entrepreneurial advice, investment capital and support to SMEs in Niagara and beyond.
John Mastroianni, Chair
John Mastroianni has been actively involved with the NBIF for many years as a director and Chair of the Corporation. John has had an impressive career in education, including leadership and important curriculum development.
John is a former Regional Councillor in Niagara, and was a member of Welland City Council for several terms.
Fred Davies, President & CEO
Fred has had a diverse career in public and private enterprises and is CEO of the Davies Group Niagara, companies with interests in commercial real estate, the food and beverage sector and consulting. Early in his career, Fred was an Executive Assistant in the House of Commons and was involved in economic development as an EDO in Niagara. He is also a former trustee in the former Niagara South Board of Education and the District School Board of Niagara.
Fred is a founding director and past Chair of the Niagara Angel Network and a member of the Angel One Investor Network. Together these groups have invested substantial capital in a wide range of early stage enterprises and contributing to the growth of the tech sector in Canada. Fred is a Special Advisor and Executive-In-Residence to the NRGI Hub (Niagara Falls Resource Growth & Innovation).
In the community, Fred serves on several boards and agencies over decades generally in the health care sector and is a Regional Councillor for the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Daniel Veniez
Senior Advisor
Dan is a senior executive and entrepreneur in sectors ranging from technology, commercial real estate development, forest products, mining, transportation. He has held board and executive management positions within privately held and publicly listed corporations in North America. His roles span a variety of sectors, including strategy consulting, natural resources, real estate development, and finance. He has sat on advisor boards of ten start-up in Canada, the United States, and Germany.
Dan’s executive experience includes being CEO of NWBC Timber and Pulp Ltd., Skeena Cellulose Inc., LDW Hotel and Resorts Inc., Chairman of Ridley Terminals Inc., a federal crown corporation, and Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs of Repap Enterprises Inc. He served a senior advisor to cabinet ministers in the federal departments of Industry, Science and Technology, Employment and Immigration, Fisheries and Oceans, Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Office of Western Economic Diversification. He was also a legislative assistant to a member of the House of Commons.
Dan Bordenave
Advisor
Dan is a graduate from Brock University with his bachelor of kinesiology (honours) and a Masters of Science in Applied Health Science with a focus on Motor Learning. While studying his masters Dan was working as a kinesiologist in a long term care setting and found a pain point in the current method of ambulation training. This is what sparked Dan to create his own medical company (Bisep) and build his flagship device The ARMM (ambulation, retraining, mobility, mechanism). Dan has won multiple awards for his invention and recently named the top emerging senior innovation company in Ontario by the Age-Well Organization. The ARMM device is currently being used in Hospitals and Long-Term Care Home across Canada and is transforming the lives of patients and caregivers.
In addition to being an entrepreneur Dan is the CEO for NRGI Hub (Niagara Falls, Resource, Growth and Innovation Hub), a community-based innovation centre and incubator in Niagara Falls in where companies seek help and guidance to help bring their ideas to fruition. The hub has been a staple in Niagara Falls and has helped hundreds of companies over the years and has created hundreds of jobs for the local community. The NRGI hub is on its next phase of growth partnering with large education partners in the community with the goal of making the NRGI and Niagara Falls the gateway to commercializing innovation in North America.
