We are a CPG Growth Ecosystem

​Our Vision

A thriving ecosystem that drives innovation, accelerates growth, and shapes the future of Canadian CPG entrepreneurship, empowering food and beverage founders to overcome challenges and achieve exceptional success.

 

Our Mission

Founded for entrepreneurs, we provide unparalleled support, resources, and community to help businesses scale, grow and succeed, thereby strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit and foundation of the Canadian economy.

We put entrepreneurs first. We are impact-driven. We strive for better.

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$1.4+ B

Cumulative Alumni Revenue

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350

Alumni in Our Community

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30,000

Stores Stock Our Alumni Products

Founded by Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson is a visionary Canadian entrepreneur, industry leader, investor, and the founder of Venturepark. With decades of business experience and as the founder of District Ventures Capital, a venture capital fund focused on food, beverage, and health and wellness, she understands firsthand what it takes to build a successful brand.

Widely recognized as a long-standing Venture Capitalist on Dragons’ Den, a three-time bestselling author, philanthropist, and an inductee into Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame, Arlene brings a wealth of experience to everything Venturepark does.

Venturepark was born from her belief that Canadian entrepreneurs deserve access to the right mentorship, community and resources to thrive.

Our Team

Glen Price

President

Glen Price

President

Glen’s journey with Sunterra Quality Food Markets spans over three decades. After earning a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and building his retail food expertise in Hong Kong, he returned to Canada in 1989 and helped pioneer the European-style fresh market concept, opening the first Sunterra Market in Calgary in 1990. Glen also lends his experience to boards including the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre and the Haskayne School of Business Management Advisory Board.

Kalyan Chinnamanthur

Head of Program Operations

Kalyan Chinnamanthur

Head of Program Operations

Kalyan has many years of experience leading large multinational consumer packaged goods brands in corporate strategy, finance, and operations. As Head of Programs at Venturepark, he is committed to helping entrepreneurs build the fundamentals needed to achieve sustainable growth. Kalyan brings a commitment to continuous improvement and a strong growth mindset to lead the Accelerator team.

Marlis Bens

Head of Resource Development

Marlis Bens

Head of Resource Development

Marlis has a background in leading product development and regulatory affairs in both grocery retail and large-scale food manufacturing.  As part of the Venturepark team she has guided over 150 early-stage food and beverage companies to design and launch and their products through the Concept to Market Sprint program. Marlis believes that every founder’s journey is unique even when they share the common goal to build a great brand.

Saadia Syed

Program Lead

Saadia Syed

Program Lead

Saadia brings over a decade of experience in business development, strategic advisory, and venture capital. As an Associate Vice President at RBCx, she advised technology clients on scaling strategies, and during five years at Platform Calgary she coached over 100 entrepreneurs on market validation and go-to-market strategy. She has also designed entrepreneurship programs at NAIT and built partnerships across the public and private sectors. Saadia holds an MBA in Finance from Dalhousie University and is based in Calgary.

Allison Webb

Communications and Content Lead

Allison Webb

Communications and Content Lead

Allison brings over five years of experience in communications and content development, including work within the health and wellness consumer packaged goods space. As Communications and Content Lead at Venturepark, she supports the Growth Hub platform and national CPG founder network through educational programming, platform development, and industry initiatives. Based in Calgary, Allison is motivated by building strong founder communities and creating resources that help entrepreneurs grow and scale successfully across Canada.

Serene Martin

Executive in Residence

Serene Martin

Executive in Residence

Serene has over 20 years of experience in the consumer-packaged goods sector.  She brings hands-on experience as the Director, National Marketing and Business Development for Tree of Life,  a full-service nationwide product distributor and partner to Venturepark. As an Accelerator Executive in Residence, Serene shares her expertise to support early-stage consumer packaged goods brands by giving companies insightful and applicable feedback to help them to strategically view their value proposition, branding, distribution and sales channel strategy. 

Rob Horricks

Executive in Residence

Rob Horricks

Executive in Residence

Rob brings his expertise in the consumer-packaged goods retail space to the Venturepark Accelerator Cohort companies. Rob founded Blush Lane Organic Grocery Chain in 2004 and post sale he continued as CEO within the Spud.ca group of companies until 2023.  As an Executive in Residence, Rob shares his expertise in the importance of having a strong business model, strategic organizational structure and all things finance.

Ted Fleming

Executive in Residence

Ted Fleming

Executive in Residence

In 2017, Ted set out to prove that a great-tasting, low-calorie non-alcoholic beer could stand tall, and he has been redefining the category ever since. Founded after a Crohn’s diagnosis led him to give up alcohol, Partake is now an award-winning, B-Corp certified leader, earning Ted a place on the Globe & Mail Changemakers list and Maclean’s Power 100. As an Executive in Residence, he guides new and growing CPG brands to think bigger and scale with purpose.

Carley George

Executive in Residence

Carley George

Executive in Residence

Carley brings over 18 years of experience across consumer technology, health tech, consumer packaged goods, and strategic partnerships and was named one of Canada’s 50 Best Executives in Sales and Marketing by The Globe and Mail (2021). As President of Vitalist Inc., she leads brand strategy, product marketing, communications, and co-branding initiatives for the company’s connected-device ecosystem. As an Executive in Residence at Venturepark, Carley draws on this experience to mentor CPG brands in the Accelerator.

Board of Directors

Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson

Arlene is the Founder and General Partner of District Ventures Capital, a fund that invests in food, beverage, and health and wellness companies. She has been a Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den for over 16 seasons and is a three-time best-selling author. Her honours include the Southern Alberta Business Hall of Fame, the Marketing Hall of Legends, Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals. Arlene also served as an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy for over 10 years.

Craig Hanna

Craig Hanna

Craig is the founder and Managing Director of Clearview Advisory, Canada’s first advisory firm focused only on the food, beverage, and consumer sectors. He has been recognised as a Canadian Dealmaker of the Year by Lexpert, Deloitte, The Globe and Mail, and Thomson Reuters. Craig sits on the advisory board of Nature’s Touch Frozen Foods, one of North America’s largest frozen fruit suppliers, and is involved with many food businesses as a founder, advisor, and investor. He has mentored with the Accelerator since shortly after it launched.

Ashton Sequeira

Ashton Sequeira

Ashton brings over 25 years of experience in food service and hospitality and is COO of Compass Group Canada, where he oversees an $800M business across diverse industries. As COO of Levy Sports and Entertainment in Chicago, he led the post-pandemic recovery of more than 250 locations, including the Daytona 500 and the Kentucky Derby. Before that, as President of the Education Group at Chartwells, he grew the business through its award-winning Thinking Ahead Giving Back vision, which supports food security and community programs. In 2022, Ashton received the Inclusive Leadership Award from the National Diversity Council of North America.

Robert Faulder

Robert Faulder

Robert spent over 25 years in the public sector with the Alberta Research Council and the National Research Council. At the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), he held a range of roles, most recently Director General, IRAP Prairies, where he managed a $50M budget and led a team of more than 50 until he retired in June 2023. Robert also volunteered with APEGA for 25 years, supporting Alberta’s engineering and research community.

Glen Price

President

Glen Price

President

Glen’s journey with Sunterra Quality Food Markets spans over three decades. After earning a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and building his retail food expertise in Hong Kong, he returned to Canada in 1989 and helped pioneer the European-style fresh market concept, opening the first Sunterra Market in Calgary in 1990. Glen also lends his experience to boards including the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre and the Haskayne School of Business Management Advisory Board.

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