2023

This year's keynote speaker is Samuel Bruneau, CEO and Co Founder at Taiga Motors followed by a TechIdea Pitch Competition

Keynote Speaker & Judge

Profile Picture of Samuel BruneauShortly after graduating from McGill’s Faculty of Engineering in 2015, Samuel Bruneau co-founded Taiga Motors with two fellow McGill Engineering students, Gabriel Bernatchez and Paul Archard. Combining their passion for electric vehicles developed during their time as leaders of the McGill Undergraduate Electric Vehicle Design teams and their love for the great outdoors, Taiga was launched with the mission to electrify powersports with cutting edge technology that delivers performance without compromise. Since then, Taiga has built a team of more than 300 employees and has begun deliveries of the world’s first production electric snowmobiles and electric personal watercraft. 


TechIdea Judges

Felicity Meyer Profile PhotoFelicity Meyer, Analyst, BoxOne Ventures

As a current master’s student in McGill's Department of Bioresource Engineering, Felicity quantifies the environmental impact of construction in Montreal to provide actionable support towards sustainable urban development. In addition to her studies, Felicity is part of the investment teams at both Front Row Ventures - Canada's leading student-focused VC firm - and BoxOne Ventures.
Prior to studying at McGill, Felicity was the first scientific hire at two early-stage startups, as well as Lab Operations Manager at a newly constructed biotech accelerator. Felicity holds a B.S. in Chemistry and B.S. in Physics from Simmons University in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts, US.


Profile photo of Gary BerdowskiGary Berdowski, Principal, Blue Vision Capital

Gary Berdowski is a Principal at Blue Vision Capital, a Montreal-based VC Climate Tech Seed Stage Fund, with over 4 years of Venture Capital experience. He worked at Cycle Capital, a leading Canadian Cleantech VC firm, for 3 years. Gary also has 7 years of experience in Engineering and Strategic Planning at Velan, an industrial manufacturer. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from McGill and an MBA from Concordia University's Goodman Institute of Investment Management. He holds a CFA Charter and serves as a member of CFA Montreal's ESG Committee.

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