Topic: Pushing the potential of food entrepreneurs
In 2015, Mike McNeil quickly jumped at the chance to build an accelerator program for food and beverage + health and wellness products founded by Canadian entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson. As the first accelerator of its kind in Canada, they learned things the hard way, but eventually, they prevailed. Last year, their accelerator companies did over $150M in revenue.
Today, District Ventures is Canada's ecosystem for consumer goods, featuring a commercial kitchen in Toronto, a $100M venture capital fund, and marketing experts to support brand development.
Mike will touch on a variety of topics in this presentation. If you run a support program for entrepreneurs, you will learn what has worked for DV in propelling early-stage companies forward. If you're an entrepreneur (or thinking of becoming one), Mike will share insights for getting started, raising capital, and some of the approaches that have worked for their entrepreneurs. Throughout his presentation, he will touch on the different resources in their ecosystem. He’s been on all sides of entrepreneurship, and he’s excited to share his experience during this webinar.
Event Details:
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
12:00 - 12:45 p.m. EST
Our Speaker:
Mike McNeil, Vice President, Accelerator & Kitchen Programs, District Ventures
As District Ventures’ first hire, Mike helped establish the accelerator program before joining one of the accelerator companies, Purple Frog.
Before returning to DV, Mike was the Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association and served on the Canadian Craft Brewers Association board.
Mike has substantial experience in connecting private and public partners to support Canadian entrepreneurs. Before joining DV in 2015, Mike was an advisor to Canada’s Minister of Finance. More recently, he served on Calgary’s Task Force for Small Businesses in response to COVID-19.