During this fireside chat discussion, you will be able to learn what are the first steps of starting business in Canada. The event can be interesting not only for newcomers, but also for those who are well aware of Canadian business environment but would like to hear experts' opinion. The event will be organized in room W-306 (Vancouver House Campus)

Speaker 1:

Ray Walia, CEO of Launch Academy

Recognized as one of the 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in Vancouver, Canada for 2021 & 2022, Ray Walia is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in both the entertainment and technology sectors. Ray founded Launch Ventures which owns and operates a network of proprietary accelerators, innovation labs, and investment funds. The most prominent incubator is Launch Academy, Western Canada’s leading entrepreneurship facility, which has worked with more than 6000 entrepreneurs of which 300 have grown their startups to Seed and Series A stage and raised over $2.5 Billion in funding. Launch Academy is a designated provider for the Canadian Startup Visa Program. Ray has invested in over 30+ startups either personally or through his funds and was named Entrepreneur Mentor of the Year for 2014 and 2015, BIV Top Forty Under 40, G20 Young Entrepreneur, BC Tech Person of The Year Finalist 2018, and elected as Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia, FCPA, FCMA in 2022.

Speaker 2:

Ilya Brotzky - Founder & CEO of VanHack

Featured in Fast Company, Forbes and Time, Ilya Brotzky is the CEO and CoFounder of VanHack, a leading HR Tech startup. Ilya leads a team of over 40 employees from 11 countries with the mission of creating a borderless world for tech talent through jobs. He holds a Bachelors of Applied Economics from Cornell University and has helped raise over $100,000 for a variety of charities in Africa and South America.

Speaker 3:

Shreyas Korgaonkar - Director of Movink Immigration Services

Shreyas is a finance and immigration consulting professional living in Canada for the past 12 years. He is knowledgeable about different career paths for international students due to his diverse work experience. Having lived in Asia, Europe and North America, Shreyas is aware of the challenges faced by immigrants in a new country and understands the significance of all steps involved from planning a move and settling down.

Over the years, Shreyas has volunteered his time with numerous immigrants assisting them with the immigration process, career guidance, and professional networking within the local job markets all across Canada. He holds a MBA from University of Manitoba and has accumulated a lot of varied experience in sectors such as hospitality, commercial banking, logistics and retail operations.

Shreyas is passionate about helping immigrants’ transition to a new life in Canada and therefore, provides ancillary services such as financial management advice, education and career counselling, resume building, introductions to established realtors, brokers and property management companies.

In addition to immigration consulting, Mr. Korgaonkar is well connected with diverse professionals and businesses in local markets due to his involvement in the business community.

Speaker 4:

Cynthia Shippam (IRAP ITA)

Cynthia is an Industry Technical Advisor (ITA) with the National Research Council (NRC-IRAP). IRAP works with SMEs to support growth through innovation. Cynthia brings to her role as an ITA more than 20 years’ experience in research, technology transfer, commercialization and intellectual property protection with SMEs. She has developed and managed intellectual property in a variety of industries, both in private practice and in-house. Her academic and professional experience (PhD, MBA, Patent Agent) provides her with a broad technical background in life sciences, including: research in agriculture and infectious disease models; assessment, protection and commercialization of novel chemical entities; bioinformatics; assay development; and medical devices.