Mark Dobbin, the founder and president of Newfoundland-based Killick Capital, has been named Angel of the Year at the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) Atlantic Summit. Mariner Partners chairman and co-founder Gerry Pond was the recipient of the NACO Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Gerry is the most influential networker, mentor and technology power player in the province.”
NACO Atlantic 2020 is a national summit with a regional focus on Atlantic Canada. As a national organization, NACO boasts membership of over 4,200 angel investors, over 40 angel groups, and 45-plus incubators and accelerators.
Dobbin was an early angel investor in St. John’s-based Verafin, a FinTech giant in the anti-financial crime management space that was acquired by Nasdaq in November for $2.75 billion in cash. His firm, Killick, was created as a vehicle to invest in the aerospace sector. Dobbin serves as a board member on Killick’s portfolio companies, including Max Arts-Athletics-Wellness, CT Aerospace, and Celtx.
Dobbin also helped found Business and Arts NL, was named Memorial University’s Alumnus of the Year in 2016, and was appointed Irish Honourary Consulate General for Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Mark continues to be a leader in championing the nation’s most promising companies in the innovation ecosystem,” said Michelle Simms, CEO at Genesis Centre. “His continued commitment to the startup community has been one of the drivers of success in Atlantic Canada. Mark’s early angel investment into Verafin, a tremendous Atlantic-based Canadian success story, has led to their recent success with Nasdaq and will have benefits to Canada for many years to come.”
Pond has 45 years of experience in the information and communications technology sector (ICT), having co-founded a number of ICT startups in Atlantic Canada, including Radian6, iMagicTV, Q1 Labs, Brovada Technologies, Shift Energy, and Cirrus9.
Pond is also the co-founder of startup accelerator Propel ICT, the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick, and East Valley Ventures, an accelerator for Atlantic Canadian startups. He previously served as the CEO of NBTel and as president of its successor Aliant Telcom.
Named to the Order of Canada in 2017, Pond was also named Canadian Angel of the Year by Techvibes and KPMG in 2011.
“Gerry is the most influential networker, mentor and technology power player in the province – indeed in the Maritimes,” said Gordon Pitts, author of Unicorn in the Woods. “Pond is the Codefather.”
Image source via NACO
