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 John Albright is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund™ and is Founder and Managing Partner of JLA Ventures.
The BlackBerry Partners Fund was established in 2008 and has raised two funds to date in the amount of $150 million each from a diverse group of institutions and strategic partners. The BlackBerry Partners Fund invests in early stage companies that benefit from and/or enable the mobile internet. JLA Ventures was established in 1996 and has raised $315 million over four funds from a diverse group of institutional investors. JLA Ventures invests in early stage companies that focus on digital media and software.
During his tenure in the venture capital business John gained extensive experience assisting entrepreneurs shape their vision and capital plans into successful long term growth programs which typically involved an aggressive financing strategy. John has a history of assisting entrepreneurial companies through significant growth and eventually to the public markets. His ability to work with and advise senior management of investee companies, as well as his skills in filling supporting roles where existing management lack the experience or skill set, has been vital to the success of past investments. John currently serves as a director of QuickPlay Media, Nexage, Viewdle, Padopolis, Digby, Achievers, ClearFit and Blue Ant Media. In addition, John serves as a director of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) and is an advisory board member of the North American Venture Capital Association. John previously served on the board of Fun Technology (IPO 2003, acquired by Liberty Media 2006), Q9 Networks (IPO 2004, acquired by Abry 2008), Descartes (IPO 1997), Triple G (IPO 2001, acquired by General Electric 2003 ), Bioscrypt (IPO 2002) and Sirit (IPO 1998, acquired by Federal Signal 2010). John is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.
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Twitter: @johnlalbright
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 Tawfiq Arafat joined JLA Ventures in 1998. Tawfiq's extensive experience in venture capital investing includes evaluating, structuring, and executing investments in various sectors of the technology industry. Prior to joining JLA Ventures, Tawfiq was employed by Buro Happold, U.K. as a consulting engineer overseeing Sheraton Hotels International construction activities in Jordan. Tawfiq received his Honours Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering degree from University College, London University, U.K. Tawfiq serves as a director of ecobee Inc., Espial, Shoplogix, TIM Group, and VFM Leonardo Inc. |
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 Marc joined JLA Ventures in August 2008 and brings to the team extensive experience in the communications and venture investing industries.
Prior to joining JLA Ventures, Marc spent six years with Summerhill Venture Partners (formerly BCE Capital) investing in communications/technology centric companies throughout North America. He also worked at Bell Mobility driving their strategic equity investment efforts on behalf of the mobile carrier. Prior to Bell, Marc was a senior consultant with the McKenna Group, a strategic consulting firm focused on companies operating within emerging technology markets. During his tenure, Marc advised early stage ventures on their go-to-market strategies.
Marc began his professional career with Ericsson Communications working as a product manager for wireless networks. With Ericsson, Marc played a key role in deploying the first TDMA-based fully integrated dual-band wireless network in the world for Rogers AT&T.
Marc received a BASc in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. |
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