About

Leadership

PANKAJ GOGIA, MBA

CEO

Pankaj Gogia is an accomplished technology executive with diverse background in designing and executing strategies. Experienced in strategy, finance, sales & business development, operations, M&A and investments.

In his 20+ years with Sigma Systems, he played a key role in the development and guidance of Sigma’s roadmap to success. He has been vitally involved in the development and evolution of Sigma’s business model, the expansion and optimization of sales process, and its sales and business development efforts, all while playing a key role in closing some of the company’s largest deals. He was responsible for leading the company’s strategic planning process and acted as an internal consultant to the management team on all operations, product development, finance and strategy matters. With Pankaj’s lead, Sigma pursued and successfully executed various acquisition, divestiture and financing transactions ranging from $5M to $150M+.

Pankaj co-founded a social networking app company in 2010, which had 5M+ downloads, before being sold to Rebellion Media in 2012. Pankaj has consulted with investment banks in Europe and Asia on various public and private market mandates, and led the process for two financial services asset carve-out deals worth $40M+ from large public and PE backed companies.

Pankaj holds several degrees in computer technology and business management, including an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Schulich School of Business.

DON WAUGH

Chief Evangelist and Founder

Don has over 15 years of extensive experience in the high-tech sector, most recently as the Founder and Co-CEO of Applied Recognition.

Previously he was the CEO and Founder of PCAS Patient Care Automation Services which is revolutionizing the dispensing and management of prescription medicine.

Prior to PCAS Don was the founder Echoworx Corporation, an encryption security software company specializing in Internet based applications. Previously to that he was the founder of CoolWater/CIMtegration, an internet development firm.

DataVation, a data storage company. Professionally Don was a CMA becoming an entrepreneur nearly 20 years ago. He is a multi-patent holder for encryption technologies, drug dispensing systems and face recognition applications.

RAY GANONG

CTO

Prior to Applied Recognition, Ray was a co-founder of Emergency Response Management Services (ERMS) Corp and was instrumental in creating their world-class notification technology.

Previously, Ray was Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of EVault, Inc., a developer of Internet-based backup technology that was sold in January 2007 to Seagate for $185 million.

Prior to EVault, Ray was founder and President of VytalNet, a developer of tape, records and information management systems. VytalNet was founded in 1994 and merged with EVault in 2001.

Prior to VytalNet, Ray was co-founder of VytalBase Inc., a successful data protection firm that was acquired by Recall in 1994. Ray has an Honours Bachelor of Math in Computer Science from the Univ. of Waterloo (1983). He is a multi-patent holder for online backup technology and holds a range of patents related to face recognition and anti-spoofing.

Our Board

PAUL G. SMITH, MBA, MPA, ICD.D

Chairman

Comfortable in large organizations and in entrepreneurial settings, Paul G. Smith is an accomplished professional offering a comprehensive mix of public and private sector experience, together with board of director, CEO and CFO experience across diverse industries.

He began his career in the federal public sector where he served in advisory roles within Ministerial offices of the Government of Canada, including as Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister.

After formative years in the private sector with Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), he co-founded Equity Financial Holdings (TSX: EQI) and transformed it into an OSFI-regulated, publicly-traded financial institution. More recently, he has taken an active role in Frontline Broadband Inc. leading its transition into one of Canada’s fastest-growing small cable companies.

Paul serves, or has served, on the boards of directors of over a dozen public, private, non-profit, academic and governmental entities. Notably, he served on the board of VIA Rail Canada and was the youngest Chair in the Crown Corporation’s history. Recently, he was appointed Chair of Park Lawn Corporation (TSX: PLC).

Fluent in English and French (maternal language), he has lived in France and across Canada. His academic studies include two Masters and two Bachelor degrees, as well as the ICD.D designation. He was recently appointed as the Canadian Trustee for the INSEAD Alumni Fund.

CHRIS YE

Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Uken Games. He's led the company through the launch of 14 mobile games, including feature titles Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Jeopardy! World Tour, which have collectively amassed over 58 million downloads worldwide. This success has helped propel Uken into one of the largest independent game studios in Canada. In late 2018, he organized the sale of Bingo Pop, Uken's largest title at the time, to Jam City which resulted in a significant exit. As a Toronto native and proud Canadian, Chris believes in developing a strong startup ecosystem at home. He contributes to this as an active angel investor and startup advisor, supporting accelerator programs like Techstars, the Next36, Highline and others. He founded the company immediately after graduating with a BBA from the Schulich School of Business.

MARK LAMPERT

Mark cofounded Uken Games in 2009, helping it become one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. He led the uWars project and then Bingo Pop, and is a champion of data driven product management and continuous improvement.

His first startup was a social music site, cofounding it at 16 and growing it to a team of 10. He also founded the largest desktop customization site while at university.

He attended the University of Guelph graduating with a Honours Bachelor of Computing.