Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Monday announced the appointment of Annette Verschuren as the new chairwoman of the Venture Capital Expert Panel.
Verschuren has been a member of the Venture Capital Expert Panel since May 2013. She has extensive experience in the business community and the venture capital sector as chairwoman and CEO of NRStor Inc., a company focused on accelerating the commercialization of energy storage technologies through the planning and development of energy storage projects.
She was previously president of The Home Depot Canada and Asia and president and co-owner of Michaels of Canada.
The panel in was established in May 2013 in order to advance key elements of the government’s Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP).
Over the past eight months the panel has been providing advice and recommendations on elements of the VCAP, including the selection of four high-performing funds to receive an aggregate investment of $50 million from the federal government and the ongoing evaluation of proposals received under the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program, led by the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.
“It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of Annette Verschuren as the chair of the Venture Capital Expert Panel. With her extensive professional and public experience, Ms. Verschuren has the depth of understanding to help our government make the decisions necessary to improve financing for Canada’s venture capital sector,” said Flaherty.