Who We Are

Michael Held founded LifeSpeak in 2004. Previously, Mr. Held practiced as a corporate lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and securities law and, subsequently, as a consultant at Monitor Group, where he provided advice to Canadian and global organizations with respect to developing business unit and corporate strategies, evaluating acquisition and merger opportunities, and enhancing strategic planning and organizations processes. He graduated with the gold medal from the combined LLB/MBA program at the University of Toronto in 1997.

Nolan Bederman is the Executive Chair of the Company. Mr. Bederman is also the founder and managing partner of Bederman Capital Corp., a private equity business focused on investing in North American growth companies. In 2017, he formalized a partnership with New York-based Reynolds Channel Capital Partners, a private equity fund focused on making similar investments. In addition to Chairing several private company boards, Mr. Bederman also sits on the board of directors of Harbor Diversified, Inc. (owner of Air Wisconsin). Before founding Bederman Capital Corp., Mr. Bederman was a co-founding partner of Genuity Capital Partners, a mid-market private equity fund, where he spent almost ten years leading numerous successful private equity investments. Prior to joining Genuity, Mr. Bederman was an Executive Director in private equity at CIBC Capital Partners. Mr. Bederman was also a Vice President in the US Mergers & Acquisitions group of Merrill Lynch & Co., where he focused on advising global companies in the capital/consumer goods, transportation, food, and pharma sectors. Mr. Bederman graduated with the Gold Medal from the combined JD/MBA program from the University of Toronto and a BA (Econ.) from the University of Western Ontario, where he won the Chancellor’s prize and the Gold Medal in Economics.

Since 2013 Mario Di Pietro has been the Founding Partner and Principal at Origin Merchant Partners, an independent M&A advisory boutique and merchant banking group in Canada. Mr. Di Pietro serves as Director of Dye & Durham Limited (TSX: DND), a leading provider of cloud-based software and technology solutions for legal and business professionals, where he serves as Chair of the Governance & Nominating Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Di Pietro is also a Director at Raven Connected Inc., a venture-backed, high-growth technology company focused on the development of a video telematics solution for small-to-medium size fleets. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Di Pietro was Director, Global Technology Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets, responsible for expanding the technology platform across North America and supporting the expansion of offices and clients in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Prior to 2011, he was Executive Director in CIBC World Markets’ Technology, Media, and Telecom Group. Mr. Di Pietro holds an MBA from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and an Honours BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Sanjiv Samant joined Round13 Capital in 2020 to establish the Round13 Growth Fund as a Founder and Managing Partner. Mr. Samant has spent over 20 years in the technology and healthcare sectors. Prior to establishing the Round13 Growth Fund, Mr. Samant headed the Technology, Media, Telecommunication, Sustainability, and Healthcare investment banking group at a Canadian bank-owned dealer. During his professional career, Mr. Samant has advised a wide variety of Canadian growth companies on mergers & acquisitions, initial public offering, and capital raising initiatives, including leading transactions for several of the most prominent public software-as-a-service companies in Canada. Mr. Samant holds a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and a Joint LLB/ MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School/Schulich School of Business at York University.

Dr. Kevin Smith is President & Chief Executive Officer of University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s largest academic health sciences centre. Dr. Smith has spent his career at the interface of the University and Research Hospital and is passionately committed to the mission of education, research, and exemplary clinical care. Dr. Smith is a pioneer in advancing integrated care models spanning the continuum of health and social services. Dr. Smith is a Professor at the Institute for Medical Sciences, Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and at the De Groote School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University. Educated in Canada, the US, and Great Britain, Dr. Smith began his career in medical education, followed by leadership roles in university administration, academic hospitals, and health systems. He is professionally certified in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Harvard Program in Effective Governance and completed the Wharton School CEO Program for Health Care Leadership. Dr. Smith currently serves as Chair, Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario and was privileged to serve in many past roles, including Chair, The Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Hospital Association, and as a frequent advisor to governments and the private sector.

Caroline Starner Dadras is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the executive team at Unified Women’s Healthcare, LP In this role, she is responsible for all aspects of human resources, the company’s ESG strategy, and delivery of the company’s people services offering to affiliate practice groups. She chairs the Unified Employee Support Fund, a charitable organization created to support employees experiencing economic hardship. Ms. Dadras is currently serving as Sr. Talent Advisor to Ares Mgmt Private Equity, where she advises investment professionals and portfolio company executives on talent and organizational strategies that accelerate value creation. Prior to joining Unified, she was President of Starner 2.0, Inc., a consulting firm she began in 2016, solely to advise high-growth companies on the best way to align their talent and business strategies to create value. Earlier in her career, she has also held Human Resources leadership positions at Oakley, Inc., Pacific Sunwear of California, Gap Inc., Chase Bank, YUM! Brands, and Johnson & Johnson.

During her career she was named Executive of the Year by the National Human Resources Association, with special recognition for Innovation in Human Resources. Caroline holds a BSc in Industrial Relations from Cornell University.

Rajesh Uttamchandani is the Chief People Officer of ApplyBoard Inc., an online platform for international student recruitment. More recently, he was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer of MaRS Discovery District, leading People & Culture, IT, Digital Strategy, Legal, as well as Marketing and Communications for North America’s largest innovation hub.

Mr. Uttamchandani was also the CHRO & Managing Director of Zafin, a global FinTech organization. Mr. Uttamchandani also serves on the board and is the chair of the human resources and compensation committee of the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, and is also a board member of Canadian Stage where he leads the Workplace and Policies Committee.

Mr. Uttamchandani holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Chaminade University of Honolulu, a Master of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, a Certificate in International Organizational Design from the London School of Economics and a Juris Doctor and Masters of Law (LLM) in Employment & Labour from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. Mr. Uttamchandani is called to the Bar of Ontario and is an adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto where he teaches in the Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources.