Mr. Steve Sidwell, President

Mr. Sidwell has been an entrepreneur for the past 18 years, founding five different companies, the most successful of which generated revenues of $200 million within three years. His background includes real estate syndication and development, retail, franchising, resort development and management, golf and the training industry. Mr. Sidwell has been responsible for raising the capital to fund these projects ranging in size from a few thousand dollars up to $50 million. This process has involved dealing with small private investors to very large institutional investors.

Mr. Sidwell has an excellent understanding of the needs of companies at all stages of development, particularly in the accelerated growth stage. He has served as the International Membership Chairperson and Board Member of the Young Entrepreneur Organization.

Mr. Mike Robichaud, Vice President

Mike, an entrepreneur for 20 years, founded three different companies and is a CEO of a publicly listed firm. One of his most successful ventures had partnerships with the Royal Bank, MBNA bank, AOL and American Airlines. His background includes new business development, sales and marketing management.

Mr. Robichaud has been responsible for raising capital for private and public companies. He is currently serving on the board of a publicly listed company in the oil and gas industry.

Mr. Stephen Curran, Vice President

Stephen joined Devante Capital recently as Vice President, Corporate Finance and brings to the company over 20 years of enterprise leadership and financial transaction experience gained in Canada and globally. He has completed numerous debt and equity financings, acquisitions, and divestitures in large public companies and in smaller, earlier stage ventures. As the President and CEO of two development stage technology companies, he managed all aspects of growth including sales and marketing, technology development, assembling management teams, and raising capital. With corporations such as Cadillac Fairview and Sun Life Financial, he completed capital transactions totaling over $1 billion, and played a key role in one of the largest Canadian IPO’s completed to date. Stephen started his career as an engineer in the oil and gas and food industries.

Mr. Curran has a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree from the University of Western Ontario, and a Master of Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Rick Baerg, Vice President, Business Development - British Columbia

Rick has worked within the financial services industry for the past 17 years, 11 of those as a commercial banker with 2 chartered banks. His background includes management and financial consultancy to a variety of businesses in a wide array of industries. He has valuable experience gained through numerous debt financings to growing small and medium-sized businesses.

Rick has a strong understanding of credit risk and is committed to providing clients clarity and value with regard to their corporate finance requirements. He has served as a board member and treasurer with a number of not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Craig Burrows, Vice President

Craig Burrows served two terms as an Alderman for the City of Calgary before he joined Devante Capital. In his position on City Council, he held positions of Deputy Mayor, a Police Commissioner, Chair of Audit, Board member of the Calgary Economic Development Board, and Vice Chair of Gas, Power, and Telecommunications Committee. As a Board of Director for a multi billion dollar organization, Craig brings strong knowledge in corporate governance, risk management, regulatory and government affairs.

Craig’s previous life as an owner of an environmental bioremediation company gives him the understanding of the challenges of being an entrepreneur. He also has a strong background in the packaged goods industry as being a General Sales Manager for a TSE 300 listed company.

Mr. Brad Bennest, Associate

Brad spent some time working in Business Development with National Bank Financial before he joined Devante. Brad has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Finance from the University of British Columbia and is also a Level III CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Candidate. His expertise lies in financial consulting and customer relations.

Mr. Darren Blanch, Associate

Mr. Blanch holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from John Molson School of Business-Concordia University (Finance & International Management) and has received specialized training in both project management and business analysis. Mr. Blanch has worked in investor relations and as a director for a CPC in the junior mining industry. He has also worked as a consultant in the international communications field throughout South East Asia, Middle East, and Europe, where he helped develop country/regional branding strategies and conducted investment climate analysis. Mr. Blanch has been involved in spearheading the development and business planning of several start-ups, while actively participating in various NGO initiatives.

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