Announcement: Chief Growth Officer Jane Gertner to Retire

ventureLAB has announced the retirement of Chief Growth Officer Jane Gertner, effective immediately. Jane began her journey with ventureLAB as an advisor and was appointed as the VP of Partnerships & External Relations in 2017. In her most recent role, she oversaw business development, partnerships, marketing, events, and communications strategies. Her background includes an extensive executive career, with notable positions at Unilever and as CEO of a division at George Weston Limited.

Throughout her tenure at ventureLAB, Jane was instrumental in building a private sector pipeline and forging essential industry relationships. One of her significant contributions was supporting the development and launch of the Hardware Catalyst Initiative (HCI), a program aimed at fostering innovation in hardware technologies.

Hugh Chow, CEO of ventureLAB, expressed gratitude for Jane’s service and the strength she brought to the organization through her ability to cultivate industry partnerships. He commended her contributions and wished her a fulfilling retirement.

ventureLAB itself is a prominent global community for hardware technology and deep tech companies in Canada. Centrally located in Ontario’s innovation corridor within York Region, ventureLAB is integrated into one of Canada’s largest and most vibrant tech ecosystems. The organization focuses on initiatives that facilitate capital raising, talent retention, technology commercialization, and customer acquisition, and has been instrumental in helping numerous companies create over 7,800 jobs while raising more than $530 million in investment capital.

As ventureLAB continues its mission to support hardtech founders in building competitive ventures that enhance Canada’s knowledge-based economy, they extend their best wishes to Jane Gertner as she embarks on this new chapter of her life.