Meet The Team
Advisors

Tom Urban
Tom Urban mentors early stage ventures as an advisor and investor. He has extensive experience in investment banking, working for Goldman, Sachs & Co. as well as in the agricultural biotechnology industry and forestry genetics.
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Tom began his professional career with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1988 in the Mergers and Acquisition group in New York and Los Angeles. After spending two years with Goldman, Tom left to join the world leader in agricultural seeds, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, as the Country Manager of Romania based in Bucharest. In 1998, Pioneer was purchased by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and, in 1999, Tom moved to Paris, France to head their worldwide cereals seed business. In 2002, Tom returned to the U.S. as a Director in the DuPont strategic planning group where he focused on DuPont’s agriculture portfolio including seed, crop chemicals and soy protein.
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Tom received his undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Hennie Van Vuuren
Hennie J.J. van Vuuren is currently a Professor in Food Science and holds the Blythe and Violet Eagles Chair in Food Biotechnology. He is the Founding Director of the Wine Research Centre at UBC. He was Associate Dean Research for LFS from 2003-2011. His research focuses on wine yeast genomics and the genetic construction of novel wine yeasts that will benefit the consumer. During the past 15 years he has obtained more than $14 million in research funding. He has trained 24 M.Sc. and 12 Ph.D. students. He has published 89 scientific and holds five patents. He has recently been honoured by the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation in Ottawa for major scientific breakthroughs in his laboratory that will prevent the formation of neurotoxins and carcinogens in wine. He served as a member of the Executive Committee and Policy and Finance Committee of the International Society for Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology and was President of the 18th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology.

Michele Walcraft
Nanette holds a BA in Political Science and Communication Studies from Carleton University, a Master’s in Marketing from IESA, as well as an MBA from the University of British Columbia.
Born and raised in Venezuela, Nanette is a skilled marketer with years of experience in consumer research, strategic planning and marketing communications. Nanette began her career in marketing by working in market research and advertising for Ipsos and Publicis. She found her passion for building brands in the wine and spirits industry in her role as Market Research and Brand Strategy Manager for Santa Teresa Rum.

Dr. Gabe Kalmar
Dr. Kalmar has been an avid supporter of entrepreneurship in Canada for the past 25 years. He currently holds positions as an Entrepreneur in Residence for entrepreneurship@UBC and Innovation Boulevard, and is also a Mentor in Residence for Venture Connection at Simon Fraser University. During his 12 years at Genome BC he has taken on roles as the Executive Director of Operations, Vice President of Sector Development, and Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. He was also the President and CEO of the Pacific Autism Family Network.

Kyle Cheriton
Kyle brings extensive international experience with global brands and start-ups in the areas of consumer marketing, brand management and business development. He has worked in leadership roles in global corporations including Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, The Walt Disney Company and United Airlines. He has also played key strategic roles in startups such as Rakuten LinkShare, Arista Networks and Martiniburger.
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Kyle currently lives in Vancouver and serves as a mentor and advisor at The University of British Columbia’s entrepreneurship@UBC program. He was an initial mentor to BarrelWise and is now an Advisor to the company.

Nanette Anzola
Nanette holds a BA in Political Science and Communication Studies from Carleton University, a Master’s in Marketing from IESA, as well as an MBA from the University of British Columbia.
Born and raised in Venezuela, Nanette is a skilled marketer with years of experience in consumer research, strategic planning and marketing communications. Nanette began her career in marketing by working in market research and advertising for Ipsos and Publicis. She found her passion for building brands in the wine and spirits industry in her role as Market Research and Brand Strategy Manager for Santa Teresa Rum.