Dennis Kavelman

Dennis Kavelman joined Inovia Capital in 2018 to launch the Growth Fund I, with Chris Arsenault and Patrick Pichette, and leads the Firm’s value creation strategy.
Leveraging both the venture team’s insights and the growth team’s know-how, Dennis has been invaluable in overseeing dealflow management and crystalizing the investment team’s processes with the ultimate objective of maximizing impact and value to entrepreneurs.
Thanks to his operational background, Dennis is well-recognized within the Canadian tech ecosystem for providing unique perspectives on how to manage operational hurdles and growing pains.
Prior to joining Inovia, Dennis was an experienced technology executive and investor.
After beginning his career at KPMG, Dennis joined RIM, which was a startup, in 1995 and, in his roles as CFO and COO, helped RIM create the global smartphone industry as it grew to over 14,000 employees by the time of his departure in 2010.
During his tenure at RIM, he managed the scaling of a global software, hardware and services business while overseeing all financing activities including the IPO and over $1.8B in equity raises.
Following RIM, Dennis became a prolific angel investor and also joined D2L, a global education platform company, as its COO.
Dennis currently sits on the boards of AlayaCare, Symend, WorkJam, Vidyard and BenchSci.
Boards: AlayaCare, Symend, WorkJam, Vidyard, BenchSci