AXION FUND

The AXION FUND is a vehicle to assist in two primary areas:

First, its Canadian IP focus is to assist in the commercialization and growth of ideas and research-based companies, generated within universities and other innovation centres across Canada. The funding helps inventors with scalable intellectual property protect their work and navigate through the investment and funding landscape.

Second, its Northern Ontario focus, with a primary directive to attract, mentor, coach, fund and commercialize early-stage start-ups and later scale-ups that have a plan to be partly or entirely settled, or have a desire to locate in some form to Northern Ontario.

Our Mission

To unlock capital and accelerate the transition of Canada into an innovation economy through three strategic focuses:

  1. Make angel investment accessible to investors who otherwise are not able to participate.
  2. Promote the creation and commercialization of intellectual properties and hyper growth outcomes.
  3. Remove barriers for Canadian inventors to connect to smart and value add investors and industry partners.

Axion’s average cheque size varies from $100-300K to provide investors with the diversity of 30-50 deals over 5 years.

Our Focus

Axion focuses on seed-stage start-ups with strong, research and data-driven IP in:

AI/ML
Health Tech
IoT
AI Security
Industry 4.0
Clean Tech
Home Automation

Portfolio

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1Mentor
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1Mentor

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1Mentor partners with colleges and universities to prepare students for the future of work by equipping decision-makers with quality tools and labour market insight to catalyze students’ professional development.

2022-10-17T18:40:01+00:00
IRegained Inc
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IRegained Inc

IRegained Inc. is a Sudbury based MedTech company that has developed a scientifically proven, smart, in-home digital rehabilitation system to rewire the brain through the power of neuroplasticity, empowering stroke and traumatic brain injury survivors to reclaim unassisted use of their hands- it’s The MyHand™ System.

2022-10-17T18:36:34+00:00
Mazlite
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Mazlite

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Mazlite offers an industrial IoT platform for spray monitoring and digitization in hazardous environments. The platform includes an IoT sensor for imaging, web-based software, real-time analytics/AI, and cloud-based data management.

The Axion Team

The Axion Fund was built by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and investment professionals. Our team has worked in diverse industries and markets. We value our relationships and have created a hands-on model where person-to-person interaction is supported and central to what we do. We move fast because markets move fast, good deals move fast, and if you’re building a high-growth start up, you shouldn’t spend more time than necessary on fundraising.

Aaron Rezaei
General Partner

As an Angel Investor, Aaron is focusing mostly on pre-seed and seed-stage start-ups in Tech, Fintech, BigData, Electronics Design, Manufacturing and Commercialization. As a serial entrepreneur, investor and advisor, Aaron has co-founded several companies in Electronics Design and Electronics Manufacturing Services, Voltage Power (Protection Control), SCADA panel design, Automation and Smart Manufacturing in Canada and the United States.

Ehsan Mirdamadi
General Partner

Ehsan obtained his BSc in Computer Science from York University and has been an active entrepreneur since 1999. Throughout his 20+ of experience, he has founded, led and exited multiple successful ventures in cloud computing, cloud software and biotech in Canada and the United States. He is also an active angel investor and advisor for technology and venture development to dozens of ventures.

Peyvand Melati
General Partner

Peyvand is a highly accomplished entrepreneur and angel investor who has successfully launched multiple businesses. He is an expert in the commercialization and growth of companies in major industries, with a focus on AI, IOT, CleanTech and Med Tech. He is a seasoned veteran in the start up process from initial inception to launch. Peyvand has a particular knack for setting priorities, developing strategies and building teams to scale ventures.

Chad Pallopson
General Partner

In his career, Benton has served as teacher and researcher in computer science at Penn State University and University of Waterloo, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, coach to many startups, innovation ecosystem builder and community activist.  Some highlights include:

  • Communitech’s Executive-in-Residence for social entrepreneurs.
  • Canada’s National Angel Capital Organization (NACO)’s Angel-in-Residence.
  • Co-founder of MapleSoft, a venture that developed an algorithmic system for performing difficult symbolic math computations, adopted by research institutes, universities, and firms world-wide. MapleSoft was acquired by Cybernet Systems Group in 2009.
  • Coach for Team Canada, a cohort of 15 Canadian startups that swept the podium in 2019 at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition in Shenzhen, outshining teams with the best startups from Silicon Valley, London, Berlin, Tokyo, and Tel Aviv.

A business developer at heart, Benton identifies opportunities that are not obvious at first glance and he puts together teams with complementary expertise to capitalize on those opportunities.  As well as serving on the board for tech ventures, Benton also helps in the general community as a board member or volunteer for organizations that serve people under stress, recent immigrants, and those without shelter.

Justin Kim
Venture Partner

Justin spent the majority of his career in various management consulting roles in the US and Canadian healthcare markets. He is currently a Director with TELUS Global Innovation in Health and oversees the delivery and operations of a digital health platform for international clients. Justin has a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and from the Schulich School of Business.

Mellie Chow
Venture Partner

Mellie is an angel investor, competitive strategist, start up advisor and Executive Director of Product Research at Comcast. She has extensive experience working with tech entrepreneurs ranging from Fortune 50 to early-stage start-ups. Mellie manages complex business transformation projects, builds digitally disruptive agile products, and provides growth advisory. She also serves on the advisory board for Electro Medical Instruments Co and Purple Arch Ventures. Mellie holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and the Schulich School of Business.

Moien Giashi
Venture Partner

Moien Giashi, Ph.D., is an Associate with GreenSky Capital. Moien brings a broad scientific background, with published research and industry experience in nanotechnology, advanced materials, 3D printing, healthcare, medical devices, and oil and gas industries. Before his current role, Moien was a Scientific Affairs Associate at Baylis Medical supporting Evidence Generation, Marketing, IP, and R&D. Moien has served as a Venture Manager with Creative Destruction Lab, supporting deep tech startups in their growth and fundraising. Moien currently serves as a mentor at Hatchery and the Incubation Network.

Peter Dal Bianco
Venture Partner

Peter launched his first business in 1975 as a record and electronics retailer in Sudbury, Ontario. He grew the business and became President of the National Video Franchise chain for Canada. In 1986, Peter became the 2nd largest shareholder of the parent company, National Video International of Portland, Oregon, with ~700 locations, and helped take the company public on the NASDAQ. By 2007, having started and expanded multiple Northern ventures, Peter was recognized for his long-lasting success as Entrepreneur of the Year at both the i) Bell Business Excellence Awards, and ii) Northern Ontario Business Awards. In 2014, Peter joined the mentorship board of NORCAT’s Innovation sector. He was a consultant for the Northern Ontario Angels from 2015-2020 and helped raise >$8M in Angel funding for new start-ups and scale-ups. Peter is presently NORCAT’s principal EIR, (Entrepreneur-in-Residence).