Sonya Shorey is the President and CEO of Invest Ottawa, Bayview Yards and Area X.O, leading strategic initiatives to drive AI innovation, smart mobility and economic growth. With more than 22 years of experience in technology, entrepreneurship and economic development, she specializes in corporate strategy, investment attraction and innovation-driven growth.

At Area X.O, Shorey oversees the advancement of AI-powered smart mobility, autonomous systems and next-generation connectivity. She has played a key role in securing over $203 million in funding for AI and technology initiatives. She also co-founded SheBoot, an investment-ready bootcamp for women tech founders, and leads programs accelerating AI-driven companies.

Shorey mentors AI entrepreneurs through Women in Cloud, AI North America and Technovation. She serves on multiple boards and holds a combined honours in English and Political Science from Carleton University.

Julien Kathiresan is the Director of Finance at Mistral Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Ottawa that seeks to make pre-seed and seed investments in companies that leverage innovation in “Smart Enterprise” (i.e. AI, Cloud Migration, Mobile, Blockchain and Internet of Things) across the United States and Canada.

With extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions and financial transactions, Kathiresan brings deep financial expertise to early-stage investing. He helps portfolio companies navigate the financial journey from zero to one, assisting founders with key hires, fundraising and investor reporting.

Before Mistral, Kathiresan served as Director of Finance at Macadamian Technologies and began his career as an Auditor at Deloitte. He holds a double major in accounting and finance from Concordia University and is a CPA.

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