About the Webinar

The current pandemic has drastically changed the funding landscape for startups, with implications far into the future once the dust has settled. In this webinar, we will be exploring the current VC climate and have a conversation looking into the future of how Venture Capital might evolve coming out of COVID.

About the presenter:

Laith Shukri is a senior market development manager for SVB in Toronto, where his role is to build and strengthen relationships between the bank and early-stage companies in Canada. To this end, he consults with innovators to identify ways that SVB can best serve their needs as they scale. Laith is particularly passionate about using his background and talents to help founders move to the next opportunity; his services include providing feedback on pitches and business models as well as fostering connections between Canada’s upcoming game-changers and the most influential peers, organizations and programs in Canada’s innovation ecosystem that can help set new ideas in motion.

Prior to joining SVB, Laith served as a senior analyst for ScaleUP Ventures, a Toronto-based VC fund. In this capacity, he was responsible for deal-flow management, coaching founders and cultivating partnerships with significant programs and conferences. Earlier in his career, Laith worked at the DMZ, a leading accelerator for tech startups in Canada. During this time, he built the incubator’s investor relations program from the ground up, growing the investor network from 30 to 400 names. The program helped the DMZ become a go-to source and thought leader on how to build similar programming in other accelerators and hubs across Canada.