Startup Expansion: Identifying New Customers in Global Markets

Startup Expansion: Identifying New Customers in Global Markets - This event has already occurred

Event Details

For decades, commercial giants such as Target, Starbucks and Walmart have failed to dominate new international markets. Despite their proven success in local markets—and a handful of international ones—their public defeats have resulted from a lack of localization. Join us to learn how to avoid...

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We’ll cover:

Identifying key considerations when selecting your international target market
Determining your international customers and understanding their needs and challenges
Tapping into strategic networks by partnering with local businesses and conducting direct sales
Selecting a suitable partner on the ground to help your business find customers and generate sales

Meet the speakers:

Helen Petropoulos, senior partnership manager, Cyclica

Helen is a Senior Partnership Manager at Cyclica where she helps build active collaborations with industry, academics and other partners across Canada and globally to develop a diverse portfolio of drug discovery programs. Prior to joining Cyclica, Helen supported the genomics community across various sectors by leading several commercialization-aimed programs and initiatives at Ontario Genomics. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Western University and completed an industry postdoctoral fellowship at Wyeth Research (now part of Pfizer).

Philip Barrar, founder & ceo, Moka Financial Technologies

Phil Barrar is a serial entrepreneur in the financial technology industry and regularly speaks on the future of finance. He previously served as the CIO at Mogo and founded Moka, a leading consumer FinTech platform both in Canada and the EU. Phil successfully led Moka to over one million downloads, $17M venture funding, and an acquisition by Mogo. He is continuing his pursuit of building financial inclusive products through his latest FinTech Venture.

Nathan Andrew Nelson, director of international innovation, Export Development Canada

Global Business Development Nathan Andrew Nelson leads a team dedicated to implementing Agile and transformation methodologies to develop innovative ways to improve EDC's ability to deliver value to Canadian exporters and investors. Nelson is responsible for EDC's international strategy build and oversight for EDC's Indo-Pacific Strategy including EDC's expansion in Asia. Prior to his current role, Nelson served as Regional Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2018 to 2021. In this capacity, he led a team of business development professionals located in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Chile.

Lisa Harun, advisor, MaRS Discovery District (moderator)

Lisa is a rare marketing executive who has spent the greater part of two decades honing the art of storytelling but is also data-focused, strategically driven and is able to craft and execute strategy. Lisa has also been the driving force behind a number of creative executions, including co-founding three brands spanning Fashion, Advocacy and Med-tech. Lisa holds degrees in International Development and Business, studying at The University of Toronto, Queen's University, Université Laval and The American University in Cairo.