Meet the team

Paul Vokaty is an accomplished entrepreneur, executive coach and business consultant. After selling the first company he founded 25 years ago, he went on to build and contribute to the successful exits of four more remarkable businesses. While an entrepreneur at heart, he has also had a chance to hone his coaching and consulting skills at Fortune 500 companies such as Deloitte and SAP and has also served as a member of the venture capital investment committee of Desjardins Capital, which supports over 530 Quebec businesses.

Born and raised in Montreal, he has also lived and worked in Oslo, Prague, Strasbourg, and Philadelphia giving him a broad perspective on the world of business and a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics and potential of each venture beyond their balance sheet or geographic location.

He is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CMAA), a member of the Board of Directors of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA Canada), and has an MBA from the Norwegian Business School.

Mark Sdao launched his career as an Engineer with aerospace firms in Toronto and Montréal, where he contributed key technologies to Canada’s space program and to commercial space missions operating in Earth’s orbit. As a manager, business developer and investor, he has devoted the past 20 years to collaborating directly with founders and owners of Québec-based SMEs, often as a member of the executive management team. He was the Chief Technology Officer of an advanced analytics start-up before moving to the world of finance, where he led the venture capital practice for the Desjardins Group.

After training as an Electrical and Computer Engineer at Queen’s University, Mark obtained a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA in finance from HEC Montréal. Since moving his family to Rimouski in 2021, Mark has been drawing on his background as a business executive to advise CEOs and founders on how best to align their processes and systems with their strategy so that they can raise capital, scale up, and create shareholder value.

Mark is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CMAA), an executive advisor and serves as a member of the investment committee for Boreal Ventures. He is also a trained board director, having completed the Innovation Governance Program (iGP).

Khaled Bitar is a veteran M&A Intermediary and business executive with more than 15 years of advisory experience and a deep knowledge of operational and financial analysis, valuation and deal structuring. He has worked with both Canadian and international firms with a focus on manufacturing, technology and consulting sectors. His wealth of transactional experience is a key asset in any negotiation process, ensuring valuable outcomes and favourable terms.

He has held a number of executive leadership positions, including sales and marketing, for both local and international entities. As a former entrepreneur, he has also owned businesses in the export and services sectors successfully opening and managing new markets overseas. Additionally, he is a part-time Professor of International Business at Algonquin College.

He earned the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) is a Fellow of the IBBA, and served 3 years as a Director of IBBA Canada. He also has a B.Sc in Chemistry and a Diploma in International Trade Training.