President and CEO, Innovacorp

Dan MacDonald is president and CEO of Innovacorp, based in Halifax. In this role, Dan oversees Innovacorp’s High Performance Incubation (HPi)™ business model, a powerful combination of incubation infrastructure, mentoring services, and seed and venture capital investment. HPi is recognized internationally as a best practice technology commercialization approach.

Joining Innovacorp in May 2005, Dan brought to the role more than 19 years of high tech business building experience. He has gained valuable cross functional expertise holding senior positions in global marketing, product management, engineering, customer operations, venturing, mergers and acquisitions. His work with Nokia, Vienna Systems, and Mitel has taken him across four continents and over 20 countries.

Most recently, in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, Dan was vice president of global marketing for Nokia Enterprise Solutions. He was an original member of the division's senior management team, driving the delivery of many of Nokia's market leading Internet security and mobile connectivity systems designed to protect and extend fixed and mobile networks.

Prior to joining Nokia, Dan was an executive with Ottawa-based Voice Over IP start-up Vienna Systems, which was acquired by Nokia in 1999. Prior to Vienna Systems, Dan worked in engineering, product management, and marketing at Mitel Corporation, a leading global provider of enterprise telecommunications solutions.

Dan is an active member of many local organizations that share Innovacorp's vision of increasing innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization. He has participated in the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology, he sits on the boards of the Discovery Centre, and the Nova Scotia Alzheimer’s Society, and he is part of the National Research Council's Institute for Marine Biosciences Advisory Council. He is also an advisor to the board of BioNova and to East Coast Connected. In addition, Dan is a mentor with MENTTIUM Corporation, a US-based company using a virtual model to deliver cross-geographic, cross-company mentoring, business education and networking to promising high potential professionals and executives.

In February 2008, Dan was asked by the Globe and Mail - Report on Business to join an expert panel made up of six prominent CEOs, successful entrepreneurs, and business specialists from across Canada. The expert panel tackles real life business ventures and provides expert advice on a range of growth-related issues.

Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Dan began his career in Nova Scotia and was happy to return to the Maritimes with his wife and three children.

To reach Dan via email, click here.

To download a high resolution headshot of Dan, click here.