With a track record of startup success and senior leadership in both the public and private sectors, Andrea Matheson has been bridging the gap between big business and entrepreneurship for over two decades. After starting her career in finance, she went on to grow three startup businesses, and she’s spent the last decade advising and investing in technology businesses in Toronto and Waterloo. Andrea also advises growing startups on change management, helping them identify their blind spots and scale rapidly. While Interim CEO at NEXT Canada, Andrea spearheaded the launch of NextAI, a program that helps entrepreneurs build commercially-viable artificial intelligence companies. Andrea strongly believes in the power of intrepreneurship, and throughout her career she has held executive leadership roles at public and private companies including CGI Group Inc. and Proponix Inc., where she was part of founding team and scaled the business from idea to $175 million USD in 18 months. Andrea continues to be a startup mentor, advisor, and investor, and sits on the board of SeamlessMD and VivaVax. When she’s not helping businesses scale, Andrea is involved with community endeavours including The Jean Tweed Centre in Toronto, and she’s passionate about fitness and travel.