Claude Haw, Managing Partner

Claude is Managing Partner of Venture Coaches, a venture capital firm which he founded in 2000. Venture Coaches has invested in eleven technology companies with two having been sold and one taken public on TSX and London AIM markets.

He is a professional engineer and has more than 30 years history in a variety of technical, general management and venture investing roles in the high technology sector. He has a wealth of experience in building successful technology companies in Canada from start-up to acquisition and IPO.

From 2003 to early 2007, Claude was a General Partner for Skypoint Fund II where he managed the investment in three companies. Prior to Skypoint and Venture Coaches, he held a number of executive positions at Newbridge, including Vice-President of Corporate Business Development. In this role he managed strategic investment programs, from start-up to exit, in more than 20 companies. As Vice-President and General Manager of the Newbridge ATMnet Business Unit, Claude grew the unit from inception to a $200-million-per-annum business. While at Newbridge, Claude managed a small investment fund, Severn Bridge Investments, which invested in 12 companies and returned more that three times invested capital. Before joining Newbridge, he held senior management positions at Mitel Corporation and Leigh Instruments. 

Claude is a charter member of TiE, a global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, as well as a past board member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA). Claude is also a founder of Mindtrust, an exclusive networking forum for technology company CEOs, and The Ottawa Network, an entrepreneurial group focused on enabling the next generation of technology companies in the National Capital Region. He is a member of the organization committee for the annual Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit.

Claude holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Lakehead University. He has completed the Canadian Securities Course and is a member of Professional Engineers of Ontario and IEEE. He has been a guest lecturer at several universities generally speaking about entrepreneurship, business planning and venture investing. He is on the Advisory Committee of ENGAGE!, an Ottawa-based philanthropic group, and the Ottawa Sustainability Fund, a community-based environmental fund. As Managing Partner of Venture Coaches, Claude uses his operating experience and vision to strategically guide entrepreneurs as they build successful companies.