.png)
Nationwide team
With experience as both an investor and an entrepreneur, Sarah brings a unique perspective to supporting early-stage founders. She also serves as a Professor at the Schulich School of Business, where she teaches Financing Growing Ventures. Her background in building her own consumer marketplace gives her a first-hand understanding of the challenges founders face in the earliest stages of company building.
She blends hands-on entrepreneurial experience with investment expertise to help companies navigate their growth journey.
Sarah is dedicated to supporting Canadian founders and fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs through both her investing and mentorship.
Domenic Del Vecchio
Principal
Domenic leads investment and portfolio support activities in Quebec and Eastern Canada, focusing on visionary founders who are building innovative solutions capable of bringing generational transformations to real-world problems. He thrives on identifying opportunities where ambition meets impact.
Before joining the investment world, he gained valuable experience driving strategic innovation at two of Canada’s largest companies, and spent several years as a Growth Ops and B2B sales operator for early-stage Montreal startups.
He is energized by working with passionate founders during the earliest stages of ideation and growth — turning “back of the napkin” ideas into impactful business ventures.
Patrick Lor
Founded and exited iStockphoto (Getty) and Fotolia (Adobe)
Formerly GP 500 Startups Canada
EXCEPTIONAL JUDGMENT
Gifted at reading people and backing standout founders early. Trusted instincts shaped by years of pattern recognition.
RIDE-OR-DIE VC
Two-time founder turned investor. Deeply hands-on, always in the trenches with founders when it matters most.
COMMUNITY FORCE
Respected voice and connector in Alberta. Builds founder networks, speaks globally, and sets the tone for startup culture.
We have your back
Join 100+ founders who've scaled with us. Panache is the trusted partner they call first.
Leadership team
Prashant Matta
Ex-OMERS Ventures
Product strategist at Samsung
UNIQUE VENTURE EXPERTISE
Possibly the only Canadian VC with a proven and repeatable track record in both late-stage and early-stage investing.
DEEP DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
Blends product/software development experience and analytical depth to help entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses.
CANADIAN TECH ADVOCATE
Ecosystem builder as a CVCA board member, VC program director at Schulich ExecEd and mentor at university accelerators.
Mike Cegelski
Founded and exited two companies: iBwave and Beltron
Former Chair of Anges Québec and founder of 500 Startups GP
PROVEN OPERATOR
Built and exited two companies—iBwave and Beltron - establishing himself as a key figure in Quebec’s business scene.
SEED-STAGE SPECIALIST
As Partner at 500 Startups Canada, helped shape one of the country’s most active early-stage portfolios.
ECOSYSTEM CHAMPION
Tireless advocate for founder support and angel investing in Canada. Among his recognitions, 2015 Canadian Angel Investor of the Year and the 2018 Quebec Angel Investor of the Year.
Genevieve Tanguay
Former CEO Anges Québec
25+ years in private equity and venture capital
SEASONED INVESTOR
Led the successful repositioning of Anges Québec with the launch of AQC Capital Fund II, now a model for angel-backed VC in Canada
OPERATIONAL STRATEGIST
Serving on 20+ boards (including VIA Rail, Centech, SCALE AI), she excels in governance, scaling, and growth execution.
PORTFOLIO ADVOCATE & COMMUNITY LEADER
A champion for founders, diversity, and Montreal’s innovation ecosystem. Recipient of Investor of the year Award, and the John Molson Prize, which recognizes an exceptional contribution to the entrepreneurial community.
.png)
Investment team
Melaniia Volkodav
Associate
Melaniia focuses on sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities across Panache’s core themes, with interests in healthcare applications, energy, AI infrastructure, and enterprise software. She draws on prior experience in data analytics at Vodafone, management consulting at Civitta, and strategy at BDO, where she worked on commercial due diligence and growth strategy projects.
Before Panache, she invested in early-stage AI/ML enterprise software companies at a VC family office fund and supported deep tech founders in the Compute and Climate Tech streams at Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Vancouver. Melaniia holds an MBA from Simon Fraser University and a degree in Quantitative Methods in Economics from Taras Shevchenko University.
Analyst
Inshaal Quadir
Inshaal brings experience from roles at BDC Capital and GreenSky Ventures, where she gained exposure to early-stage investing. Her early career highlights include developing an MVP for a pre-seed startup in the logistics space and creating its initial go-to-market plan to secure the first paid users.
With a mix of venture and hands-on startup experience, she partners closely with founders to navigate the messy early days of validating ideas and winning first customers. She is particularly interested in how emerging technologies translate into real-world businesses.
Achintya Chaudhari
Analyst
Achintya leverages a background in quantitative research, having worked at hedge funds and option market-making firms in Canada and the US.
He graduated with highest honours from the University of Waterloo with an undergraduate degree in mathematics. His analytical expertise and data-driven decision-making skills inform his approach to evaluating early-stage technology companies.
Outside of work, he enjoys ultrarunning & reading.
Christian has worked across product, investment, and growth roles in the AI and venture capital space. He was previously an Associate Product Manager at AltaML Venture Studio, worked on portfolio support and investments at Front Row Ventures, and held operations roles at multiple AI software startups.
He also gained investment experience at White Star Capital and Inovia Capital, focusing on Seed to Series B opportunities. Christian graduated from McGill University with a B.A. in Economics, Computer Science & Entrepreneurship, and is an avid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and runner.
Operations and platform
Melissa leads investor relations at Panache, drawing on a background in B2B software sales and early-stage startups. As an early employee at a Silicon Valley startup, she gained experience across multiple areas of the business, building a deep understanding of growth and operations. She recently completed her MBA at Babson College in Boston, with a double concentration in Machine Learning and Entrepreneurship.
During her MBA, Melissa was honored with the Sorenson Scholarship Award for Meritorious Achievement, the proceeds from which enabled her first angel investment. She was also recognized on Poets & Quants’ coveted list of “2023 MBAs to Watch.”
Alejandro Marin
Vice President, Finance
Alejandro is a finance and accounting professional with over a decade of experience spanning finance, taxation, and mergers and acquisitions. He has worked in consulting firms supporting projects across multiple industries, with a focus on finance, tax strategy, and due diligence.
His expertise includes advising on complex transactions, ensuring compliance, and optimizing financial processes to support business growth. Alejandro brings both technical knowledge and practical experience to his role, helping Panache maintain strong financial oversight and operational efficiency.