Event category: Plenary

Some of Western Canada’s most valuable technology companies were built far from Toronto and Silicon Valley, and they got there by very different routes. Some rolled up fragmented markets through acquisition; others grew deliberately into national and global players, and several have just drawn major US capital to do the next chapter. This session brings together the operators behind the region’s standout scale stories to examine how enduring enterprise value actually gets built from the Prairies: when to buy versus build, when to stay independent versus partner with outside capital, and how regional strengths in energy, industrial, and fintech became global advantages worth paying a premium for.

Session Focus: 

• Rolling up a fragmented market into a global platform, built from a Prairie base  

• Building a company deliberately toward acquisition — and what made it attractive to the right buyer  

• US private equity and strategics are paying premiums to take Prairie tech private  

• Turning regional strengths in energy, industrial, and fintech into a global buyer’s advantage 

Acquisitions are no longer reserved for large corporations. Search funds, founder-led rollups, and private-equity-backed platforms are increasingly using M&A to buy capability, customers, or market position rather than build it organically. This session brings together the investor and advisor perspectives on how those deals actually get done — how they’re financed, structured, and closed. Knowing when and how to transact takes financial discipline, a clear read on what capital providers reward, and the legal and structural groundwork that makes a deal survivable.  

Session Focus: 

• The buy-vs-build calculus: when search funds and PE-backed platforms reach for M&A instead of building  

• What investors and advisors look for before they’ll back or paper a deal  

• Building deal-readiness before you’re ever at the table  

• How acquisitions get financed and structured — and the terms that make or break them

Selling a technology company isn’t a single event—it’s the outcome of years of deliberate decisions. Drawing from real-world software acquisitions, Narbe Alexandrian, Founder & CEO of Define Capital, shares the practical lessons that separate smooth, value-maximizing exits from difficult transactions. Beyond preparing for a sale, this keynote explores how founders can create enterprise value through strong operational architecture, disciplined governance, and the strategic decisions that make companies attractive to both financial and strategic buyers long before they ever go to market. Rather than treating exit readiness as a checklist completed just before a transaction, this keynote demonstrates how operational architecture, disciplined governance, and thoughtful value creation become competitive advantages years before founders ever enter a sale process.

Session Focus:

• The operational architecture that makes a company valuable years before a sale process starts
• How disciplined governance becomes a competitive advantage, not just a diligence checkbox
• Real lessons from the trenches: what separates smooth exits from difficult ones
• Building enterprise value deliberately, long before you’re talking to buyers

Today’s founders face a dramatically different funding and transaction environment than they did just a few years ago. Strategic buyers, private equity firms, venture investors, and lenders are evaluating opportunities through different lenses, often rewarding different characteristics within a business. This discussion explores what makes companies attractive to investors and acquirers, how expectations have evolved, and what founders should focus on if they want to create future strategic optionality.

Session Focus:

• What makes a company financeable today
• What strategic buyers value
• What financial buyers value
• Building companies that attract capital