Jim has been involved with financing growth companies for over 20 years and has created and managed seven different funds prior to Forage. Jim was a founder of three Avrio Capital funds, three Avrio Subdebt funds, and the FCC Ventures direct investment program.
Jim has raised and managed over $500 million dollars of growth capital in the Ag & food industry.
Prior to running various growth equity funds, Jim was responsible for Bank of Montreal Capital Corporation’s activities in Western Canada. Following his years at Bank of Montreal, he worked for Westcoast Energy to help establish their structured finance group.
In addition to Jim’s years of experience in venture capital, growth equity, mezzanine, and subordinated debt markets, Jim spent time as an operator of a small manufacturing company in Calgary.
Jim has an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Alberta.
Steven brings over 20 years of finance and private equity experience to Forage Capital Partners. Prior to Forage, Steven’s private equity career includes five years as a Managing Director at Avrio Capital and ten years with Roynat Capital’s equity group.
During Steven’s career, he has been actively engaged with numerous investee companies. He works with each portfolio company helping management teams to recruit talent, source financing, and develop and execute business plans.
In addition to his private equity experience, Steven was a senior executive of Mitchell’s Gourmet Foods. During his tenure at Mitchell’s, he led a successful restructuring and an eventual sale to a publicly traded entity.
Steven enjoys mentoring management teams and helping them deal with the day to day challenges of running a successful business.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan.
Daniel brings over 20 years of corporate finance and accounting experience to the Forage team. In addition to Forage, Dan is the Managing Director of Avrio Subdebt, an ag and food debt fund. Dan has managed over $200 million in subordinated debt commitments at Avrio.
Previously, Daniel was the chief financial officer with LifeMark Health Management Inc. At LifeMark, Daniel oversaw the financial and growth objectives of one of Canada’s largest rehabilitation companies, leading a finance group that completed more than 60 acquisitions over the span of seven years. Notably, Daniel oversaw LifeMark’s sale and transition to a publicly traded entity.
Prior to joining LifeMark, Daniel was a manager with Ernst & Young in the taxation group. At Ernst & Young, he managed multinational engagement teams providing tax consulting and compliance services.
Denis brings over 20 years of agricultural investing experience to the Forage team. Previously, Denis was an investment manager with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Ventures where the majority of his investments were focused on companies in the value-added food processing sector.
Prior to joining FCC, Denis was an investment adviser with SGF Soquia, a director for agriculture and food processing accounts with the Royal Bank of Canada, and a sales analyst with the Bank of Montreal.
Denis has built an impressive network in the food- and ag-related biotech industry. He has successfully managed loan and equity portfolios and has provided term debt, sub-debt, and equity financing to many companies needing capital for acquisitions, expansions, working capital, and debt restructuring.
Denis is a professional agronomist and has a Bachelor of Sciences (agriculture) degree from McGill University.