Global Leader in Innovation and Technology appointed CEO at ventureLAB

MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ventureLAB's Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Hugh Chow as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 5, 2023. He brings more than 30 years of global experience and a proven track record with startups, scale-ups, cross-border collaboration and investment to ventureLAB, Canada’s leading global founder community for hardware technology, enterprise software and entrepreneurship.

Chow launched his career in Canada and has expanded businesses globally, particularly in the semiconductor sector. In one of his many recent roles, he led a world leading government funded applied research institute with nearly 500 full-time researchers. This experience, together with his past success as an entrepreneur and investor, is vital to ventureLAB’s mission to support founders in growing innovative and competitive tech companies in critical areas, including semiconductors, AI and medtech, that build-to-scale from Canada, for global markets, while creating jobs and driving economic growth here at home.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is our pleasure to welcome Hugh to the dynamic ventureLAB team,” said Yalda Riahi, Chair of ventureLAB’s Board of Directors. “We believe that Hugh's unique expertise in many of the technology centric sectors will help move us to the next chapter of helping Canadian companies succeed globally. We also believe his leadership will contribute significantly to Canada’s goal of solidifying our position in key high-value industries, including semiconductors, AI and medtech.”

An inventor with more than 10 US and international patents, Chow has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado summa cum laude. In addition to his time at the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), Chow has global experience as a senior engineering executive at ATI Technologies Inc. (now AMD), and as co-founder of ViXS Systems Inc. which he took public on the TSX. A passionate evangelist of sustainable development and ESG, he has also worked as a venture capitalist, angel investor and licensed representative in asset management supporting countless startups and scaling companies.

“Leading this amazing organisation and being able to serve, and give back to the Canadian innovation and technology ecosystem gives me tremendous honour. I am thrilled to be joining this talented team at ventureLAB, and building on their success, as well as that of my predecessors, Ms. Melissa Chee and Mr. Matt Skynner,” said Chow. “ventureLAB is a world leading platform that is poised to be an integral part of Canada’s support for the growth of our innovation, technology and knowledge-based economy. This is what attracted me to the role. Some of my key priorities will be to make Canada the place-to-be for talent, investors and strategic partners, to support our world-class founder community at ventureLAB, and to cultivate and grow Canadian companies by leveraging my experience and networks here in Canada and other major markets.”

ventureLAB is a leader in Canada’s semiconductor space, through its Hardware Catalyst Initiative and its founding role in Canada’s Semiconductor Council. Mr. Chow will spend the next few months on a listening tour to meet, and work with our founders, supporters, strategic partners and key stakeholders, transitioning to the CEO role full-time in January 2024.

About ventureLAB

ventureLAB is a leading global founder community for hardware technology and enterprise software companies in Canada. Located at the heart of Ontario’s innovation corridor in York Region, ventureLAB is part of one of the biggest and most diverse tech communities in Canada. Our initiatives focused on raising capital, talent retention, commercializing technology and IP, and customer acquisition have enabled thousands of companies to create over 5,000 jobs and raise more than $340 million in investment capital. At ventureLAB, we grow globally competitive tech titans that build-to-scale in Canada, for global markets.