Meet Our Team

Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs with the growth capital needed to sustainably scale their businesses through our fast, flexible, and founder-friendly alternative debt structures.

Alex Baluta

Alex Baluta

Chief Executive Officer

Alex has over twenty-seven years of professional experience in Canada and the US in investment banking, equity research, mergers and acquisitions, operations, consulting, and entrepreneurship. Alex was a top-ranked equity research analyst in Canada in the early 2000s, focused on the software sector. His primary focus throughout his career has been advising, analyzing, operating, and investing in small and medium-sized enterprises, primarily in high-growth technology sectors. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Flow Capital.

Michael Denny

Chief Financial Officer

Michael Denny has over 25 years of experience as a senior investment banker to growth companies, advising them on equity and debt placements and strategic acquisitions and divestitures. Prior to joining Flow he was a Managing Director with private equity manager Lynx Equity Limited, where he managed the Lynx Equity Income Trust.

 

 

Josh Axler

Josh Axler

Managing Director, Originations

Prior to joining Flow Capital, Josh had deployed over $200 million of credit facilities as an Investment Manager at Crown Capital Partners and as a Commercial Banking Associate at CIBC. Josh has also worked in business development roles with Hay Group and Xerox. Josh has a Bachelor of Arts, Honours Business Administration (HBA), and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Ivey Business School at Western University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Arin Minasians

Arin Minasians

VP of Corporate Development

Arin is focused on building strategic relationships with other lenders, investment banks, venture capital firms, and investors with the goal of matching opportunities with capital.  Prior to joining Flow Capital, Arin worked as a Private Banker at two of Canada’s largest banks where he developed relationships with some of Canada’s most prominent families and business owners. Arin has a Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Finance, from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and holds the Certified Financial Planner designation.

Matthew Gan

Matthew Gan

director, credit and due diligence

Matthew’s prior experiences include investment banking, equity research, and corporate finance. Over his career, he has provided mergers & acquisitions advisory, corporate financial advisory, and capital-raising services for small and large cap enterprises. His past coverage includes companies operating in the media and telecommunications, technology, consumer products, and retail sectors, among others. Matthew has a Bachelor of Arts, Honours Business Administration (HBA) from Ivey Business School at Western University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Karman Suyama

Associate

Prior to Flow Capital, Karman was an Assistant Vice President at Fair Capital Partners focused on lower middle market private debt, direct lending, and credit investments. He also has experience in data science and finance roles at MLG Capital and RBC. Karman holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Management, Business Analytics and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours Business Administration (HBA) from the Ivey Business School at Western University. He is currently a Level II Candidate.


Erum Jahan

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT

Erum’s Prior experience includes Financial reporting, corporate governance, compliance, and assurance. Erum’s experience includes working as an Accountant for a group of Hotels in Canada and as an Assistant Corporate Secretary in Siemens Pakistan Engineering Co. Ltd. Erum holds a Chartered Management Accountant designation from Pakistan and UK and is currently pursuing CPA in Canada.


Nicholas’ prior experience includes providing M&A and capital raising advisory services at a San Francisco-based investment bank focused on disruptive e-commerce, and tech-enabled service companies, as well as previous internships in buy-side equity research at a Toronto-based asset management firm. Nicholas holds a bachelor’s degree in Honour’s Economics and Financial Management from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Meet Our Board of Directors

Vernon Lobo – Executive Chair

Vernon was founder and Managing Director of Mosaic Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund. Through 26 years in the investment industry, Vernon helped build several companies from startup to acquisition or public listing, eight of which achieved valuations in excess of $100 million. Earlier in his career, Vernon was a consultant with McKinsey & Company and software engineer at Nortel Networks. He holds a BASc in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Harvard where he was a Baker Scholar.

Catherine McLeod-Seltzer – Director

Catherine is a serial company builder – currently the Chairman of Bear Creek Mining and a recognized leader in the materials industry for her ability to create growth-focused companies that generate significant shareholder value. Catherine has successfully partnered with numerous geological teams in the past 20 years with successes including Arequipa Resources, Francisco Gold, Miramar Mining, Stornoway Diamonds, and Peru Copper. Catherine was named “Mining Man of the Year” by The Northern Miner in 1999; given the “Award for Performance” by the Association of Women in Finance in 1997; positioned on the Financial Post’s “Power 50”; and received Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Award. Catherine has raised more than $600 million in working capital for mining exploration in the past 20 years, and has been directly involved in more than $4 billion in corporate transactions. Her leadership and financial expertise, access to capital, and respect in building companies have been invaluable assets to the companies she is involved in and have created significant wealth for shareholders. Catherine’s directorships in other publicly traded companies include Kinross Gold Corporation and Major Drilling Group International.

Alan Torrie – Director

Alan Torrie brings extensive executive, financial, and director experience to the Flow Capital Board. He has held several senior executive roles, including as the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Morneau Shepell and MDS Diagnostics. He currently serves as a Chair of the Board of Extendicare and is a Director and member of the Audit Committees and Governance Committee of Green Shield Canada. He previously served as a Director of Trillium Health Partners, Cynapsus Therapeutics, and Appleby College.

Michael Zych – Director

Michael Zych is the former Global Head of Fixed Income, Global Banking, and Markets for Scotiabank, where he had overall responsibility for the strategy and execution of the fixed income business. At Scotiabank, his oversight included trading, sales, and origination of fixed income products globally as well as credit and interest rate derivatives. Mr. Zych has built, led, and managed teams in eleven countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. He was a member of both the Global Banking and Markets’ Strategy Committee and Human Investment Committee. Mr. Zych retired from Scotiabank in 2015 and has since been actively engaged with the startup ecosystem as a successful advisor and angel investor. Mr. Zych holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Toronto. He is a member in good standing with the CFA Institute. 

Alex Baluta – Director

See core team profile.