Venture for Canada Welcomes New Board Member, Irfhan Rawji
Venture for Canada is excited to announce the appointment of Irfhan Rawji, the Founder & CEO of MobSquad, to VFC’s Board of Directors.
“Given his significant Board experience and passion for our work, Irfhan is an exceptional addition to the Venture for Canada Board. Furthermore, his business expertise, insights and experience with national non-profits brings immense value to the table. We are very fortunate to have him by our side as we continue to scale Venture for Canada,” says Board Chair, Parm Gill.
“We are delighted to have Irfhan join VFC’s Board of Directors. Having someone so engaged in the startup space will be of great value to Venture for Canada as we continue to work with more startup employers and provide more entrepreneurial programming nationally,” added Scott Stirrett, Founder & CEO of Venture for Canada.
“I am excited to support Scott and the entire Venture for Canada team in achieving their mission of developing entrepreneurial skills in young Canadians. They have quickly built a successful model to help advance the innovation sector in Canada, and through this, have enhanced the growth and resilience of our country’s economy. I am eager to help them continue their efforts in this important work,” added Irfhan Rawji, Founder & CEO of MobSquad.
VFC thanks Preston Aitken for his service on the board of directors for the past three years.
The current roster of the Venture for Canada Board of Directors is now:
More about Irfhan:
Irfhan Rawji is the Founder & CEO of MobSquad, an innovative Canadian start-up that ensures high- caliber software engineers with US work visa challenges remain working with their current company, but near-shored from Canada. MobSquad also forms near-shored teams of software engineers in Canada for US-based clients on an exclusive, long-term basis, effectively rendering the remote software engineers the clients’ full-time employees.
Irfhan is also a Principal with Totem Capital Corporation, a private capital firm focused on investing in Canadian small businesses, and is a Venture Partner with Relay Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on mobile computing with offices in Toronto and Menlo Park. Irfhan is also an Adjunct Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches in the areas of finance, public policy, strategy and leadership.
Irfhan is presently Board Chair of The Organic Box, Alberta’s largest organic food hub, offering home delivery as well as click-and-collect grocery services. Additionally, Irfhan is Board Chair of Activate, a partnership between the Government of Canada, private investors and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada aimed at reducing the incidence of stroke; Activate represents an innovation in social finance as Canada’s first social impact bond. Irfhan is also a Director of Sage Properties, a Calgary-based real estate investment corporation and a Director of The Logic, a digital media publication focused on the innovation economy.
Irfhan is actively involved in civic affairs as Board Chair of Glenbow Museum and Board Member of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Additionally, Irfhan serves as Chair of the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Impact Fund Advisory Committee, as an advisor to the Canadian government’s Impact and Innovation Unit within the Privy Council Office, and as a member of the New Economy Advisory Committee to the Alberta Securities Commission. Previously, Irfhan has served on the boards of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada (Board Chair), the Harbourfront Centre (Director, Treasurer), imagiNation150 (Director, Treasurer), the Harvard Business School Global Alumni Board (Director), Business for the Arts (Director), and member of and Finance and Investment Sub-Committee Chair of the Calgary 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Bid Exploration Committee.
Irfhan holds an MBA with High Honors from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar, and also holds a BCom with Honours from the University of British Columbia where he was a Wesbrook Scholar. He is a recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II diamond Jubilee Medal, the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Award of Merit, the Sauder School of Business’ Teaching Excellence Award, Business for the Arts’ Arnold Edinborough Award and is a member of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2017).
