Meet our Executive Team
Technology. Sustainability. Governance.
Get to know the leaders driving our innovation and shaping our vision for the future.
Technology. Sustainability. Governance.
Get to know the leaders driving our innovation and shaping our vision for the future.
Daoping Bao has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience. He is the former CEO of a Nasdaq listed company, social activist, one of the pioneers of online payment, and the curator of the world’s only simulated dinosaur exhibition. He graduated from Emily Carr University.
Laing has spent over 7 years in private equity investment and portfolio management, focusing on the retail and business services industries, before joining EPaper. Laing’s experience includes roles as CEO of a marine services company; COO of an e-commerce aggregator; Chief of Staff of a Canadian private equity firm; and General Counsel of a global media and entertainment company. Laing holds an MBA from London Business School, a Juris Doctor from the University of Calgary, and a BA from Western University.
Mike brings over 40 years of financial, legal, and administrative experience. He has spent more than 25 years at the Chief Financial Officer level, including 18 years as CFO of Creation Technologies Inc., a Vancouver-based contract electronics manufacturing company recognized as one of the city’s greatest manufacturing success stories. Mike also held senior roles at R.R. Donnelley and Kraft Foods, working at the intersection of printing, electronics, and retail.
Lynne X. Wu has over 15 years of experience in cross-border finance and capital markets across Asia and North America. She has advised on more than US $7 billion of transactions. Ms. Wu previously served as an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, with earlier roles at Jefferies, HSBC, and McKinsey. She later served as CFO of a global medical technology company, leading international expansion and raising US $100 million in growth capital. She is a Harvard Business School alumna.
Ashraf (Ash) Lakhany has over 40 years of leadership experience across hospitality, real estate development, acquisitions, and financing. He is the Founder and CEO of Superhost Enterprise, where he has led complex development and turnaround projects across residential, commercial, and hospitality assets. Ash has a long track record of value creation through disciplined capital allocation and operational optimization. He is a board member of ePaper and holds an MBA from Dartmouth College.
Dr. Xiaoyang Huang is the co-inventor of cholesteric liquid-crystal display (ChLCD) technology (ePaper). Dr. Huang has over thirty years of experience in liquid crystal display technology, with 30+ publications and 50+ patents. He is a former chairman of the technical sub-committee of the Society for Information Displays (SID) for liquid crystal display technology since 1998 Dr. Huang is the founder and CEO of Ebulent, a technology and manufacturing company with a wide breadth of competencies including display systems, medical devices, food equipment, and renewable energy. Prior to founding Ebulent, Dr. Huang served as the Director of Business Development in Asia and R&D manager at Kent Displays Inc.
Mike Venton is a senior retail executive with extensive leadership experience at major Canadian retailers, including Sobeys and Loblaw. As SVP Sobeys Discount business FreshCo/Chalo FreshCo (a Sobeys subsidiary) he lead the expansion into Western Canada opening 48 stores in 6 years, while growing the established Fresh Co business in Ontario to over 100 stores, while driving an EBIT CAGR over 50% over this extended time frame.
Previously, as SVP of No Frills (a Loblaw subsidiary), he managed a $5.5 billion franchise business, overseeing its rapid growth. With a strong track record in operations, merchandising, and procurement, Mike excels at driving profitability, strategic execution, executive leadership, and extensive community involvement with leading charities.
Amine Bendriss has over 15 years of experience across the consumer and technology sectors. He most recently led Corporate Strategy at the food security arm of the Qatar Investment Authority (US $475B AUM), where he supported sector digitization and long-term growth initiatives. Previously, he served as a strategy consultant at PwC’s London office. Mr. Bendriss holds an MBA from London Business School and an engineering degree from IMT Atlantique.
Philip is an experienced investor and operator with senior roles at McKinsey, TDR Capital, and Riverside. He has guided the growth of companies across retail and technology, including Algeco Scotsman, Stonegate Pub Company, Guestline, Bohemia Interactive Simulations, and Netwatch. He also serves as Director of Strategy for the Ireland–Canada Chamber of Commerce and is a Venture Partner with a European defence technology fund.
Bruce Burrows is a senior retail technology and operations executive with leadership roles at Sobeys, Loblaw, and Hudson’s Bay. As SVP & CIO at Sobeys, he led large-scale modernization of store systems, supply chain platforms, and enterprise IT across grocery operations. Previously, as EVP & CIO at Loblaw, he oversaw technology transformation supporting merchandising, inventory, and omnichannel retail. Bruce brings deep expertise in retail systems, operational execution, and technology-enabled transformation at national scale.
Chris Powell is a senior grocery industry executive with over 45 years of leadership experience across food retail and consumer packaged goods. He spent more than 30 years at Tree of Life Canada, most recently as SVP, leading national sales and delivering over 20 consecutive years of record growth. Earlier roles at E.D. Smith strengthened his expertise in brand building and national customer management. Chris brings deep industry governance experience and was inducted into the Grocery Business Hall of Fame in 2024.
Arthur Lin has over 10 years of international legal and operating experience supporting partnerships, franchising, and platform-led expansion. He previously practiced at a global white-shoe law firm, advising multinational clients on complex commercial and cross-border matters. He also served as an Area Developer for a leading ghost kitchen platform in Western Canada, overseeing partner expansion and operations. Arthur holds degrees from UCLA and Emory School of Law, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Wei Shao is the national practice group co-leader for the Canada China Country Collaboration group and specializes in international business transactions focusing on China. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate and project financing, cross-border counselling, and general corporate and commercial transactions.
Nitin has served on governance committees for over a dozen public companies. He was the Managing Director of PwC Corporate Finance. Nitin has held senior roles at Desjardins Securities, Orion Securities and HSBC Securities. He has a BSc in Chemistry from UofT and is a CPA & CFA.
Ivan has 30 years of e-commerce experience. He was former CEO of Northern Alliance Limited in Hong Kong and built extensive knowledge in digital marketing. Ivan is a co-founder of multiple nonprofit organizations in Canada. He holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Warwick.
Eileen Lao brings over 20 years of international experience in business development, communications, and stakeholder engagement across the public, non-profit, and private sectors in Asia and Canada. As a former Trade Commissioner with the Canadian Consulate General in Guangzhou, she led high-level delegations and helped Canadian organizations expand into key Asian markets across education, biotech, health, tourism, consumer products, and creative industries.
She later served as Public Affairs Manager at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., one of Canada’s largest non-profits, where she led public relations campaigns, cross-cultural initiatives, and strategic partnerships. Eileen also worked with the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, further honing her expertise in political and community engagement.
Beyond her professional achievements, Eileen is a dedicated community leader. She previously served on the board of the Barkerville Heritage Trust, British Columbia's largest heritage site, and currently serves on the boards of Abbeyfield Houses of Vancouver Society and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Eileen is the founder and managing director of EXL Communications, a Vancouver-based public relations agency specializing in cross-cultural marketing, project management, and strategic stakeholder relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience scaling equipment-based technology ventures. As CEO of Zeemac, he grew the company into one of Canada’s fastest-growing fleet lessors before leading its sale to Somerville National Leasing. At 7Gen, he served as COO, overseeing operations, software development, and market expansion for a cleantech EV infrastructure provider.
He holds an MSc in Industrial Relations, with Distinction, from the London School of Economics, a BComm from the University of British Columbia, and a Diploma in International Industrial Relations from Erasmus University in the Netherlands.
Over a 35-year career, Tim Reis has worked in digital, broadcast, and print for some of the biggest names in the industry – Fortune, Money, Forbes, et al – ultimately spending 12 years at Google in leadership roles including evangelizing mobile advertising in its nascence and leading teams serving large and mid-market clients and agencies across a wide variety of industry segments. In his last role at Google, Tim led a team generating $1B in revenue annually while delivering a 50% y/y growth rate.
Nick brings over 13 years of experience in field and corporate operations for major retail brands, including Orange PCS, Rogers Communications, and Apple. For the past 14 years, he has led multi-million dollar commercial agreements with global brands like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. As an early leader at Retail Zipline, he helped scale the company to over 100 clients, achieving a 97% proof-of-concept conversion rate and a 98% customer renewal rate. Nick’s expertise in operational excellence and strategy continues to drive success for retail businesses.
