Sponsors

Shobhit Shanker, Principal

M. Eng., P. Eng, MBA

Shobhit is an entrepreneur and an investor in Small Medium Businesses (SMBs). He and his wife and business partner Renee acquired North American Decal Inc. (NAD) in March 2023 as a 100% shares transaction from the previous ownership family. Shobhit has former experience of 15 years as a Professional Engineer and a Senior Project Manager at Kinectrics Inc., which is a privately held market leader in specialized engineering, machining, testing, project management, and high value consulting services to nuclear power generators globally.

  • Coming from a strong technical and operational background, Shobhit augmented his experience with an MBA to gain a better appreciation for the key business drivers that influence decision making in any company. With this increased breadth of knowledge, he can confidently connect the day-to-day operational decisions to higher level business drivers seamlessly.

    Shobhit lives in Toronto with Renee, their 4-year-old son, and dog. Outside of work, he enjoys the outdoors, reading, sports (running, hiking, yoga, basketball, tennis), Zen meditation and spending time with friends and family.

Renee Willmon, Principal

M.Sc.

Renee is a strategic consultant with a passion for making complex ideas clear and actionable. With technical roots in real-world evidence (RWE), patient-generated data, and digital health innovation, her last corporate role was serving as the Senior Director, RWE at Alira Health, a Top 10 Forbes’ World’s Best Management Consulting Firms in Life Sciences and Pharma. She now applies her unique blend of scientific rigor and human-centered insight as the Founder and Principal consultant of Emberlyn.

  • Renee has experience on both the sell-side and buy-side of acquisitions of businesses ranging in maturity from technology start-ups to multi-generational companies in established industries. She has expertise in the development of partnerships amongst diverse stakeholders to unlock ecosystem value, and she has delivered programs and projects in multiple languages and regulatory environments spanning North America and Europe.

    A former forensic anthropologist and investigator, Renee specialized in the application of medical imaging technology to identify human remains in the context of evolutionary health research and solving crimes. This background offers her a unique lens to creatively identify key enabling characteristics within people and processes across diverse businesses.

    Born in Calgary, Renee now lives in Toronto with her husband and business partner, Shobhit, their 4-yr-old son, and Australian Shepherd. In addition to her business pursuits, she enjoys playing the flute and piccolo in the Hart House Orchestra and other community ensembles, riding horses, gardening, baking sourdough, and spending time in the mountains every chance she gets.