Partners
Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D
Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D
Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D
Managing Partner
Brian Mergelas brings more than 20 years of leadership experience as a CEO, board member, and investor. He has led organizations through growth, transformation, and successful exits, including serving as CEO of Sunwell Technologies, CEO of WaterTAP, and CEO & Founder of The Pressure Pipe Inspection Company, which he built from start-up to $25 million in sales before selling in 2010.
Throughout his career, Brian has led and advised on multiple mergers and acquisitions on both the buy and sell sides, developing deep expertise in strategy execution, operational excellence, and leadership performance.
As Managing Partner at 1440 Capital, Brian combines his executive and investment experience with his work as a leadership coach and advisor to CEOs. Certified in DISC, 12 Driving Forces, and Emotional Intelligence assessments through TTISI, he helps leaders improve clarity, communication, and accountability—aligning behavior with strategy to drive results.
Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, and is a graduate of the Rotman School of Management’s Institute of Corporate Directors program at the University of Toronto.
Rick VanSant, BSC, ICD.D
Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D
Brian Mergelas, PhD, ICD.D
Partner
Rick is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. Rick is Board Chair and a Director of WaterTAP Ontario, the province of Ontario’s water technology accelerator, and a Director of ACUVA Technologies, a leading UV-LED water disinfection company based in Vancouver, Canada. From 2002 to 2018 he was President and CEO of UV Pure Technologies, a Canadian environmental technology company that develops and manufactures advanced UV water disinfection technology. It has an installed base of over 19,000 applications in North America, LATAM and ASEAN countries, and the EU. Prior to UV Pure, Rick founded and/or led several public and private companies, and was member and Director of Young Presidents’ Organization in Toronto. He has a degree in Astro-geophysics from Colgate University, a Masters of Education from St. Lawrence University, and is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business’ Institute of Corporate Directors program.
Don Macgregor, BA
JT Badiani, P. Eng, MBA
JT Badiani, P. Eng, MBA
Partner
For over 20 years, Don Macgregor held the position of Co-President at his third generation family business. During his tenure Don oversaw Macgregor’s Sales Management team and Marketing Programs. With Sales of 135 million dollars Macgregors Meat and Seafood continued to grow its position in the Fully Cooked Retail market as well as a manufacturer and distributor servicing the Canadian food Service markets (Independent restaurants, Hotels and Multi-unit restaurant chains). Macgregors was recognized as one of the largest privately owned Canadian Food Service Companies. Don was a member of the Canadian National Boblseigh team from 1989-1993 competing in the North America and Europe World Cup events and was a member of the Canadian Track and Field team at the University and Senior level competing in the sprint events. Today he is involved in various investments and philanthropy initiatives. Don holds an Honours degree in Business Commerce from the University of Windsor.
JT Badiani, P. Eng, MBA
JT Badiani, P. Eng, MBA
JT Badiani, P. Eng, MBA
Partner
With over 20 years working with companies like GE, Nabisco, Baskin Robbins, Molson, Bombardier, Imperial Oil, and Kapstone Pulp and Paper, JT has helped achieve and sustain reductions in manufacturing costs of 20%+, improve on-time delivery to 99%+, and reduce defects to improve product quality to 99%+. Currently, JT sits on the board of two companies and serves as an advisor to two medium enterprises. JT has a B.E.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario an MBA from the Ivey School of Business.