Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Investment Partner

Steve Leightell is a Partner on Georgian Partners Investment Team. In this role, he looks for great teams leading companies that are likely to be break-out leaders in our thesis areas. He’s happiest when working with our portfolio companies and helping them engage our Georgian Impact and Investment Teams to find new revenue opportunities and lock out competition. Having twice gone from startup to acquisition prior to joining Georgian, Steve loves working with our portfolio companies on the exciting journey of growth through to exit.

Steve sits on several boards as either a board director or board observer, including Data Candy, Welltok, Cority, RiskIQ and Flashpoint. He also serves on the board of the Canadian Venture Capital Association.

Steve started his career in Internet sales in the early 1990s and was always a top sales rep before transitioning to business development. By the early 2000s, he was the Director of Business Development at DWL, where he managed a team that built partnerships with Accenture, Oracle, Tata Consulting, Wipro, Cognizant and IBM. Steve designed the channel and strategy that ultimately culminated in the acquisition of DWL by IBM in 2005. He went on to lead a global team within IBM that was responsible for major system integrator partnerships. In 2008, he left IBM to found a niche consulting firm focused on business development for SaaS organizations.

Steve holds a BA in anthropology and sociology from Carleton University in Ottawa.