Summer Investment Series - Horizon Angels

Aaron Topple

With a background shaped by both military training and entrepreneurship, Aaron has led in sectors ranging from space and logistics to energy and manufacturing. His career has been built on turning ambitious strategies into practical outcomes that scale.

After building companies and advising operators, Aaron shifted his focus to helping others succeed through structure, performance, and alignment. He brings a disciplined approach to early-stage investing, ensuring that founders and investors alike benefit from systems that create trust and sustained growth.

Monika Jazyk

With over fifteen years of experience as an entrepreneur and investment specialist, Monika has built a career centered on alternative asset classes and strategic wealth creation. As the founder of RPI Education (Real Property Investments), an international community established in 2010, she has developed robust frameworks that demystify complex investment markets and empower individuals through structured financial literacy.

Beyond her work as an author and advocate, Monika brings a sophisticated understanding of portfolio diversification and ecosystem-driven education. At Horizon Angels, she applies this background in alternative investments and community financial advocacy to ensure that both founders and investors benefit from the long-term thinking, structured clarity, and sustainable asset strategies required to build durable economic impact.

Dev Das

With more than three decades of experience across global institutional asset management, pension investment, and banking, Dev has built a career centered on capital allocation and risk governance. He most recently led risk management for private investments at CPP Investments, bringing a highly disciplined and analytical approach to evaluating complex, large-scale portfolios.

Beyond his institutional tenure, Dev has direct operational experience as the co-founder of a SaaS AgTech platform, where he led strategic direction, partnerships, and go-to-market execution. As a trusted advisor to early-stage and growth-stage companies, he specializes in guiding founders through fundraising, operational efficiency, and investment readiness. At Horizon Angels, Dev integrates this institutional risk discipline with a hands-on operator’s perspective, helping founders establish the structural accountability and long-term clarity required to scale meaningfully.

Cam Richardson

With more than three decades of experience as a founder and operator, Cam has built and scaled multinational technology and manufacturing firms serving the higher education and public infrastructure sectors. His career has been built on the integration of complex engineering and service platforms, successfully navigating cross-border operations and the rigorous demands of large-scale institutional markets.

Following a successful management buyout in 2021, Cam shifted his focus to helping founders succeed through a hands-on, “operator-first” perspective. He brings a pragmatic approach to early-stage investing, specializing in product commercialization and the structural discipline required for cross-border expansion. At Horizon Angels, Cam ensures that both founders and investors benefit from refined go-to-market strategies and long-term thinking that transforms ambitious ideas into durable outcomes.

Scott Bissessar

With over three decades of experience as a Swiss-Canadian entrepreneur, Scott has built and funded companies across the European and North American markets. His career is marked by a deep understanding of the trajectory from concept to market leadership, notably securing the foundational growth for Unit.Net during the early evolution of streaming media.

Beyond his work as an operator, Scott brings a sophisticated focus to board governance and organizational health. Having coached over 100 chairs and CEOs through prestigious programs at IMD Lausanne and ICD Canada, he specializes in the implementation science required to navigate the risks that often follow early-stage funding. At Horizon Angels, Scott applies this “operator’s lens” to ensure that both founders and investors are supported by the structural integrity and strategic networks necessary for long-term success.

James Shen

With a background rooted in engineering and serial entrepreneurship, James has led across diverse high-tech sectors, including aerospace, telecommunications, and medical devices. As a Professional Engineer and inventor with multiple patents, his career has been built on the intersection of technical innovation and strategic executive leadership.

After navigating global markets as a CEO and advisor, James focuses on unlocking an enterprise’s true potential through honest dialogue and executable business models. He brings an analytical and disciplined depth to early-stage investing, ensuring that founders benefit from the strategic alignment and operational clarity required for sustained growth.

HORIZON SUMMER INVESTMENT SERIES

SERIES SCHEDULE

Validation and Proof Points

Finding Your Beachead Market

Identify Your Ideal Customer

Defining the Actual Problem

Building a Business Model

Competitive Landscape Mapping

Crafting Your Value Proposition