John Albright

John is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund™ and is Founder and Managing Partner of JLA Ventures.

The BlackBerry Partners Fund was established in 2008 and has raised two funds to date in the amount of $150 million each from a diverse group of institutions and strategic partners. The BlackBerry Partners Fund invests in early stage companies that benefit from and/or enable the mobile internet. JLA Ventures was established in 1996 and has raised $315 million over four funds from a diverse group of institutional investors. JLA Ventures invests in early stage  companies that focus on digital media and SAAS.

During his tenure in the venture capital business John gained extensive experience assisting entrepreneurs  shape their vision and capital plans into successful long term growth programs which typically involved an aggressive financing strategy. John has a history of assisting entrepreneurial companies through significant growth and eventually to the public markets. His ability to work with and advise senior management of investee companies, as well as his skills in filling supporting roles where existing management lack the experience or skill set, has been vital to the success of past investments.

John currently serves as a director of QuickPlay Media, Nexage, Viewdle, Padopolis, Digby, Achievers, ClearFit and Blue Ant Media. In addition, John serves as a director of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) and is an advisory board member of the North American Venture Capital Association. John previously served on the board of Fun Technology (IPO 2003,  acquired by Liberty Media 2006), Q9 Networks (IPO 2004, acquired by Abry 2008), Descartes (IPO 1997), Triple G (IPO 2001, acquired by General Electric 2003 ),  Bioscrypt (IPO 2002) and Sirit (IPO 1998, acquired by Federal Signal 2010).

John is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

albright@jlaventures.com
Twitter: @johnlalbright