About XpertSea

Valérie is XpertSea’s Co-Founder and CEO. An entrepreneur with a passion for the ocean, it was her interest in innovation and technology that led to a scientific breakthrough in aquaculture. When Valérie and Cody discovered that shrimp hatcheries had only basic tools to count the number of larvae, an idea was born. Together, they thought about commercial applications for optics and photonics in marine environments. After garnering interest from several companies, they created XpertSea to address the major technology gap that exists in the aquaculture industry. With more mouths to feed and fewer fish in the ocean, Valérie knows XpertSea can have an important impact on the global food supply. She enjoys fishing, American football and French Bulldogs. Valérie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology and Oceanography from the Maine Maritime Institute and pursued a Masters of Science degree from the National Institute of Scientific Research.

Cody is an entrepreneur with the mindset of an engineer. Since co-founding XpertSea, he has visited hundreds of aquaculture facilities and worked with companies around the world. A former defensive end for the MMA Mariners, he still enjoys American football. He also likes fishing and French Bulldogs. Cody holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Marine Systems from Maine Maritime Academy.

François has a rigorous passion for financial growth. From key personnel hiring and fundraising capital with venture capital firms to sales models and distribution optimization, he has it covered. An enthusiastic entrepreneur, he’s proud about building an organization that will impact future generations. With his expertise, XpertSea is working to empower the aquaculture food production industry through technological innovation. Before co-founding Xpertsea, François was a Senior Associate at PwC, auditing and advising tech companies. A self-proclaimed adventurer interested in different cultures, he has visited over 25 countries and studied at Singapore Management University. In his spare time he enjoys music and video games. François holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Laval University and completed his CPA, CA certification.

As Vice-President, Sylvie’s passion is to make sure everyone, both customers and employees, feel welcomed into the big XpertSea family. Sylvie is responsible for operations and manufacturing, managing customer support and coordinating the different technical teams in the field. Before co-founding  XpertSea, she was director of an urban hydraulics division and then vice-president of a large engineering firm in Quebec. She enjoys visiting family in Florida, playing golf and cooking on the barbecue. Sylvie holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Laval University.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Mikael is an inspiration—to both clients and coworkers. Whether he's coaching sales teams, designing revenue plans or crafting marketing processes, he makes things happen. Earlier in his career, Mikael rose through the ranks at Frima to become Head of Business Development, playing an important role in the company's strategy and vision. With his help, this leading independent game studio grew from 30 to 400 employees making it one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in Canada. Later, as Chief Revenue Officer at AXES, he expanded the business to over 40 countries, primarily in Africa and Latin America. He enjoys British bikes, exotic travel and T-shirts featuring everybody's favorite wookie, Chewbacca. Mikael holds a Bachelor of International Management degree from Laval University.

Samuel loves a challenge. As Chief Technology Officer he oversees Xpertsea's technology platform and roadmap, IP and patents, technical recruitment, day-to-day engineering operations and management. His passion is building great teams that can accomplish new goals with scalable solutions using exciting technologies. Before joining XpertSea, Samuel was an Embedded Software Specialist at ABB Bomem working on remote sensing, computer vision, space and defense projects. Before that, he was a Software Developer for the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec. He's won several awards in engineering, AI and computer science competitions, not surprising seeing as he dismantled his first computer when he was 9 to see how it worked.  His interests include guitar, skiing, golf, cryptocurrency and scotch. Samuel holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Software from Laval University.

As Head of Product Management, Todd helps the team be their strategic best, empowering them to develop products and services that delight XpertSea’s customers. Before moving to Canada to join XpertSea, Todd was running his own product management consulting business. He’s held various positions including Senior Director of Product Management for Lytx in San Diego, Senior Consultant for MarketFrames and Product Manager for HP. An author, the title of Todd’s first book is Becoming a More Strategic Product Manager: Nine Lessons, Nine Days. He’s released popular online product management courses on both Highbrow and Udemy. Todd hosts a series of 3 Minute Product Manager videos on YouTube. He enjoys backpacking, snorkeling and raising nut trees. Todd holds a Bachelor of Anthropology degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Sydney.