Donato Sferra

Donato Sferra is a Toronto-based investor and business executive who currently serves as Managing Partner at Hillcrest Merchant Partners, a merchant bank and venture capital firm focused on early stage and mid-market growth companies. Mr. Sferra has an extensive background in the financial services industry, angel investing and capital market consulting.

A chartered accountant (CA) and chartered financial analyst (CFA), Donato Sferra studied accounting at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.

After obtaining his education, Mr. Sferra began his career at Arthur Andersen as a chartered accountant and senior auditor before moving on to TD Securities as an equity research analyst, specializing in auto parts, solar and automation.

Mr. Sferra then went on to spend two years as Vice President of Investments at Pinetree Capital Ltd., a small-cap focused firm and an angel investor in the mining, energy and tech investments sectors. He served as a member of the executive management team at Pinetree Capital, where he was involved in the evaluation and management of the company’s investment portfolio.

After Pinetree Capital, Mr. Sferra spent five years at Dundee Capital Markets, serving first as Director of Institutional Sales, then as Managing Director of Investment Banking with a specialization in cannabis, electric metals, mining, gaming and tech.

Mr. Sferra served as Managing Director of Investment Banking at Eight Capital, formerly known as Dundee Capital Markets, where he led the firm’s cannabis investment banking team.

In 2017, Donato Sferra co-founded Hillcrest Merchant Partners alongside fellow managing partner, Mark Attanasio.

In 2016, Mr. Sferra also co-founded Above Food Corp., a plant-based foods company where he works as Chief Corporate Development Officer and Executive Vice President.