Meet Our Founders
Learn more about the experience, values, and mission that fuel a results-driven consulting approach, helping ambitious entrepreneurs and professionals build with clarity and confidence.
Our Team
Charlene Sebastian
Founding Advisor
Charlene Sebastian brings over 30 years of experience in leadership coaching, human capital strategy, and organizational transformation. She plays a pivotal role in shaping our people-first culture, guiding governance structures, and supporting executive decision-making.
Chamanvir Kaur
Co-founder & CTO
Chamanvir brings strong experience in building AI-driven products and delivering end-to-end solutions. At Pocketride, she shapes the product vision and leads execution across engineering and partnerships to deliver scalable mobility experiences for riders, drivers, and cities.
Alla Salmon
VP Of Finance
Alla Salmon brings over 10 years of experience in strategic financial planning, optimizing financial operations, and delivering clear, data-driven insights that support executive decision-making and business growth through robust financial strategies.
Akash Kesavan
VP Of HR
Akash brings over a decade of progressive experience in human resources leadership, spanning talent strategy, workforce planning, employee relations, compliance, and organizational effectiveness. As Vice President of Human Resources, he is responsible for shaping the company’s people strategy, strengthening governance.
Arvind Madakan
VP of Growth & Marketing
Seasoned growth executive who scales startups through precision acquisition, customer retention mastery, and revenue acceleration. Drives Pocketride's market dominance—from Sarnia launch to national rideshare leadership—with strategies that deliver outsized returns on safe, affordable rural mobility.
Derek Boyd
VP of Technology
Derek Boyd leads the platform's technology architecture, engineering delivery, and AI systems strategy. He brings 20 years of senior IT leadership to the founding team, having previously held VP and Director-level technology roles at Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Joey Restaurant Group, Georgia Main Food Group, and Spud.ca.
Our Vision
To become the most trusted and impactful ride-hailing platform for non-metro communities across Canada and beyond.
Our Mission
To make transportation accessible, safe, and affordable for underserved rurban (rural-urban) communities by leveraging AI and community-driven innovation.
Core Values
- Affordability First
- Safety as a Standard
- Tech for Good
- Transparent Operations
- Inclusivity & Diversity
- Community-Centric Design
We come from different industries and product backgrounds, but we share the same drive: build solutions that make everyday life easier, starting with transportation.
Started in Sarnia. Built for everywhere the big apps don't go.
Pocketride started with a simple but important question: why should access to safe, reliable, and affordable transportation depend on where you live?
While rideshare services have transformed mobility in larger cities, many rural and non-metro communities continue to be overlooked. Families struggle to find dependable transportation, students face limited mobility, seniors are left with fewer safe travel options, and workers are often forced to rely on expensive or inconsistent rides just to get where they need to go.
That reality inspired Ansh and Chamanvir to build Pocketride.
Ansh, Founder & CEO of Pocketride, brings experience in building scalable products, business systems, and community-driven solutions focused on solving real-world accessibility challenges. Alongside him, Chamanvir, Co-Founder & CTO, brings a strong technical background in software development, platform architecture, and technology infrastructure — helping transform the vision of Pocketride into a reliable and scalable mobility platform.
Together, they saw an opportunity to rethink transportation for underserved communities — not by replicating traditional big-city rideshare models, but by creating a local-first platform designed specifically around the needs of smaller cities and rural regions.
Pocketride is being built with a strong focus on:
- Safe, background-verified local drivers
- Fair and transparent pricing
- Reliable access to everyday transportation
- A platform designed to support both riders and drivers
- Community-first innovation powered by technology
Our goal is not simply to launch another rideshare app. We aim to build a transportation network communities can genuinely rely on, whether it’s for work, school, medical appointments, errands, or getting home safely.
Today, Pocketride continues to grow alongside the communities it serves. By listening closely to rider and driver feedback, testing new ideas, and continuously improving the platform, we are building transportation solutions that are practical, accessible, and designed for real local needs.
Our Mission
Building smarter, safer, and more accessible transportation solutions for underserved communities through technology, innovation, and local collaboration.
Strategic Partnerships
Industry Recognition
