# Daren Trousdell

> Daren Trousdell is a Canadian technology entrepreneur and investor based in Palm Beach, Florida. The founder and former chairman and CEO of NowVertical Group, he is founder and managing partner of KOAT Capital and executive chairman of Pelican.ai. His career includes founding Mindblossom, acquired by Aegis in 2007, founding OneUp, and co-founding Clip Money.

- **Role:** Founder and Managing Partner at KOAT Capital; Executive Chairman at Pelican.ai
- **Organizations:** KOAT Capital, Pelican.ai, NowVertical Group, Clip Money, Mindblossom, Aegis Media / Isobar, OneUp Sports / OneUp Games, Ecards.com, Good Enough AI
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** George Brown Polytechnic (formerly George Brown College)
- **Known for:** Founded Mindblossom, acquired by Aegis Media in 2007., Founded OneUp, whose 2014 sports partnerships included the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour and NASCAR., Founded and led NowVertical through its 2021 TSXV listing.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Founded Toronto digital agency Mindblossom.
- **2007** — Aegis announced its acquisition of Mindblossom in November; Trousdell subsequently worked in North American digital leadership and corporate development.
- **2011** — Established OneUp Games, developing casual games linked to live sports.
- **2018** — Co-founded Clip Money and founded KOAT Capital, according to public career profiles.
- **2020** — Founded NowVertical Group; public career profiles date the role to September.
- **2021** — NowVertical began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on July 5, with Trousdell as chairman and CEO.
- **2023** — Resigned as NowVertical chairman and CEO on May 30.
- **2024** — Settled outstanding disputes with NowVertical on March 21; became executive chairman of Pelican AI following KOAT’s July acquisition.
- **2026** — Publicly described building Good Enough AI to address model-selection and AI operating costs.

## Achievements

- Founded Mindblossom, acquired by Aegis Media in 2007.
- Founded OneUp, whose 2014 sports partnerships included the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour and NASCAR.
- Founded and led NowVertical through its 2021 TSXV listing.
- Co-founded Clip Money.
- Became executive chairman of Pelican AI after KOAT’s acquisition in July 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Research check: KOAT lists Trousdell as managing partner and Pelican.ai lists him as executive chairman. His public posts describe work on Good Enough AI; no exact post publication date is asserted here.
- **2024-07** — KOAT announced acquisition of Pelican AI on July 10 and Trousdell’s appointment as executive chairman.
- **2024-03** — NowVertical and Trousdell announced resolution of all outstanding disputes on March 21.

## Links

- Website: https://linktr.ee/dtrous
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darentrousdell
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/dtrous

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/daren-trousdell
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26