Trevor Koverko has spent more than a decade building companies in blockchain, digital assets, and new technology. He was an early supporter of well-known crypto projects such as Ethereum, Block.One, Hashgraph, and Shapeshift. He later founded Polymath after noticing that financial assets were starting to move onto the blockchain. His path into business began after an early career in hockey. He was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2005, but a serious accident ended his time in the sport. He moved to China, finished his HBA at the Ivey Business School in 2012, and focused fully on entrepreneurship. Since then, he has founded and invested in several public tech companies, including Tokens.com, First Carbon, and Matador. He also stays active through squash, jiu-jitsu, hockey, and chess. Today he runs a private company called SapienAI.
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Q: You spent a lot of time playing hockey in your early years. How did that experience influence the way you do your work today?
Trevor Koverko: Hockey shaped my life from the time I was young. I played at a competitive level, moved between cities, trained every day, and tried hard to rise through the ranks. Getting drafted into the NHL in 2005 was an amazing moment. The culture around hockey taught me discipline and teamwork, but it also taught me how to stay calm under pressure.
My accident years later changed everything. I needed shoulder surgery and suffered a brain injury, which meant my hockey career was over. It was tough, but it forced me to reinvent myself. The lessons I learned from sports helped guide me through that time. I knew how to face challenges, recover from setbacks, and start again in new places. Those habits are still a big part of how I work as an entrepreneur today.
Q: You’ve said your move to China pushed you into entrepreneurship. What did that time in your life open up for you?
Trevor Koverko: After my accident, I needed a new direction. I moved to China while still studying at Ivey because I wanted to dive into software and learn as much as I could. Being in a completely new country pushed me to grow quickly. I built my first company there and used online resources, especially the Y Combinator library, to guide my decisions. It was a crash course in building a business. That experience showed me that I enjoyed the work and had the drive to keep going. It made me commit fully to startups.
Q: Your Oculus Rift project became one of the first VR exits. What did that teach you about new technology?
Trevor Koverko: The VR project came from curiosity. I got one of the first Oculus developer kits before Facebook bought the company. The idea was to create virtual real estate tours, and it worked really well. We sold penthouses, built strong partnerships, and completed an exit in under a year.
It was exciting, but it also taught me something important. New technology can pull you in fast. VR was fresh and interesting, and I moved quickly. That helped me learn a lot, but it also made me more thoughtful in future projects. I became better at slowing down, doing my research, and balancing excitement with structure. That mindset helped me when I started working in blockchain.
Q: You invested early in blockchain projects and later founded Polymath. What convinced you that blockchain would change finance?
Trevor Koverko: I liked blockchain because it brought together technology, incentives, and community in a powerful way. I invested early in projects like Ethereum, Block.One, Hashgraph, and Shapeshift, because I believed the technology would create long-term value.
A few years later, it became clear that financial assets would eventually move onto blockchain systems. That’s why I founded Polymath. At the time, the industry was young and people were still figuring out how everything should work. Being early gave me a front-row seat. It taught me what was possible and what the risks were. Since then, I’ve helped build several Web3 companies that later went public, and each one taught me something new about growing in a fast-changing space.
Q: What motivates you today while you continue building and investing in tech companies?
Trevor Koverko: These days, I’m most excited about technology that solves real problems in the real world. I love helping teams work through challenges and find direction in tricky markets. I’ve had my share of wins and mistakes, and both help me make better decisions now.
Outside of work, I stay active with jiu-jitsu and squash. I also support charities that mean a lot to me, including groups in Africa and India. I try to keep a healthy balance between building companies, learning new things, and giving back. Every new project teaches me something different, and I still feel the same excitement I felt when I built my first startup.
