ElevateR Pitch

Sep 10, 2019

Canada’s Most Anticipated Pitch Competition is Back 2019 This fall, Elevate is bringing back ElevateR Pitch to showcase Canada’s top startups to investors, partners, media, and customers. On September 24 and 25 in Toronto, 32 of Canada’s top startups will compete in front of world-class investors and celebrity judges for a chance to win a funding prize and the unique opportunity to pitch live in front of thousands on the Elevate Main Stage. What you missed in 2018 When the March Madness style pitch competition launched in 2018, it was Canada’s first pitch competition to announce a whopping $1 million in funding. Last year, ElevateR Pitch saw 16 AI startups across Canada pitch. The winner was Daisy Intelligence, an AI startup based in Vaughan that offers software solutions for the retail and insurance industries. In a surprise announcement on the Elevate Main Stage by BNN Bloomberg anchor Amanda Lang, Daisy Intelligence would actually receive $5 million. The opportunity this year Application for a wildcard spot is now open. Elevate will take top contenders and finalists from pitch competitions across the country and showcase the best of the best on the Elevate Main Stage, at Meridian Hall (formerly Sony Centre) on September 25. To be eligible: You must be a Canadian-based and incorporated company, and/or, have a Canadian founder/co-founder, and/or have a significant Canadian presence Must not have have revenue or have raised over $5,000,000 in funds from combined funding sources at the time of application Learn more and apply at elevate.ca/events/elevater-pitch Paul Rowan, Co-Founder and VP Inspiration, Umbra “In Toronto, Bombardier manufactures business and commercial aircraft and relies on the diversified, local regional supply chain. We work with more than 70 suppliers located in the Greater Toronto Area and we benefit from a variety of expertise going from complex machining to systems integration.” Graham Kelly, Vice-President, Global Operations & Toronto Site, Bombardier Aerospace "Toronto is emerging as a technology hub and attracting increased investment, including ours, because of forward thinking government and amazing access to technology, an incredible talent pool and leading educational institutions, as well as industries and markets in healthcare and financial services.” Dr. Rick Huijbregts, Vice-President, Industry Transformation, Cisco Canada “I think it’s an attractive place to come for talented people, it's a huge market for creative people and I think there are some companies emerging that give people hope that it can be done here.” Mike McDerment, CEO/Co-Founder, Freshbooks “The scale and quality of meet-ups and conferences and speaking events have gone up dramatically. You don’t need to leave Toronto to build a successful company.” Evgeny Tchebotarev, Co-Founder, 500px "Startups in Toronto benefit from support at every stage. From the very early stage we have incubators, accelerators and seed stage investors. In the growth stage, we have funders willing to invest a lot of money to really help a company take-off. This gives tech companies in Toronto a huge advantage.” Allen Lau, CEO & Co-Founder, Wattpad “Something that makes Toronto truly unique is that willingness to share and communicate with people very openly inside the industry looking at the global pie as something we can all co-create and achieve together.” Satish Kanwar, Director of Product, Shopify "A culture of collaboration is really at the heart of what’s next in innovation. What’s exciting in Toronto is that we have local and international businesses partnering with the startup ecosystem and increasingly with the academic community to position themselves for success in the future. And it’s happening across the spectrum from digital media and information technology, to life sciences and healthcare, energy solutions and social innovation.” Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS Discovery District /