Startup Canada

Pok Pok is an award-winning digital play company redefining how kids play and learn on devices. Melissa previously served as a Product Designer for The Walt Disney Company, was Head of Operations at renowned game studio Snowman and has led marketing and PR at start-ups both in Canada and Europe. She’s also an advocate and start-up mentor for women in tech and underrepresented fou

Cat Adalay is an experienced entrepreneur and business executive with a background in engineering, product design, and hardware development. This background was the perfect foundation to begin Aurea Technologies in 2017. Rachel Carr joined Cat and Aurea when Cat was prototyping a wind energy system for residential applications. Together, Rachel and Cat saw an opportunity to scale

Jessica is the CEO and co-founder of Apricotton, the only bra brand globally that designs bras that “grow” as girls grow, so girls can fit into the same bra when they develop from an A to D cup, helping the 90% of girls embarrassed to wear their first bra. She's personally leading Apricotton's Gen Z community, growing it to 170,000 followers and 30 million organic views on TikT

As the CEO and Founder of Loba, Kate is innovating health and wellness by taking pill and supplement management from routine to ritual. Kate’s own health journey led her to to search for a solution that combined sleek organization, convenient reminders, and a positive sentiment around taking her pills. Finding nothing that resonated, Kate took the reins and created a platform for

Inspired by his own experience with a tutor, Will realized the power of a great tutor and started TutorOcean in 2018. Just one year later, Will was approached by a university to offer the platform as a solution which led him to launch QuadC. Today, Will and his team support more than 50 higher institutions across North America and have more than 250,000 users across both products.

David Souaid is the Chief Revenue Officer and member of the board of directors at Journey Capital (formerly OnDeck Canada,) a leader in online small business lending. Journey Capital offers fast and flexible financing to founders so they can refuel their business. Journey Capital uses technology and also the guidance and advice of real business loan advisors to evaluate the financi

Together, Berto, Phil, Anthony and Robert are creating products that men can start celebrating, instead of tolerating. When searching for a comfortable pair of boxers and finding nothing … they created their own and began Manmade.

The card aisle doesn’t often represent queer folks, so Heather decided to do something about it and create her own products for herself and her community. Today, Little Rainbow Paper Co is a shop filled with cards, pins, mugs, ornaments, notepads and more that celebrate the queer and the quirky! Heather designs every product in her shop and the products exist to provide opportu

Katie Young is the Founder of Klondike Kettle Corn. Katie blends her culinary expertise with a passion for community. With a background in restaurants and catering, Katie found her calling in crafting fresh, ready-to-eat popcorn experiences. As a devoted mom, outdoor enthusiast, and food lover, she sees popcorn as more than a snack—it's a vehicle for connection and joy. Whether s

Jackie Rhind is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ovry, a brand of Canadian reproductive care products that includes pregnancy tests, ovulation tests, and an at-home male fertility test. Ovry tests are better alternatives to store-bought pregnancy and ovulation tests, which are wasteful, inconvenient, overpriced, and can often feel awkward or intimidating to buy. Compared to traditional te