$100k Student Entrepreneur Investment Prize

$100k Student Entrepreneur Investment Prize is back for its third year! This year Front Row Ventures (FRV) is teaming up with LOI Venture to double the investment prize from $50K to $100K! 
 
Front Row Ventures is Canada’s leading university-focused and student-operated VC firm with a presence on 20+ university campuses across Canada. They are early-stage and industry-agnostic investors backing high-impact student entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds and ambitious technology-enabled ideas. Over the past 7 years, FRV has invested in more than 60 companies including Puzzle Medical Devices, Nomic Bio and Valence Discovery. Combined, these companies have gone on to raise over $250 million in follow-on funding with top tier investors. With a $5.5M pan-Canadian fund closed in 2023, FRV is deploying the largest pool of capital in Canada exclusively dedicated to investing in student-led startups.
 

LOI Venture is a $20M pre-seed and seed fund co-founded by Ryan Holmes (Hootsuite) and Manny Padda (Angel Investor). LOI Venture backs early stage founders — primarily from the League of Innovators accelerator — building bold tech startups. With over 40 portfolio companies and growing, we’re Canada’s launchpad for next-gen entrepreneurs.

 

Eligibility Criteria

This prize is open to attendees of Startupfest working on a startup with at least one co-founder currently enrolled at a Canadian university or who has graduated no longer than 6 months ago. The company must also be incorporated in Canada.
 

The Process

Pre-registration is mandatory to pitch, but a few wild card spots will be available on site and expected to fill out a form upon arrival.
 
On July 9 and 10, join the FRV team in The Startupfest Village to make your pitch. The pitches happening on the these dates are preliminary rounds, 5 companies will be shortlisted for a final on July 11th.
 
When to pitch:
  • July 9th: 11AM to 4PM in the Village 
  • July 10th: 10:30AM to 12PM and 1PM to 5PM in the Village
 

Prize Details

This prize is a $100,000 investment under FRV's standard SAFE note, (subject to standard legal due diligence).
 
The prize will be disbursed as two seperate $50K SAFE agreements both under the same terms; one from Front Row Ventures and one from LOI Venture. 
 
Startupfest does not guarantee that an investment prize will be awarded. All investment decisions and agreements are made solely at the discretion of the participating investors and the selected startup.That said, we’re proud to share that over 95% of the approximately 30 Startupfest investment prizes awarded over the past 15 years have successfully closed.
 

2025 Judges - Will be announced shortly

See the FRV SAFE Overview

2025 Judges

Emmanuelle Coppinger

Emmanuelle is the Managing Partner of Front Row Ventures (FRV), Canada’s leading university-focused VC firm, active on over 20 campuses nationwide. Under her leadership, FRV closed a $5.5M pan-Canadian fund—now the largest capital pool in the country dedicated to investing in student-led startups. A firm believer in the power of technology and entrepreneurship to drive societal change, she mentors and advises early-stage founders across sectors.
Previously, she co-ran Next AI Montreal as Director of Ventures, leading startup support as well as investor and mentor engagement. She also helped launch the Canadian chapter of Women in AI and founded both a travel accessories brand and a nonprofit promoting blood platelet donation among students. Emmanuelle holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School (Paris), began her career in audit and investment banking in France and Australia, and is the proud mother of three children.
Her vision for FRV is clear: top talent, top network, top quartile performance.

Sasha Nicolas Dolgopolyy

S. Nicolas Dolgopolyy is going into his 4th year of Software Engineering. A McGill Univeristy Schulich Leader Scholar, he is the Director of the Quebec Investment team having previously worked on the Portfolio Support and Investment team as an associate. His interests lie in robotics, having worked on the Canadarm3 team at MDA and currently doing research at McGill on autonomous AI enabled robots. Previously he worked at Framework Ventures as an junior analyst and worked for 1.5 years in R&D at AWL-Electricity helping solve and find applications for resonant capacitive coupling.

Manorama Joshi

Manorama Joshi is in her third year of mechanical engineering, specializing in biomechanics and medical devices. A UBC Schulich Leader Scholar (valued at $100,000) and recipient of the prestigious Alberta Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, Manorama is the Director of Portfolio Support at FRV with previous two years of experience on the team. Manorama’s other engagements include UBC’s Development and Alumni Engagement team and UBC Uncrewed Aircraft Systems as a mechanical engineer. Her previous roles include being the volunteer coordinator of Calgary based nonprofit Western Mechatronics and Co-VP for UBC’s Women in Science and Engineering committee. As the winner of the 2024 Martha Salcudean Memorial Award in Mechanical Engineering, she is passionate about research and engineering that increases the quality of life of everyday people and how to enable its commercialization into practical applications.

David Dufresne

David began his career in the Canadian venture capital industry in the early 2000s, working at Desjardins Venture Capital and BlackBerry Partners Fund. He then served as the CEO of tech startup Bandzoogle for five years. He then worked for the music platform Bandcamp as Head of Strategy and Growth before returning to venture capital. He was a founding partner of Panache Ventures, one of Canada’s most active seed funds. He is currently an angel investor in a dozen startups and serves as a director and consultant to various organizations. He recently joined AQC Capital as Investment Partner.
David is a sought-after speaker and panellist at numerous venture capital and technology events. He acts as a mentor and advisor to numerous startup accelerators and incubators in Quebec, Canada and the United States (SXSW, Techstars, FounderFuel, CDL, NextAI, etc.).

Jean-Philippe Taillon

Jean-Philippe Taillon is the Managing Director of Fonds d’Investissement Eurêka, a Quebec government initiative aimed at investing in the most promising startups emerging from public research in Quebec. He also sits on several advisory committees for venture capital funds focused on life sciences, deep tech, and clean tech. His career includes experience in commercial lending, alternative investments, and the founding of an algorithmic investment firm operating in the U.S. electricity markets. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, as well as CFA and Energy Risk Professional certifications. A strong advocate for governance and technology, he is passionate about economic growth through science and entrepreneurship. Jean-Philippe also serves as a board member of Fondation des Gardiens Virtuels and Digital Moment, two charitable organizations dedicated to improving the digital lives of the youth.

Ashkan Gharahgozli

Ash is currently the Director of the BC Investment Team and has completed two years as an Investment Associate at FRV. During his time here, he has led investments in two BC portfolio companies: PathoScan Technologies (AgTech, 2024) and Avenue Intelligence (IoT, 2023). He is in his fourth year studying Manufacturing Engineering at UBC Vancouver, specializing in Automation and Sustainability. Ash has worked at various UBC-founded startups and at CanDry Technologies, a Hatch Accelerator startup, as a software developer and Mechanical Engineering intern. Over the past year, he has been interning at Celestica, focusing on M&A strategy. His interests lie in entrepreneurship and DeepTech venture investments, and he aims to contribute to the next generation of robotics and manufacturing space.