2026 Agenda

Join your fellow female founders for a bite and some networking before the content kicks off! See More.

Join your host for the morning as she kicks off the 7th edition of the BDC WiT Bootcamp! See More.

Details coming soon. See More.

Global reach, sovereign control - Join BDC Capital's Executive Vice President, Geneviève Bouthiller, as she hosts a conversation with Sentinel's Kath Intson about her journey building Sentinel R&D. See More.

Entrepreneurs are expected to build AI-forward companies. But somewhere along the way, you'll bump into a use case that makes you wince, and nobody is going to tell you where to draw the line between what's acceptable and what isn't. You have to figure that out for yourself. See More.

In this talk, we'll share learnings across our 600+ startup portfolio on how founders decide how to allocate their most limited resources: time, talent, and cash. See More.

Join Startupfest founder Phil Telio and content chair Alistair Croll as they kick off our 16th edition with a no-nonsense, insider's guide to what you need to do to get the most out of the next 3 days! See More.

What does it actually take to build a women's health company in Canada? Marina joins the hosts of Tech Poutine to trace her journey from founding idea to funded company: the fundraising walls she ran into, the clinical partnerships she had to forge from scratch, and why she believes Canada has a real edge in this space See More.

Author of Purposeful Empathy, Anita Nowak, shares her six step process to being an empathatic leader. See More.

A candid conversation with Harley Finkelstein and Georges St-Pierre on discipline, pressure, ambition, and building from Montreal to the world. See More.

This session brings together an entrepreneur and an investor to share their perspectives and experiences. They’ll discuss why they chose this route, what they’ve learned along the way, and how expanding our view of entrepreneurship can unlock more inclusive pathways to leadership and ownership. See More.

We live in exponential times. All meaningful growth comes from compounding: a constant, gradual, inexorable bending of the curve in your favour. If you want to ride the curve rather than being crushed by it, you need to start thinking in loops. See More.

Each of our VC's has been asked to bring 3 spicy questions for one of their colleagues. In this rapid fire, chain reaction panel we're going to get some great stories - zero preparation just 3 questions, in 5 minutes! See More.

Holy shit - AI. See More.

Craft compelling narratives that resonate with different audiences—from 30-second elevator pitches to investor decks to podcast interviews—learn how to tell your founding story in ways that make people care, remember you, and want to help you succeed. See More.

Build the minimum product that validates your core idea, know when to launch versus when to keep iterating, and avoid the trap of over-engineering before you have customers. See More.

Learn how to find your first customers, conduct problem interviews that reveal real pain points, and validate willingness to pay before you waste time building the wrong thing. See More.

Build a profitable company by doing more with less, learn survival strategies for growing without VC money, and develop the discipline that capital efficiency demands. See More.

Convert early adopters into paying customers, overcome your own psychological fears about charging money, handle pricing objections with confidence, and cross the critical threshold from free to paid that validates your business model. See More.

Create attention in crowded markets, convert that attention into actual demand, build distribution as your primary competitive advantage, and develop a systematic approach to capturing market share. See More.

The Startup Showcase is where the art of the pitch takes center stage - literally. With the help of our partners, hand-selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their startup. See More.

We've brought together some amazing VC's to answer your most pressing questions. Over the next 45 minutes enjoy a chance to connect, get advice and ask your questions - they're here for you! See More.

One of the immutable laws of the universe is that startups fail more often than they succeed. This sounds depressing, but there’s a hopeful message in here. Promise. See More.

Trust has always been the bedrock of doing business. The unspoken agreement underneath every handshake, every transaction, every promise kept. In an AI-enabled synthetic world, it becomes the whole game. See More.

Understand the signals that tell you when you've actually found product-market fit, how to measure it quantitatively, and what strategic moves to make when you don't have it yet. See More.

Split equity between co-founders in ways that protect everyone, implement vesting schedules from day one, and structure early advisor agreements that won't come back to haunt you. See More.

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.

Choose the right co-founder by understanding what complementary skills you need, divide responsibilities clearly from the start, develop tools for navigating conflict, and recognize when a partnership isn't working before it destroys the company. See More.

Build repeatable, scalable sales processes, transition from founder-led sales to a sales team that can operate without you, hire your first salespeople without destroying your culture, and create a predictable pipeline that investors and acquirers value. See More.

Access grants, tax credits, revenue-based financing, debt, and crowdfunding to fuel growth, learn how to stack multiple non-dilutive sources, and understand when alternative financing makes more sense than venture capital. See More.

Got an announcement? Now's your chance to take the stage. No schedule, no slides, just you and a microphone! Get in line - you've got a max of 5 minutes! See More.

A short welcome to kick off FundFest and set the tone for the afternoon. See More.

Despite a challenging fundraising and exit environment, a new generation of venture managers continues to launch funds and back ambitious founders. This discussion explores how emerging managers are navigating the current market, differentiating their strategies, and building durable firms. See More.

A candid discussion with Vicky Boudreau, repeat founder and marketing guru about what it REALLY takes to build a successful company and leading brand. See More.

You need to tell people what you're building, but nobody wants to hear a pitch at a networking event. This session breaks down how to show up at conferences like Startupfest without being the person everyone avoids—how to tell your story in a way that makes people actually interested, how to ask questions that open doors instead of close them, and how to turn a conversation into a connection without making it transactional. You'll See More.

Find out how to build the team that gets the "yes" from co-founders and from investors. See More.

Create competitive moats through strong brand positioning, shape customer perception deliberately rather than letting it happen by default, and position yourself in the market in ways that make competitors' strengths irrelevant. See More.

Build authentic communities around your product or mission, turn customers into advocates who sell for you, and create defensible advantages through community that competitors can't replicate by copying features. See More.

Iterate efficiently when resources are limited, manage technical debt strategically rather than letting it accumulate accidentally, and know when to pivot versus when to persist through difficulty. See More.

Find partners whose incentives truly align with yours, structure deals that create value for both sides, avoid partnerships that sound good but deliver nothing, and build business development into your growth engine. See More.

Identify the KPIs that actually drive your business rather than vanity metrics that look good but mean nothing, understand unit economics well enough to make smart trade-offs, set up dashboards that surface problems early, and track what investors and acquirers actually care about. See More.

Reduce churn by understanding why customers leave before they do, increase expansion revenue from existing customers, build customer success functions that prevent problems rather than just fix them, turn satisfied customers into champions who sell for you, and make retention more profitable than acquisition. See More.

Frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing are reshaping industries and creating new investment opportunities. In this session, emerging managers focused on frontier innovation will discuss how they evaluate technical breakthroughs, build conviction in deep technology sectors, and support founders operating at the cutting edge. See More.

In the earliest days of a startup, founders are often told the same thing: hire great people. But the real question comes earlier. When should a founder hire at all? See More.

The Startup Showcase is where the art of the pitch takes center stage - literally. With the help of our partners, hand-selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their startup. See More.

Participants will break into small moderated groups for interactive discussions on topics shaping the future of venture capital. Each roundtable will focus on a practical theme, allowing attendees to exchange perspectives, share experiences, and discuss actionable strategies with fellow managers, LPs, and ecosystem leaders. See More.

Most startup literature focuses on what Product-Market Fit (PMF) feels like and how to label it, leaving founders without a tactical guide on how to actually get there. See More.

Join Neil Grunberg as he shares how his biggest screw ups have shaped his success in this lightning keynote! See More.

Know when to hire your first employees, find talent when you can't pay market rates, navigate team dynamics as you grow, master delegation, and keep people motivated when resources are tight. See More.

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.

Make the critical shift from visionary who sees what should exist to operator who actually builds it, learn to inspire others to share your vision, and develop leadership skills before you have a team to manage. See More.

Figure out what to charge for your product, choose between subscription, usage-based, or freemium models, and develop a strategy for monetizing your first 100 customers. See More.

Join Neil Grunberg as he moderates the beloved Startupfest founder panel. We ditch the glossy pitch decks and share what building a startup actually looks like—the midnight meltdowns, the money mistakes, the co-founder breakups, and the pivots born from desperation rather than strategy. See More.

A short wrap-up highlighting key takeaways from the day. See More.

Watch five student founders race against the clock to build and pitch a startup on the spot. The twist? You control the game. The audience chooses the target customer, the industry, and a wild card feature. Come watch the chaos and creativity unfold! See More.

What does it mean to build and invest for impact in 2026? We open ImpactFest with a moment to set the stage — why this community exists, what's at stake, and why the most exciting chapter for impact in Canada is just beginning. See More.

Canadian impact ventures have proven they can create real change at home. But what does it take to scale that change across borders? See More.

This panel brings allocators and operators together to unpack how the best founder-funder partnerships get built, where impact and blended capital unlock the rest of the stack, and how founders can tell a capital story that resonates across investors. See More.

Join us as we kick off day 2 and make sure you're up to date on what's going on on site today! See More.

The Startup Showcase is where the art of the pitch takes center stage - literally. With the help of our partners, hand-selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their startup. See More.

Before Day 2 kicks off, Dr. Brittany Conners will lead every attendee through a five minute experience designed to do one thing: help you decide how you want to show up for the rest of the day. This is functional, deliberate, and practical. You will use silence as a tool to cut through the noise so the content that follows lands harder and the decisions you make today are actually yours. See More.

You've seen the stories: A founder has decent traction, a solid product, great experience, and they still can't close their fundraising round. Maybe you ARE that founder who's done everything ""right"" yet you still can't close. So, what does it actually take to get investors to say 'yes'? See More.

The Canadian impact ecosystem is on the right track, but honesty requires that we name what is holding it back. This keynote doesn't pull punches: it takes an honest look at the gaps, the missed opportunities, and the bold moves our ecosystem needs to make to compete and lead on the global stage. See More.

Startups always compete on product, capital and execution. But they also compete on clarity, trust and recognizability. In a world flooded with AI-generated content, founder templates, growth hacks and algorithmic sameness, many companies are starting to sound interchangeable. The result is a new challenge for modern founders: how do you build visibility and authority without becoming performative, synthetic or painfully generic? See More.

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.

Leverage AI to create competitive advantages your competitors can't easily replicate, develop automation strategies that let small teams punch above their weight, build AI-native features into your product, and stay lean by using AI tools effectively. See More.

Reduce churn by understanding why customers leave before they do, increase expansion revenue from existing customers, build customer success functions that prevent problems rather than just fix them, turn satisfied customers into champions who sell for you, and make retention more profitable than acquisition. See More.

Run board meetings that extract value rather than waste everyone's time, get useful advice from advisors who have skin in the game but lack day-to-day context, and keep supporters aligned with your vision even when they don't understand your decisions. See More.

Founders at different inflection points share the unfiltered truth about momentum, doubt, capital, and the mission that drives their actions. See More.

This talk is not about meditation retreats. It's about tactical, repeatable systems that real people with demanding jobs, busy lives, working 996 can actually use. See More.

What makes a company defensible and valuable? How do you start building toward that from day one? See More.

A moment to celebrate what was built in the room today, the conversations started, the connections made, and the ideas that won't let go. See you at lunch! See More.

This session talks about recognizing your own limitations as a founder, the reality of when exits don't look like what you imagined and the strategic power of handing over the keys to people you trust so you can stay on the bus. See More.

Join Startupfest Content Chair Alistair Croll as he kicks off AIFest, a half day deep-dive that goes beyond the hype and looks at how AI agents are fundamentally changing the cost of software, the reality of customer retention, and the fundamentals of tech entrepreneurship. See More.

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.

Build a profitable company by doing more with less, learn survival strategies for growing without VC money, and develop the discipline that capital efficiency demands. See More.

Keep your head and make good decisions when everything is breaking, anticipate disasters before they hit so you have response plans ready, respond effectively under pressure, and maintain operations when key people leave or major customers churn. See More.

Make the critical shift from visionary who sees what should exist to operator who actually builds it, learn to inspire others to share your vision, and develop leadership skills before you have a team to manage. See More.

Build efficient systems that scale without constant intervention, optimize costs without sacrificing quality, scale infrastructure ahead of demand without over-investing, and manage growth without breaking what already works. See More.

Know when to hire your first employees, find talent when you can't pay market rates, navigate team dynamics as you grow, master delegation, and keep people motivated when resources are tight. See More.

Harper Reed shares what a year of running a team on ~100% AI-generated code has taught him about workflows, guardrails, org design, and the choice every leader is about to face. See More.

Got an announcement? Now's your chance to take the stage. No schedule, no slides, just you and a microphone! Get in line - you've got a max of 5 minutes! See More.

Building a data room used to require either expensive advisors or a founder with an investment banking or consulting pedigree. In this talk, Fatima draws on her background in both to break down what actually matters in pre-seed and seed fundraising documents — from market sizing to financial models to sensitivity tables. See More.

The Startup Showcase is where the art of the pitch takes center stage - literally. With the help of our partners, hand-selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their startup. See More.

Cooperathon 2026, Presented by Desjardins The Cooperathon 2026 Finale is an opportunity for the entrepreneurial community to come together and discover the next generation of impact-driven startups. We’re celebrating ten years of innovation that has shaken up the ecosystem, with startup pitches, major prizes, and a festive look at how Canada is building a strong future through innovation.

In this talk, we will explore why the leaders who win in the AI era will be those who slow down to think deeply about the problems they are solving, design the right experiments, and cut through the noise to guide their organizations toward meaningful outcomes. See More.

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.

Identify the KPIs that actually drive your business rather than vanity metrics that look good but mean nothing, understand unit economics well enough to make smart trade-offs, set up dashboards that surface problems early, and track what investors and acquirers actually care about. See More.

Build investor networks before you need them, craft pitches that tell your story compellingly, respond confidently to tough questions, and leave enough intrigue to earn the next meeting. See More.

Learn to say no to feature requests that don't serve your strategy, balance customer demands with your long-term vision, avoid feature bloat that makes your product unusable, and stay focused when everyone wants you to build something different. See More.

Make decisions early that preserve your exit options later, understand what acquirers look for before they come looking, and build operational discipline into your company from the start so you're ready when opportunity knocks. See More.

Find partners whose incentives truly align with yours, structure deals that create value for both sides, avoid partnerships that sound good but deliver nothing, and build business development into your growth engine. See More.

In this session, Morgan Willis will walk through what it takes to build AI agents you can trust in production. She'll walk through a layered approach that combines input validation, output filtering, LLM-as-judge steering, and action approval—the layers you need to turn a vibe-coded experiment into actual infrastructure. See More.

Join Startupfest chair and bestselling author Alistair Croll for a two-hour dive into the world of AI-augmented startups. It's a two-hour, interactive discussion on what's working, what's changing, and where entrepreneurship is headed with a second intelligence joining the team. See More.

Founders, turn the tables! This high-density, 5-minute reverse pitch format compels accelerators to answer the most critical questions you need for decision-making. See More.

Get your incorporation structure right from day one, ensure IP assignment agreements are in place for everyone who touches your code, and make early legal decisions that won't limit your options later. See More.

Know when entering new markets makes strategic sense versus premature distraction, manage the risks of expanding across borders, and grow internationally without destabilizing the markets where you're already winning. See More.

Recognize the signs of burnout before it's too late, cope with the isolation that comes with leading a company, manage stress without it consuming you, and find sustainable pace in a culture that glorifies founder mode. See More.

Create competitive moats through strong brand positioning, shape customer perception deliberately rather than letting it happen by default, and position yourself in the market in ways that make competitors' strengths irrelevant. See More.

Compete effectively when you're small and scrappy against larger competitors with more resources, choose battles you can actually win, position yourself against competitors in ways that neutralize their advantages, and build defensible advantages that can't be easily copied. See More.

Fix messy cap tables, streamline your financials for due diligence, and navigate the psychological weight of selling your startup so you can protect both your valuation and your sanity. See More.

Coming to you from the Startupfest Village Stage is a special live recording of the award-nominated BetaKit Podcast! Featuring host and BetaKit Editor-in-Chief Douglas Soltys, this in-person recording in front of a live audience will feature special guests from Startupfest and the opportunity for attendees to have questions answered during the podcast. See More.

Innovation is often perceived as complex or out of reach, yet it can start with something much simpler: improving a process, rethinking a challenge, or making more informed decisions. The challenge is rarely the lack of ideas — it is knowing where to begin without transforming everything at once. See More.

Four entrepreneurs will showcase how their technology solutions address some of the most common productivity challenges faced by businesses today. See More.

Building on the cases presented in the previous segment, attendees will continue the conversation with Québec technology solution providers selected by Québec Tech’s technology adoption team. See More.

Today is all about the prize finals! Join Alistair as he kicks off the third and final day of Startupfest 2026! See More.

Student founders go head-to-head with their boldest tech ideas, all competing for a $10K prize that's locked inside a piñata. Watch them compete for the chance to crack it open! See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the $100K Impact Investment Prize. See More.

Details coming soon. See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the $100K Best of the Fest Investment Prize. See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the $100K Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize. See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech $100K Investment Prize. They'll be facing the investor judges in a live Q&A before they make their final decision on who will take away the prize! See More.

Founders, turn the tables! This high-density, 5-minute reverse pitch format compels accelerators to answer the most critical questions you need for decision-making. See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the $100K 2SLGBTQIA+ Investment Prize. See More.

We've been running an entire event in parallel to Startupfest via the Envoi platform - one that's entirely attended by AI Agents. They've had a call for proposals and they've voted - time to watch what they think are the best talks proposed! See More.

Come and cheer on the finalists vying for the $100K Women in Tech Investment Prize. See More.

Startups have been pitching for all of our amazing prizes over the last three days. Come and find out who's taking home the trophies and get your vote in for our Audience Choice Award! See More.