The inaugural INNOVATEwest Conference took place this week in Vancouver. In addition to hosting keynotes and panel discussions, the conference featured two pitch competitions and awarded over $150,000 in investment and prize money.
The conference’s Grizzly Pursuit pitch competition saw 25 startups from across the country pitch to a roster of judges that included Chris Neumann of Panache Ventures and Leah Nguyen of InBC, Marvin Liao of Diaspora VC.
Montreal’s Happly and its CEO Thierry Lindor took first place and the $20,000 prize. Happily uses AI to help users find, apply for, and qualify for grants, procurements, tax credits and other programs based on their unique profile.
Also on stage at INNOVATEwest was The Firehood Angel Camp which connects women founders with angel investors who pre-committed capital to be deployed at the event.
Participating startups have a chance to receive funding and mentorship from some of Canada’s top women angel investors. The competition saw applications from 99 companies and participation from 24 angel investors, including the Firehood Angels, Forum Ventures, Startup TNT, and Ideas for Impact.
Abhivyakti Ahuja, founder of Toronto-based aiphrodite.ai, claimed the top prize of $130,000 in funding. Aiphrodite.ai is an adtech software platform that scores visual media based on audience engagement, before you post, by utilizing AI.
Vancouver agtech startup Insporos Technologies came in second place and received $25,000 in funding for their intelligent seed sorting technology identifies and removes diseased and defective seeds to help growers conserve resources and make sure every seed planted counts.
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