Startup Ecosystem Canada

Before Shopify was Shopify, it was Jaded Pixel—and this is Tobias Lütke in 2005, painting his own office in Ottawa, Ontario. Only a team of his uni friends. Just a snowboard-shop owner with a dream. FOUNDERS: Dig up your "Day One" photo & send them to us! For our April 24th event with SaaStock, we are curating two gallery walls to showcase and celebrate the early-days of the startup journey. Here’s how to submit: → DM us your favourite "Day One" throwback → Or email it to: info@startupecosystem.ca We’ll print, enlarge + display it at "From Vision to Legacy: A Deep Dive into Tech Exits" — so hundreds of founders, investors, and ecosystem members can see where your legacy began. (Yes, you get it back after!) The late-night whiteboard sessions. The takeout dinners. The "office" in your living room. That gritty, hopeful, why-not-us energy. Tag a founder who needs to share theirs! Let’s flood this gallery with the moments that started it all. #StartupEcosystemCanada #TechExits #CanadianTech #TechHistory

"Your guardrails need to be your strategy." – Jenna Earnshaw, Co-Founder/COO, Wisedocs Investors don’t just bet on AI—they bet on founders who protect their IP, test rigorously, and build responsibly. Are you prioritizing guardrails before scaling? #StartupEcosystemCanada #AI #ResponsibleAI #CanadianTech #LegalTech The GenAI Collective Dentons Graphite Ventures

Excited to announce Ryan Wong from Manaknight digital and Startup Ecosystem Canada as a judge for the Athena AI Agent contest! 🚀 Manaknight are AI solution builders and have successfully delivered over 20 cutting-edge projects in just the last 1.5 years, and confounded many products. With a decade of experience in software development and a 40-strong team, they excel in technology, operations, and recruitment, providing you with comprehensive support to launch and scale your AI solutions. They are not just consultants; they’re innovators, launching 12 of their own products and integrating advanced AI technologies into every project. Ryan is also the author of "AI for Business" and has shared his insights on ABC News, NBC News, and CBS. Plus, he also host fractional executive events for the Toronto community monthly with Startup Ecosystem Canada. If your AI Agent showcases practical AI applications, innovative solutions, or solves real-world business problems, this is your chance to get feedback from a team of seasoned AI solution builders! We are attending the World Summit AI. Here is the AI Agent we made for the attendees of the summit: https://lnkd.in/e7vkF-ru Stay tuned for more judge announcements! #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AthenaAI #AgentContest #Manaknight #AISolutions #AIforBusiness #Innovation #Technology #Toronto #SoftwareDevelopment #Entrepreneurship #FractionalExecutive

From data biases, to environmental and scaling challenges, Hamid Alemohammad, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO of Brickeye and expert panelists revealed some of the real hurdles in AI no one is addressing last week at an event in collaboration with The GenAI Collective, Graphite Ventures & Dentons Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies. 💡 Which insight surprised you most? Drop a comment 👇 #AI #StartupEcosystemCanada #AIEthics #VentureTechnology

🧠 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭! 🇨🇦 We packed the house at Dentons with Graphite Ventures, bringing 100+ AI founders, investors and operators together for a sold-out evening of insights, real talk and new connections. 🙌𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥: 📈 Jude Sacramenthas (Graphite Ventures) introduced the hilarious concept of 𝐄𝐑𝐑 – 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞. Mistake it for ARR at your peril in this fast-moving AI world! ⚖️ Matthew Literovich (Dentons) made AI + Ethics actually fun and relevant, connecting 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒'𝑠 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 🚋 and the 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 🚗💥 to real-world AI dilemmas. ➤💡𝑃𝑟𝑜-𝑡𝑖𝑝: 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝐴𝐼-𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠. ⚙️ Hamid Alemohammad, PhD (Brickeye) made Ramy ElMallah smile (check the photos!) as he explained how a 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 background helps bridge the gap between the physical world and real-time AI data systems 🤖 💸 Jenna Earnshaw (Wisedocs) shared a clear, action-oriented take in response to Aarij Khan's audience Q about compute costs: "𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑠 — 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚." 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐬. 🎤 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 The GenAI Collective 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦: • Karan Deep (𝐊𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩) moderated like a pro — thoughtful, timely and fun questions. Plus, he curated our stellar panel! • Shabs FindGrant of PopIn coordinated with Startup Ecosystem Canada for photos (have you seen Smiling Ramy yet?) and video (coming soon!) • Karan Balaji (𝐊𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲) helped the guy in the 🦺 with setup, check-in, etc. KMoney is organizing our return to NEXT AI in May with an 𝐀𝐈 + 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 event💲Stay tuned! 🌟Special thanks to: 🔹Christine K. Ho (Dentons) — the real MVP behind the scenes. You are a star! 🔹Peter Elkins, for moving to Toronto just in time to attend 😄 🔹Sunil Sharma, for dropping by and sharing his vision for AI across the TO-KW corridor, Africa and beyond 🚀 🔹Mike Hollinger, for closing out the evening on a high note — turns out Dentons lawyers are a great time 🎉✨ And finally... 📣 𝑀𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 CRAFT Beer Market — I only expected 20 people at the after-party, not the 50 who showed up! 🍻 💡 Meagan Tanguilig, Jason Kogan, Ali G. it was wonderful discussing ideas at the after-party. We could definitely do another event 👀 💌 Want to get involved with The GenAI Collective 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨? We're thinking of running a 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 event. Comment below with "𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫" or 🦺 and we'll loop you in. #TorontoAI #AIstartups #AIethics #LegalTech #VentureCapital #AIinCanada #CommunityPoweredAI #AIevents #ARRnotERR

AI innovators + legal tech experts + investors = one unforgettable evening. This week Startup Ecosystem Canada collaborated with The GenAI Collective Toronto, Graphite Ventures & Dentons for an engaging panel discussion on scaling AI-powered startups, the legal/ethical implications for emerging tech, and how venture capital trends will shift in the future. Expert speakers included: Jude Sacramenthas - VP, Ecosystems (Graphite Ventures) Matthew Literovich - Partner, Venture Technology and Emerging Growth (Dentons) Jenna Earnshaw - Co-Founder/COO (Wisedocs) Hamid Alemohammad, PhD - Co-Founder/COO (Brickeye) With 100+ founders, investors, advisory and tech leaders in the room, it just goes to show that the future of AI is being built right here in Canada—and this is just the start. Karan Deep | Ayushi Patel | Eleni Belete | Khushboo Arora | Madison R. Brodie | Shabs FindGrant | Karan Balaji | Alex Barnes | Christine K. Ho | Sunil Sharma | Carlo Torelli, CPA, CA #StartupEcosystemCanada #AI #VentureTechnology #AIEthics

When entrepreneurs thrive, ecosystems grow. Here’s what one of of the members of our network had to say about their experience at our event—full of insights, opportunities to learn about funding, and actionable advice! #StartupEcosystemCanada #Innovation #CanadianTech

At Startup Ecosystem Canada, we believe events are more than just networking opportunities - they’re catalysts for transformation. From sparking serendipitous connections to unlocking partnerships, opportunities, and mentorship, the right event can accelerate a founder’s journey. Watch the video below to hear what one attendee shared about her experience at one of our most recent events. To every founder reading this: Where has an event made the biggest impact on your journey? Drop a comment below - we’d love to hear your story! #StartupEcosystemCanada #Founders #CanadianInnovation

Exclusive Art Gallery Event: SaaStock & Startup Ecosystem Canada Presents "From Vision to Legacy: A Deep Dive into Tech Exits" 📅 Date: April 24, 2025 🕔 Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM 📍 Location: Arta Gallery, 14 Distillery Lane, Toronto, M5A 3C4 Join us for an exclusive evening where tech meets art, as we explore the pivotal journey from startup growth to successful exits. This curated event brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors to share insights, strategies, and hard-earned wisdom on navigating the complexities of tech exits—all within the inspiring backdrop of Toronto’s vibrant arts scene. Featured Speakers Hear from seasoned leaders in Venture Capital, M&A, and top Canadian founders who’ve been through it all. (Stay tuned for speaker announcements!) Secure Your Spot Here: https://lnkd.in/gsSpBQuF This is an experience with limited capacity. Reserve your place now to avoid missing out! We can’t wait to celebrate tech, art, and legacy with you. See you there!

Calling all founders: we need your day-one photo. You know the ones: Huddled around a whiteboard, Eating cold pizza after a late-night push, Working from a kitchen table, garage, or coffee shop. At our upcoming event, From Vision to Legacy: A Deep Dive into Tech Exits, we're taking over two gallery walls to showcase the art of the startup journey. We’re curating a visual tribute to those scrappy, hopeful beginnings because, before the exit, there was the entry. We’d love to feature your early team photo, which reminds you where it all began. It’ll be enlarged, printed, and displayed in the gallery for hundreds of founders, operators, and investors. P.S. You'll get to keep the picture afterward. Let’s celebrate how far you've come and inspire the next generation of builders. You can leave your name in the comments, and I'll follow up, or you can DM me to submit it.