Startup Canada is a national organization that connects Canada’s entrepreneurs with the tools, community, and support they need to start and build their businesses. Later this week, with the support of Air Canada for Business, we will be gathering entrepreneurs and support organizations from across the country in Ottawa for our flagship event, Startup Day.
At Startup Day, we will have a series of panels that features leading entrepreneurs, representatives from the government, entrepreneur support organizations, and private sector partners to discuss the future of entrepreneurship in Canada and how we can continue to build the conditions for success for entrepreneurs to thrive. We will also cheer on our Startup Global pitch competition finalists as they compete to win from a prize pool of $75,000 to grow their business.
With Air Canada’s partnership, we’re gathering our Startup Community leaders, Startup Women Advocacy Network members, and Startup Global finalists in-person in Ottawa at the Shaw Centre for this exciting event. We reached out to them to understand why they’re looking forward to attending Startup Day 2022. Meet our Startup Canada community!
Startup Communities Leaders
Startup Communities is a network of grassroots entrepreneur support organizations at the local and industry level all across Canada. Our leaders support entrepreneurs through events, resources, and mentorship. Meet our Startup Communities Leaders, Manuj Aggarwal and Cat Kelly.
Manuj Aggarwal, Startup Vancouver Community Leader
Tell us about your startup community
At Startup Vancouver, we strive to become the go-to entrepreneurship and innovation hub in Vancouver for both tech and non-tech startups, founders, and early stage companies. We support entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey, along with showcasing all the great happenings in our city through events, partnerships and online community building. Over the years, the City of Vancouver has evolved into one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world.
What is your big vision for your community?
Our goal is to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in Vancouver and to help anyone who has a dream to start a business by providing them with resources and the network and connections that they need to be successful.
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
I’m excited to interact with all of the Startup Community leaders from across Canada and to learn about the success that they are having in their communities. It will help me understand how entrepreneurship is growing in Canada and what I can be doing to put Canada on the map as a global powerhouse for innovation and technology.
Cat Kelly, Startup Yukon Community Leader
Tell us about your startup community
Yukonstruct ignites doers and dreamers through shared space, knowledge, and resources. We are home to a vibrant community of makers, entrepreneurs, creatives, startups and more. This diversity creates a rich environment for ideas and opportunities to spark. We’re proud to offer our members access to shared office space, meeting and event space, and a fully equipment makerspace for creating and prototyping. We also offer business support and validation programming and services to help you launch your idea.
What is your big vision for your community?
I want to scale Yukon businesses beyond our territory!
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
Startup Day will be a great opportunity to be connected to Canadian innovators and to grow the reach of our organization’s network.
Startup Women Advocacy Network
The Startup Women Advocacy Network (SWAN) is a collective of 13 woman-identifying entrepreneurs from each province and territory to champion the needs of women entrepreneurship across Canada. Meet two of our members, Lourdes Still and Cindy Purtill.
Lourdes Still, SWAN representative from Manitoba
Tell us about your business
Masagana Flower Farm is a new experiential tourism destination in Southeast Manitoba. We grow seasonal blooms and use them in our natural dyeing projects year-round. We create an on-farm, immersive floral event called TINTA Experience to help our guests nurture their creativity as a form of self and community care.
What is your big vision?
We want everyone we meet to Experience TINTA and explore the world of botanical dyes with us. Learn where our favorite colors come from and how to cultivate them in their own gardens because we believe that growing joy and creating magic are right at our fingertips!
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
I’m excited to meet other small business founders, listen to their stories and make genuine connections with them, in person! I am ready to learn, and feel empowered and encouraged at Startup Day!
Cindy Purtill, SWAN representative from Newfoundland and Labrador
Tell us about your business
Walking distance to everything downtown St. John’s and a 10 min drive to the airport, the award-winning Georgestown Inn & The Edwardian Tea Room offers 6 bedrooms, 2 ensuite baths and 4 private, and a traditional UK-style proper Afternoon Tea in an updated Edwardian home. Situated in a Heritage designated area and being a former convent, the Inn affords the opportunity to cast your net to award-winning eateries and cafes, concert venues, whale and iceberg watching tours, great music, shopping, and the harbourfront of the oldest City in North America! Find your adventure from Bonaventure!
What is your big vision?
To expand the Tea Room to off-site premises & to expand the Inn to a self-catering fully inclusive 2 or 3 bedroom cabin, to offer a Town & Bay experience.
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
To meet my sister SWAN members; the Startup Canada Team, and to build community! There are no obstacles so big that we can’t solve them together!
Startup Global Pitch Competition Finalists
Startup Global is one of our flagship programs that helps entrepreneurs export outside of Canada. Each year we host a pitch competition where the top three winners can win $30,000 (1st place), $15,000 (2nd place), or $10,000 (3rd place) to grow their business. Meet two of this year’s finalists Jessica Yang and Nancy Wingham!
Jessica Yang, Co-Founder and CEO of Tochtech Technologies
Tell us about your business
Tochtech is an award-winning digital health tech company based in Vancouver. Using cutting-edge IoT, cloud services and proprietary machine learning technology, we create smart care hardware and software products that enable healthcare and senior care providers to remotely access vital data for safety and evidence-based care. Our smart care products such as Sleepsense have helped senior care businesses and families not only deliver safe and evidence-based care, but also address the pain points of staff shortages in the care industry in many countries around the world.
What is your big vision?
Our vision is to enable a future where Seniors can live independently while feeling safe, connected, and cared for.
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
I am super excited for Startup Day as it will be a great opportunity to meet with other founders who are passionate about making an impact in our lives. I’m also looking forward to sharing Tochtech’s story and our vision with all attendees at the Startup Global Grand Finale!
Nancy Wingham, Co-Founder of Nuez Acres
Tell us about your business
Nuez Acres is home to Canada’s Only Indigenous Pecan Oil producers, advocating for the conservation of water in the beauty industry by offering Seed to Skin products that are completely natural and water free. We are harvesting The Power of Pecans through our products for Skin, Hair, and Body.
What is your big vision?
Our big vision is to grow beyond Canada and offer our products widely in the USA and internationally, where we can continue to advocate for water conservation and inspire changes in the beauty industry.
Why are you looking forward to attending Startup Day?
As a co-founder, I am looking forward to spreading our vision and hopes of a more sustainable industry by connecting with industry and government leaders, where we can advocate for a bigger push in regulations where we can ensure our environment is being protected and that it’s at the forefront of the beauty industry.
Wrap-up
We’re looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with our community very soon. Are you interested in attending Startup Day to connect with entrepreneurs from across the country? Register here: https://www.startupcan.ca/startup-day/