Small businesses are at the core of Canada’s economy, with 97.4% of all Canadian exporters being small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Startup Canada is a nonprofit organization that believes in the power of Canadian entrepreneurship and delivers a series of annual programs to support early-stage entrepreneurs from their incubation to export stages. Startup Canada created the Startup Global program to help early-stage startups in their export journey. From webinars to export readiness resources and exclusive offerings from Startup Canada’s partners, Startup Global supports entrepreneurs in building an international market entry strategy and plan.
The Startup Global Pitch Competition is at the heart of the program. It is a national initiative where Canadian startups ready to enter the global market compete to win from a $70,000 cash prize pool. This year’s Grand Finale finalists were selected at virtual and in-person “Pop-up” Pitch Competitions nationwide during the Startup Canada Tour event series.
Meet 8 of the 10 finalists competing in the 2024 Grand Finale!
Asepha, Eunice Wu — Toronto, Ontario
Toronto-based Asepha is an AI clinical tool for pharmacists, enabling pharmacy automation and personalization! The software offers features such as medication review, patient education, minor ailment assistance, and more.
Carbon Lock Tech, Kevin Danner — Winnipeg, Manitoba
Born out of frustration and a goal to reduce emissions, Carbon Lock Tech is an innovative clean-tech company reimagining how we respond to rapid climate change. Carbon Lock Tech’s mission is to develop and deploy clean, sustainable and scalable carbon removal and sequestration solutions.
Fibr.Bio, Athanasios (Thanos) Kritharis — Vancouver, British Columbia
The team at Fibr.Bio is committed to transforming the $1.7 trillion textile industry through their eco-friendly alternative to spandex, derived from biowaste. Fibr.Bio’s fibre technology is currently under lab development and ensures a production process that’s net-zero waste, carbon-negative, and free from toxic chemicals.
GrowDoc App Inc., Daniel Lirette — Ottawa, Ontario
Based in Canada’s capital, Growdoc is an online platform that helps greenhouse growers diagnose and fix problems with their plants. Using AI, the app can quickly identify many deficiencies, pathogens, and other issues that may affect your plants’ health.
Inoki Bathhouse Inc., Helen Yin — Toronto, Ontario
Created in response to founder Helen’s personal struggle with depression and anxiety, Inoki Bathhouse offers spa-grade tea baths that help lower stress levels. Their products are 100% skin-safe, nourishing, and aromatic, with no synthetic chemicals, fragrances, or essential oils.
Insporos, Dr. Mallory Flynn — Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver-based Insporos is an intelligent seed-sorting system on a mission to fix inefficiencies and resource waste in greenhouse growth. The system leverages AI and some novel components to look at seeds and uniquely gather data, providing seed insights to find diseased and defective seeds.
Tree Track Intelligence Inc., Amir Soleimani — Vancouver, British Columbia
Established in 2022, Tree Track is on a mission to help Canada reach its goal of planting 2 billion trees by 2030. Using drone technology, artificial intelligence, and data-driven decision-making, Tree Track is making substantial improvements in planting speed and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional methods.
VitalTracer Ltd., Azadeh Dastmalchi — Montréal, Quebec
VitalTracer is on a mission to reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases through constant monitoring and tracking of vital signs. Their device uses biomedical sensors through the wrist to continuously detect vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, and body temperature. They store the results in a secure cloud-based environment, allowing patients to share the data with their doctor or caregiver.
The remaining two finalists will be announced during the final two stops of the Startup Canada Tour this fall in Moncton and Kitchener-Waterloo. The 10 finalists will compete live in the Grand Finale during the Kitchener-Waterloo stop of the Startup Canada Tour on Wednesday, October 30. If you can’t make it in person, you can still cheer on the finalists virtually by registering on our website. Virtual attendees will get access to a live stream of the event and opportunities to interact with the finalists and other entrepreneurs!
