The Canadian Export Challenge supported more than 1,800 entrepreneurs across Canada to become export-ready and to connect with Canada’s global growth ecosystem.
The Final Showdown took place on October 23rd at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. Check out the photos here.
Meet the 2019 CXC Winner
Jalisa Luces-Mendes, Founder and CEO of Toni Marlow Clothing
Ontario-based company, Toni Marlow Clothing is an underwear brand for people who redefine gender norms. Core products include period boxer briefs “T.O.M” (Time Of Month) in addition to packer boxers have a pocket specifically designed to hold a prosthesis without a harness or jockstrap. To give back, $1.00 from each purchase of Toni Marlow Clothing goes to suicide prevention.
Regional Winners
$1,000 Prizes Awarded
Winnipeg | Recap
The Winnipeg event took place on May 9th at the RBC Convention Centre. Check out the photos here.
WINNER
The winner of the 2019 Canadian Export Challenge Pitch Competition in Winnipeg is ECB Verdyol. Read the full press release here.
Vancouver | Recap
The Vancouver event took place on May 13th at the Imperial Theatre. Check out the photos here.
WINNER
The winner of the 2019 Canadian Export Challenge Pitch Competition in Vancouver is Sappho New Paradigm! Read the full press release here.
FINALISTS
SEMI-FINALISTS
Mississauga | Recap
The Mississauga event took place on June 6th at the International Centre. Check out the photos here.
WINNER
The Winner of the Mississauga Canadian Export Challenge Pitch Competition is Twenty One Toys. Check out the winner announcement here.
Fredericton | Recap
The Fredericton event took place on June 11th at the Fredericton Convention Centre. Check out the photos here.
WINNER
The Winner of the Fredericton Canadian Export Challenge Pitch Competition is PLATO Testing. Check out the winner announcement here.
PITCH FINALISTS
2019 Cohort Summary
Entrepreneur Profile
- The cohort is composed of CEOs, Co-Founders, Executive Directors and COOs of their companies
- 58 Percent are women, 27 percent are newcomers, 9 percent are Youth (under 24), 8 percent have disabilities, 6 percent are LGBTQ, 5 percent are visible minorities, 4 percent are Indigenous, Inuit or Métis
Company Profile
Annual Sales:
- 38 percent have no current sales
- 50 percent have less than $1M
- 9 percent have between $1M – $10M
- 3 percent have more than $10M
Top 10 industries:
- Consulting Services
- Consumer Goods
- Food and Beverage
- Education
- Services – Non-Industrial
- Media and Entertainment
- Medical Technology and Devices
- Agriculture
- Knowledge-Based Industry
- Clothing and Textiles
Export Status:
- 36 percent sell goods, services, or make investments outside of Canada
- 35 percent plan to sell goods, services, or make investments outside of Canada
- 15 percent have an interest in selling goods or services outside of Canada, but do not yet have a timeframe
Employees:
- 13 percent have no employees (264 companies)
- 76 percent have 1 to 9 employees (1,501 companies)
- 10 percent have 10 to 49 employees (178 companies)
- 1 percent have 50 and more employees (30 companies)
Business Categories
- 54 percent are B2B
- 32 percent are B2C
- 12 percent did not identify a category
- 2 percent are B2G
Global Ambitions
Top Export Destinations:
- US (60 percent)
- China (6 percent)
- UK (6 percent)
- Germany (2 percent)
- India (2 percent)
- Australia (2 percent)
- France (2 percent)
Top Challenges in going global (in order of priority):
- Accessing growth financing
- Creating an international strategy
- Finding customers
- Setting up international operations
- Accessing R&D Capital
- Creating contracts
- Accessing in market funds
- Protecting IP
- Bulding commercialization structure
- Maintaining cash flow
Topics of Interest
- Funding
- Export 101
- Marketing
- Fundraising
- Exporting
- Global Expansion
- Scaling up
- IP
- Agricultural Mechanization
- Creating value and managing risk through international partnerships and exports
- Export
- Creating partnerships in globalization through digital economy : cloud
- Investment
- Access to capital
- Protecting IP
- Getting operations in motion at the earliest.
- Customs and regulations
- Finding customers