2024 Startup Global Pitch Competition
The Startup Global Pitch Competition is for early stage entrepreneurs looking to export their products and/or services outside of Canada. 10 finalists will be flown out to Kitchener-Waterloo to compete for their chance to win from a cash prize pool of $70,000 to grow their business!
To be eligible for the Startup Global Pitch Competition, you must meet the following criteria:
- The intention/ability to export and expand your business internationally
- Less than $1,000,000 in revenue
- Less than 5 years of operating your business
- Have business/operations based in Canada
Please note these additional eligibility details:
- Employees of Startup Canada (and their immediate family members) are ineligible to apply.
- Submissions may be entered as individuals or teams, however, the maximum number of team members for a single pitch is limited to one person.
- A company may only submit one pitch to be considered for adjudication.
- For the Grand Finale, only one representative of the company may pitch to the panel of judges or answer questions from the judges and/or audience. For in-person pitches, the person that pitches at a Tour stop must be the person that pitches at the Grand Finale.
There are two ways to participate in the 2024 Startup Global Pitch Competition. You can pitch 1) in-person at one of our four Startup Canada Tour stops or 2) virtually.
In-person
Key Dates
To pitch in-person, register for the “Pitcher Pass” for the closest Startup Canada Tour to you:
- Thursday, April 18: Startup Canada Tour Winnipeg | Register
- Wednesday, May 15: Startup Canada Tour Langley | Register
- Tuesday, September 17: Startup Canada Tour Moncton | Register
- Tuesday, October 29: Startup Canada Tour Kitchener-Waterloo | Register
Please Note: To be eligible to compete in the Kitchener-Waterloo Pop-up Pitch Day, pitchers must be available to compete in person on the following dates:
- October 29: Startup Global Pop-up Pitch Competition Round 1 | Location TBC
- October 30: Startup Global Pitch Competition Grand Finale at the Kitchener-Waterloo Tour stop | Bingemans Conference Center
The Startup Global “Pop-up Pitch” Competition for the Kitchener-Waterloo Tour stop will take place the day before on October 29 at a separate venue. The location and timing are to be confirmed.
💻 Virtual
Can’t make it to one of our Startup Canada Tour stops? Don’t worry, you can still pitch virtually!
Our virtual pitch competition day will be taking place on Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25. Applications will open on April 8 and close on June 11 or until all pitch spots are full. | Register
- Pitchers will be given 3 minutes to pitch, followed by 4 minutes of Q&A from two judges. The pitch will be verbal, with no pitch deck. Participants are able to bring their product to the pitch. Please note, there is no set up time for products, therefore we can only allow small physical products. If you have a product that fits on a table top, you may bring it with you to your pitch.
- Following the first round of pitches, the judges will select the top 5 pitchers that will move on to the main stage presentation.
- The pitchers who have made it to the next round will be announced on the main stage in the afternoon.
- The top 5 will then present to a panel of 3 judges on the Mainstage. They will have 3 minutes to pitch, followed by 2 minutes of Q&A.
- Following this, the judges will pick the winner, who will win a $3,000 cash prize and a guaranteed spot in the Grand Finale in Kitchener-Waterloo in October.
- Pitchers must be present all day at Startup Canada Tour if they advance to the top 5 to be eligible for the main stage presentation.
- Pitchers will be given 3 minutes to pitch, followed by 4 minutes of Q&A from two judges. The pitch will be verbal, with no pitch deck. Participants are able to bring their product to the pitch.
- Following this, the judges will deliberate to select the top 12 pitchers who will advance to the second round
- Finalists who have advanced to the Top 12 will be emailed at 4:00 pm (ET)
- The Top 12 will take pitch on Tuesday June 25
- Following this, judges will select the top 6 that will advance to the Grand Finale in Kitchener-Waterloo in October
The winner of each Pop-up Pitch Competition at the Startup Canada Tour stops will win a $3,000 cash prize. In the Grand Finale, the top 10 pitchers will be competing for one of the following prizes:
- 1st Place | $30,000
- 2nd Place | $15,000
- 3rd Place | $7,500
People’s Choice Award
In addition to the above prizes, the top 4 finalists at each Startup Canada Tour stop will be eligible to win a $1,000 People’s Choice Award voted on by the audience at the Tour stop. The winner of the Grand Finale People’s Choice Award will win a cash prize of $2,500.
Register for the virtual pitch competition
Can’t make it to one of our Startup Canada Tour stops? Don’t worry, you can still pitch virtually! Our virtual pitch competition day will be taking place on Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25. Applications are open until June 11 or until all pitch spots are full.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
To be eligible for the Startup Global Pitch Competition, you must meet the following criteria:
- The intention/ability to export and expand your business internationally
- Less than $1,000,000 in revenue
- Less than 5 years of operating your business
- Have business/operations based in Canada
- To apply in-person to pitch, please register for the “Pitcher Pass” at the closest Startup Canada Tour stop to you. During this check-out process, you will be asked a series of questions about your business to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria.
- To pitch virtually, register for our Startup Global Virtual Pitch Competition event. Stay tuned for the launch of this event.
If selected to pitch in the 2024 Startup Global Pitch Competition, you will be e-mailed your pitch time two weeks prior to your relevant Startup Canada Tour event or the virtual event taking place in June.
Startup Canada is able to accommodate participants who wish to pitch in French. Individuals must specify this during their application submission.
Our criteria focus on answering one important question, “What is your potential to scale globally?” To help answer this question, our panel of judges will assess your business under the following criteria:
Target market | Is there a clearly defined target market? Businesses that have clearly outlined their target audience will be able to identify the potential for scaling globally, such as understanding the current size and potential growth of a target market, the volatility or stability of a target market, or identifying particular characteristics like a high-priced niche.
Objective | All solutions are built to fix an identified problem, but not all problems need scalable solutions. Does your business solve a problem from a short-term trend? Or is there a real long-term need for your solution? Businesses that have the potential to go global have long-run, sustainable business models.
Solution | Businesses with a detailed, innovative solution with a strong unique selling proposition (USP) will be more likely to scale globally. This criteria assesses your overall product or service, for instance, price, convenience, uniqueness, innovation, quality, efficiency, and branding.
Leadership | What does your leadership team look like? Does your team, mentors or board of advisors have industry experience, key relationships, and/or prior successes and failures? These are crucial facets in determining whether your business has the support and guidance to help successfully expand globally.
Traction (if any) | A key indicator of being able to scale globally is a detailed assessment of the trajectory of a solution. This includes evaluating the minimum viable product (MVP), and existing partners.
Competition | Going global means stacking up against an international community of innovators and entrepreneurs; how does your business stand out? Why should a customer choose your solution over another?
Ability to go global | This criterion hopes to help our panel of judges ultimately answer the question, “Do you think this contestant has the potential to scale globally?”
Unfortunately, only one co-founder may pitch in the 2024 Startup Global Pitch Competition.
- If you pitched in 2023 but were not selected to be in the Top 10, you can apply again this year. If you were a Top 10 Finalist in 2023, you cannot apply to the Startup Global pitch this year. However, you are welcome to participate in the Startup Global programming.
- No, you are only able to participate in one stream of the Startup Global Pitch Competition.
- Email us at global@startupcan.ca