Last week, 19 IT startups from the GTA took the “10 slides in 10 minutes” pitch deck challenge in front of a panel of US and Canadian VCs as part of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service’s Toronto Regional VC Boot Camp hosted by MaRS. Start-ups did a trial run of a pitch deck in front of VCs to gain honest (sometimes brutally so) feedback from them, as well as meet and learn from other entrepreneurs in the IT sector.
Chris Gill, President & CEO of SVASE (Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (and a seasoned entrepreneur himself having cofounded 8 companies) was also there to tell us what Silicon Valley and other US-based Venture Capital investors are looking for and how start-ups can refine their pitch to meet these needs. Key nuggets from his presentation include:
Companies chosen for the next phase of the program will attend events in Silicon Valley such as Canada Investor Day and/or have subsidized access for three months to the Canadian Incubator in Silicon Valley at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Palo Alto.
All in all, a successful event and one we hope to hold again soon!