Last time we wrote about Fundica’s 2014 Funding Roadshow founder Mike Lee told us the Montreal company had booked nine Canadian cities, up from six the year before. Now they’ve managed to bump that number up to an even ten cities with the addition of Halifax.
The BetaKit-sponsored 2014 Funding Roadshow gives start-ups and SMEs the opportunity to pitch their businesses – and potentially secure financing – to a panel of financial institutions, venture capitalists, angel investors, government organizations and private lenders. Funders benefit from exposure to emerging opportunities and the chance to invest before the rest of the market. The objective of the Funding Roadshow is to better educate entrepreneurs and facilitate connections with private investors and public funders.
In each of the 10 cities, 20 select entrepreneurs will pitch to a panel of eight funders. Pitches are limited to five minutes, followed by a seven-minute Q&A session. All entrepreneurs must present a strong technological element in their vision. Entrepreneurs are divided into two streams: young entrepreneurs (under 40), with or without existing revenues, seeking early-stage/seed funding, and start-ups and SMEs, no age restrictions, revenues of at least $150,000, seeking seed/growth funding.
“The Funding Roadshow truly is a team effort that results from the considerable work of about 50 national, hosting and community partners across the country,” said Fundica president Mike Lee. “We will bring together a complementary group of funders, including financial institutions, government agencies, VCs and angel investors. In parallel, we will continue our search for top entrepreneurs across Canada.”
The deadline for registration is March 28 for April events and May 4 for later events.
2014 Funding Roadshow Schedule
- Toronto, April 9
- Guelph, April 11
- Ottawa, April 15
- Halifax, April 17
- Winnipeg, May 21
- Vancouver, May 23
- Edmonton May 26
- Calgary, May 28
- Victoria, May 30
- Montreal, June 2