SAAS NORTH wrapped its eighth year in Ottawa last week, and as in years past, the 2024 conference showcased a lineup packed with prize money for Canadian software startups.
This year, the conference gathered thousands of members of Canada’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecosystem for two days of keynotes, panels, and networking in Ottawa’s Shaw Centre.
Headliners from this year included Sampler’s Marie Chevrier Schwartz, who joined BetaKit’s editor-in-chief Douglas Soltys on The BetaKit Keynote Stage (BetaKit is a SAAS NORTH media partner), as well as Certn’s Andrew McLeod, and Passage’s Martin Basiri, among others. This year’s conference awarded more than $600,000 in funding and in-kind prizes.
SAAS NORTH’s PitchFest featured eight finalists selected from nearly 100 applicants, who competed in front of an audience of SaaS investors and entrepreneurs. Two winners were chosen on days one and two of SAAS NORTH, with both advancing to a winner-takes-all pitch-off finale at the end of day two.
Bruce Ford, president and CEO of Ottawa-based Celestra Health Systems, took home first place, winning a $10,000 cash prize and a 90-second animated explainer video from Phantom Productions, valued at $10,000. Celestra’s platform helps patients living with multiple sclerosis and their clinicians monitor key disease indicators such as gait and balance, cognition, and manual dexterity.
PitchFest’s runner-up this year was Ryan Kaufman, co-owner of 1Price, a startup that helps SaaS companies unlock optimal price points. According to a LinkedIn post from SAAS NORTH, Kaufman, 24, is one of the youngest finalists in PitchFest history.
RELATED: Nunafab, SnapWrite, Aruna Revolution among startups to score prize money at Elevate
The fifth-annual SheBoot pitch competition brought together 14 women-led startups from across Canada. It awarded a total of $400,000 in investments at a grand finale celebration.
Montréal-based Sonaro claimed first place with $150,000 for its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven stroke risk diagnosis software. Vancouver-based Flutter Care snagged the second-place prize of $100,000 for its product that helps expectant parents manage pregnancy complications. Flutter Care received an additional $100,000 matching investment from BDC’s Thrive Lab at SAAS NORTH.
The third prize went to PragmaClin Research from St. John’s, Nfld., which received $50,000 for its digital assessment tool that supports neurologists in evaluating Parkinson’s disease.
“We’re so thankful for the support we’ve received from SheBoot and can’t wait to see the future success of all the other amazing founders,” Hope Cahill, operations manager at PragmaClin said in a LinkedIn post following the win.
The crowd favourite award went to Aruna Revolution for its compostable menstrual health products. Aruna also recently won first place at Elevate’s Sustainable Changemaker Challenge.
The Firehood, which aims to encourage women-led innovation, provided over $200,000 in funding to two startups at SAAS NORTH. One was Montréal-based Oasis Learning AI, led by co-founder and CEO Karine Bah Tahé, which uses AI to deliver personalized training programs for employees. Oasis Learning, which recently won an in-kind prize of Amazon Web Services credits from Elevate’s Women+ program earlier this fall, took home $125,000 from The Firehood.
Also at SAAS NORTH, The Firehood provided $75,000 to Delta, BC-based Instagrooms, led by founder and CEO Danielle Burgess, which offers a professional grooming platform tailored to the equestrian community.
Feature image courtesy of SAAS NORTH.