The 2025 Elevate Festival has revealed its full schedule and speaker list.
The seventh annual festival is expected to attract 10,000 attendees from across the global tech community to downtown Toronto between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9. BetaKit is an official Elevate Festival media partner.
Taking place at Meridian Hall and the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, the event will feature 85 sessions supporting this year’s eight specialized content tracks. These content tracks cover artificial intelligence (AI), scaling, FinTech, moonshot projects, product development, cybersecurity, disruption, and women in tech.
“It’s a celebration of the entrepreneurs who are driving growth, creating jobs, and putting Toronto on the global tech map.”
It all starts opening night on the main stage, with an event hosted by presenter and author Amber Mac. There, attendees will hear from OpenAI’s Chris Lehane on the future of AI democratization, representatives from TD Bank and Cohere on how corporate Canada supports AI innovation, and Canadian actor Simu Liu. Liu will speak about his journey, purpose-driven investing, and the industries he believes are shaping the future.
Other sessions will bring participants inside Spotify’s AI lab, where director David Nyhan will speak on building the next generation of personalized music experiences, or into the futures of media and gaming courtesy of YouTube Canada head Andrew Peterson.
On the final day, Panache Ventures managing partner Prashant Matta and Inovia Capital principal Mia Morisset will tell founders the realities that other venture capitalists (VCs) don’t share. They will unpack what VCs are really looking for in a pitch, the pitfalls that trip up founders, and the strategies that close deals in a competitive market.
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In partnership with TechTO and ElanTech, Startup Open House is returning this year to put the spotlight on Toronto’s startup community. On the festival’s final day, companies across the city will open their doors to showcase their work, connect with talent, and highlight Toronto’s role as a global hub for innovation.
“Bringing Startup Open House back to Elevate is a way to extend the festival beyond our stages and into the city itself,” Elevate co-founder and CEO Lisa Zarzeczny said in a statement. “It’s a celebration of the entrepreneurs who are driving growth, creating jobs, and putting Toronto on the global tech map.”
This year’s Elevate Festival will also feature a crop of Silicon Valley vets, including the Canadian co-founder and CEO of autonomous trucking company Aurora, Chris Urmson, as well as Sierra co-founder Clay Bavor and former Airbnb general manager Dorothy Kilroy.
Elevate Festival says it is adding new events to its agenda every day. Tickets can be found on its website.
Feature image courtesy Elevate via X.