Elevate, the nonprofit behind the Toronto tech festival of the same name, will host the first CIX investment summit this March after acquiring the brand.
The event will take place March 26 and 27 at the Design Exchange in Toronto. In September, Elevate acquired CIX in a move aimed at strengthening its ability to connect the tech ecosystem year-round.
Elevate’s CEO described CIX as “the tech conference where deals get done.”
Founded in 2008 as the Canadian Innovation Exchange, the annual conference aimed to showcase and award Canada’s most promising early-stage and scaling startups.
Elevate has also announced one of its keynote speakers for CIX 2024: Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures, which has invested in over 1,000 startups, including Canadian tech companies Deep Genomics and Blockstream. Khosla has previously spoken at Elevate’s flagship technology and innovation festival.
Elevate said CIX 2024 will feature curated networking opportunities, including investor meetings, and will allow investors to connect and build their deal flow pipeline with access to more than 200 startups.
The 2024 event will also present CIX’s top 20 early and top 10 growth awards to startups. In 2022, close to 500 companies applied for its awards, and 92 percent of the winners received funding within one year.
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According to a 2023 statement from Elevate, CIX attracts investors across venture capital, private equity, and corporations from across North America, with Elevate CEO Lisa Zarzeczny describing the event as “the tech conference where deals get done.”
Elevate held its inaugural festival for Canada’s tech sector in 2017. Past speakers include former United States First Lady and author Michelle Obama, tennis champion Venus Williams, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe-Herd, and former US Vice President Al Gore, among others.
Early-bird tickets are available for CIX 2024 until February 16.
Feature image courtesy Elevate.