Startup Canada has announced all the regional winners of its annual awards at ceremonies that took place in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Edmonton, Mississauga, Montreal, and Fredericton.
The national winners will be announced at the Startup Canada Awards Grand Finale in Toronto in October 2019.
The awards, which took place between May to June, recognize achievement for those working to advance entrepreneurship in Canada, while aiming to promote Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture. There are 17 different Startup Canada Awards, including the Indigenous Entrepreneur award, the Entrepreneur Support award, and the Community Leader of the Year award. Individuals and organizations can self-nominate, or nominate someone else.
“Each and every one of these outstanding recipients has an immense impact on the future of Canada and they all represent the greatness and diversity of our nation’s entrepreneurship community,” said Victoria Lennox, co-founder and president of Startup Canada. “We are proud to celebrate excellence and impact across Canada by recognizing the entrepreneurs, innovators and support ecosystem making it happen.”
Some notable tech founders and startups were featured as winners this year, including Toronto-based construction software company Bridgit, which raised a $6.2 million Series A round this year, before receiving a $750,000 investment from the federal government. Bridgit co-founders Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake jointly won the Startup Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Award.
Another notable company is Montreal-based travel app Hopper, which last year raised a $100 million Series D, bringing its total funding to date to $235 million. The company also rolled out its hotels feature to over 20 markets, and is on track to surpass $1 billion in sales. Hopper won Startup Canada’s Global Entrepreneurship Award.
The regional winners will be judged by the National Adjudication Committee, comprised of Canadian entrepreneurship and industry experts. The national winners will be announced at the Startup Canada Awards Grand Finale in Toronto in October 2019.
The winners for each region are:
BC
- Bonnie Foley-Wong (Vancouver, BC): Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- TRU Generator (Kamloops, BC): Entrepreneur Support Award
- Iskwew Air Inc. (Vancouver, BC): Entrepreneur’s Choice Award
- RYU Apparel (Vancouver, BC): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- REITIUM (Vancouver, BC): Innovation Award
- NADA (Vancouver, BC): Social Enterprise Award
- Immersive Tech (Vancouver, BC): High-Growth Entrepreneurship Award
- Mandy Potter (Vancouver, BC): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Sam Samida-Pugh (Vancouver, BC): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Manny Padda (Vancouver, BC): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Prairies
- Marney Stapley (Winnipeg, MB): Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- Valhalla Private Capital (Calgary, AB): Entrepreneur Support Award
- Local Laundry (Calgary, AB): Entrepreneur’s Choice Award
- Champion Pet Foods (Edmonton, AB): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- Ukkö Robotics (Winnipeg, MB): Innovation Award
- Drizzle Honey (Calgary, AB): Social Enterprise Award
- DrugBank (Edmonton, AB): High-Growth Entrepreneurship Award
- Bobbie Racette (Calgary, AB): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Claire Du (Calgary, AB): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Brent H. Zettl (Saskatoon, SK): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Ontario
- Myriam Lazarte (Toronto, ON): Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- Centre for Social Innovation (Toronto, ON): Entrepreneur Support Award
- Chris Rickett (Toronto, ON): Entrepreneur’s Choice Award
- Shopify (Ottawa, ON): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- EMAGIN (Kitchener, ON): Innovation Award
- Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics (St. Catharines, ON): Social Enterprise Award
- LowestRates.ca (Toronto, ON): High-Growth Entrepreneurship Award
- Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake (Waterloo, ON): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Founders of She Clothing Co. (Toronto, ON): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Isaac Olowolafe Jr. (Toronto, ON): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Atlantic Canada
- Larry Shaw (Fredericton, NB): Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI) (Fredericton, NB): Entrepreneur Support Award
- ThermalWood Canada (Bathurst, NB): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- Sona Nanotech Inc. (Halifax, NS): Innovation Award
- SucSeed (St. John’s, NL): Social Enterprise Award
- HeyOrca (St. John’s, NL): High-Growth Entrepreneurship Award
- Natasha Dhayagude (Fredericton, NB): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Noah Donovan (Quispamsis, NB): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Gary F. Keenan (Fredericton, NB): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Northern Canada
- The Honourable Ranj Pillai (Whitehorse, YT), Minister of Economic Development: Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- däna Näye Ventures (Whitehorse, YT): Entrepreneur Support Award
- Uasau Soap Inc. (Iqaluit, NU): Entrepreneur’s Choice Award
- Make IT Solutions (Whitehorse, YT): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- PROOF (Whitehorse, YT): Innovation Award
- Arctic Fresh Inc. (Igloolik, NU): Social Enterprise Award
- Antoinette Greenoliph (Whitehorse, YT): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Charlie Fidler (Whitehorse, YT): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Jayden Soroka, David Hamelin and Neil MacDonald (Whitehorse, YT): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
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Quebec
- Angelique Mannella (Montréal, QC): Entrepreneur Promotion Award
- OSMO (Montréal, QC): Entrepreneur Support Award
- Hopper (Montréal, QC): Global Entrepreneurship Award
- Deeplite (Montréal, QC): Innovation Award
- Pow Wow Pitch (Gatineau, QC): Social Enterprise Award
- Lightspeed (Montréal, QC): High-Growth Entrepreneurship Award
- Francine Whiteduck (Anishinabeg from Kitigan Zibi First Nation): Woman Entrepreneur Award
- Sober AI (Montréal, QC): Young Entrepreneur Award
- Vickie Joseph (Montréal, QC): Entrepreneur of the Year Award
- Image courtesy of Startup Canada
