So what’s actually broken?

Last week, we co-hosted a panel with Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 to ask exactly that. No polished answers. No diplomatic non-answers. An honest look at where the system isn’t connected and what would actually move the needle.

The panel featured:

• Jesse Wiebe, Founder & Executive Director, Canadian Startup Capital Association

• Caroline von Hirschberg, Co-CEO, Spring Activator

• Suzanne Grant, Executive Director, Capital Angel Network

• Moderated by Darryl Bandoro, Tech Thursday Ottawa

This is our recap of the top ideas from the conversation.

“The whole thing is f*cked. It’s really messed up because we haven’t spent the time and the attention to build the critical infrastructure across the entire thing.” Jesse Wiebe

Missed this one? Check out our recap videos on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

1. The Capital Activation Problem

The takeaway: Canada doesn’t have a deal flow problem. It has a capital activation problem. Most accredited investors in this country are not deploying anywhere near the asset allocation they could be, and the wealth managers they talk to have a structural incentive to keep it that way.

Jesse opened the substantive part of the panel by reframing the problem most people in the room came in worrying about.

“Our biggest problem in Canada at the moment is capital activation. When you look at the reports from BDC in particular last year, you look back to the 2010, 2014 vintage, only the top quartile has actually returned more than a 1x of capital. Derek Hunter at Tech Thursday Calgary last week also said he estimates only 10% of Canadian VCs are ever going to hit carry. So most people that have invested in this asset class over the last 15 to 20 years haven’t seen the ROI.” Jesse Wiebe

His explanation of why is mechanical, not cultural. The accredited investor rule (you have to make over $200K a year or have $1M in net worth excluding your home) limits who’s legally allowed to invest in startups. The economics of doing it well at the individual level require building a portfolio of 20 to 40 companies, which means a half-million to a million dollar asset allocation. Most people in the accredited investor category can’t make that allocation work as individuals.

The model Jesse spent five years scaling at Startup TNT, where 51 cohorts of investors each put in $5,000 and collaboratively pick one company over eight weeks, is a workaround for exactly this. Over 21 million dollars deployed into nearly 130 pre-seed companies, from over 550 investors. Most of whom, on their own, could not have run a venture portfolio.

Suzanne added the generational wealth transfer dimension that’s about to make this question urgent.

“The number is in the trillions of generational wealth that is just ready to transfer. This is an amazing opportunity if we think about next generation and how they have a very strong alignment with acting on their values. What if a percentage of that wealth was actually allocated for early-stage investing? And what does anybody know about it? How do we elevate the awareness and the education for those next gen folks who are going to catch that capital when they go to the wealth managers and they’re told this mutual fund, this bond, this whatever, and the conversation isn’t even on the table about becoming an LP in a VC fund or about becoming an angel investor?” Suzanne Grant

Jesse picked up the thread with a more provocative version of the same idea.

“To those in the audience, there is some people more in my generation here that do have parents that are quite well off. Don’t just wait around for them to die to start deploying the capital. That’s essentially one of the things I had to get over in my own head. My father and I had a conversation when my grandfather passed away. I honestly started finding myself during COVID thinking, what would I do with that money if I had access to it? And realizing that was really stupid. Why don’t I figure out a living inheritance model where I’m not only able to deploy the capital into the things that I believe in, but into what I want to see in my country that I’m going to be living in for the next 50 plus years?” Jesse Wiebe

Why this matters: The conventional framing of the Canadian startup capital gap is that we need more government money in the system. The panel’s argument was the opposite. There is already enough latent private capital in this country to fund the entire early-stage ecosystem several times over. The problem is that nobody has built the rails to activate it. Until that gets built, more government money mostly serves to mask the underlying problem.

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2. The Culture Problem

The takeaway: Even if the capital existed, Canada has a cultural problem at both the founder-customer interface and the investor-fund interface. First to be second is the dominant mode, and it’s killing returns.

This was the section where Jesse went furthest, and it’s worth quoting him at some length because the structure of the argument is the point.

“The culture in Canada, unfortunately, is still too much first to be second. We have a company in Regina, shout out Offstreet. They’re doing incredibly well selling parking for universities. They’ve got UCLA, Stanford, MIT. They can’t get the U of S or the U of R in Saskatchewan, which is insane. Why do I have to go down there to find my first customer when I’ve got one in my back door?” Jesse Wiebe

The same pattern shows up on the investor side, where it’s even more structurally damaging.

“So many fund managers in Canada, and it drives me up the wall because I think it’s cowardice, will literally tell me, ‘All we do is follow.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean all you do is follow?’ I’m an LP in VC funds. If a VC fund tells me that, I’m not going to invest in it, because what’s your competitive advantage if all you’re going to be is first to be second? That’s ridiculous. We need to create a culture in Canada where people are willing to place that first bet.” Jesse Wiebe

He went on to connect that cultural problem to the structural incentive problem that government LP money creates.

“Government funding creates these weird perverse incentives amongst fund managers. Most VC funds don’t hit what’s known as carry, which is a percentage of the profits. So most VC funds are making their money off of management fees, which is based off of assets under management. If they’re getting the funding from either the federal government through VCCI or one of the provincial fund-to-fund programs like AEC, Venture Ontario, Investissement Québec, they have an incentive not to take the high-risk bets that might blow up before the next fund is raised. They need to make sure that fund one portfolio and fund two portfolio stay intact so they can raise fund three from the same group of LPs.” Jesse Wiebe

The result, in his telling, is a venture capital market coalescing around consensus picks. The flashy thing instead of the weird thing. Or, in his words: investing in the flashy guy when you should be investing in the weirdo in the corner.

Suzanne tied this back to the procurement side of the same problem.

“Buy Canada is a nice slogan, but we’re not seeing it translating into technology. We’re seeing technology maybe as a little bit of an afterthought in some of the big announcements about the future of our country. We need to be at the decision-making tables and the advisory tables for where the country is going. We are an engine for growth, and we really need to be there.” Suzanne Grant

Why this matters: The cultural critique connects the two sides of the same coin. If your first instinct as a Canadian institution is to wait for someone else to validate the founder before you buy from them, that’s the same instinct your fund managers are operating under when they evaluate a deal. Neither leads to the kind of early conviction that builds anchor companies.

3. The Capital Stack Problem (and the Matchmaking Problem Beneath It)

The takeaway: Not every founder needs venture capital. The Canadian ecosystem keeps pushing founders into equity when other capital types would serve them better, and the cost of that mismatch shows up as wasted time and stranded companies.

Caroline made this argument cleanly, and it’s the one structural point from the night that doesn’t depend on Jesse’s framing to land.

“Venture might be right for them later, but it also may not be the path that they actually want to go down. So it’s about equipping founders so that we all have the success rates we want to see, and so that we aren’t, frankly, putting our capital in the wrong direction.” Caroline von Hirschberg

Spring has been experimenting with the kind of alternatives most founders never hear about from a generic accelerator, including loans where the interest converts to equity once they repay, revenue-based financing, and convertible notes structured to bridge into customer revenue.

Jesse extended the same argument to what he calls the mighty middle, the companies that can build great businesses without trying to be Shopify.

“You can create scalable businesses. You can build value for both yourself and for your investors by getting a 25, 50, 100 million dollar outcome. The key piece is that you need to be realistic about where your entry valuation needs to be because of where you’re going to exit. I’ve had founders pitch me time and time again that are essentially building a mighty middle company but they want a $10 million valuation. I’m saying, no, you got to start at like two and a half, because otherwise then in order to get out, you got to get it all the way to a hundred.” Jesse Wiebe

The sports analogy that followed is the line that travels.

“If San Francisco is the Yankees, we’re the Oakland A’s, and we need to play Moneyball and start trying to just get on base repeatedly so we can actually start making the playoffs.” Jesse Wiebe

He closed the section on a regulatory-adjacent point that quietly slows Canadian fintech-adjacent companies down at scale.

“We need to start educating our banks and our lenders on SAFEs. One of the unfortunate realities of international accounting standards is that SAFEs live as liabilities on the balance sheet when they’re equity. The bank and FCC and others won’t lend on that. They don’t understand it. We have a great company called Vegan out of Vancouver that raised a million dollars, a lot of it through Front Funder. The bank is like, ‘Wait, you’re not a profitable business.’ And it’s like, you can only be one or the other at a time. Growing, hyperscale growth, or profitable. If we’re pushing people to say, ‘Hey, be ambitious, think big in this country,’ and then meanwhile, all of our lending institutions are like, ‘Wait, why aren’t you making any money?’ Those two things don’t jive.” Jesse Wiebe

Why this matters: A lot of the gap people perceive between Canadian and US ecosystems is, on the ground, a matchmaking problem. A founder who needs revenue-based financing but ends up taking equity, or who builds for a $100M exit when the realistic path was a $30M exit, loses time and ownership for no reason. Better matching of capital to company doesn’t require new policy. It requires founders, investors, and lenders all knowing what’s actually on the menu.

A Few Takeaways for Builders

A few practical points that came out of the conversation:

• Capital activation, not deal flow, is the actual bottleneck. If you’re a founder, this changes how you should think about your local investor base. There are far more potential angels in your city than the active ones you know.

• Know who your VC’s LPs are. If a fund is 80% government LP capital, the GP’s incentives are different than if it’s 80% private. Those incentives shape how they’ll behave at every decision point in your relationship with them.

• Be realistic about entry valuation. If you’re building a mighty middle company, a $10M seed valuation locks you out of a clean $30M exit. Start where the math works.

• The accredited investor in your life probably doesn’t know how to allocate capital to startups. That’s not their failing. It’s a system failure. Be the person who tells them where to start.

A massive thank you to Jesse, Caroline, and Suzanne for being so candid, and to Darryl for running a panel that didn’t soften the edges. Thanks also to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 for co-hosting the evening with us in Ottawa.

The Fast 50 program is now open for applications. It celebrates Canada’s most innovative, high-growth technology companies, with three award categories and no cost to apply. Worth looking at if you’re building.

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• Dominion Dynamics closed a $21M CAD seed round led by Georgian, with BCI and Bessemer participating. The Ottawa “defence neoprime” is also setting up a 25,000 sq ft factory in Kanata as it scales operations.

• Backboard.io, the new venture from Assent co-founder Rob Imbeault, raised an undisclosed pre-seed round co-led by Mistral Venture Partners and N49P, with Garage Capital and DevCap participating.

  • Imbeault says it’s one of the largest Canadian pre-seed rounds in recent years.

  • Backboard is building a portable memory layer for LLMs and ranks #1 on the Long Conversational Memory benchmark.

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In the News 📰

• Dominion Dynamics committed an initial $50M in March to build Canada’s first sovereign Autonomous Collaborative Platform, an uncrewed wingman for next-gen fighter jets. It also launched AURION in February (an open-source platform aggregating federal procurement and lobbying data for Canada’s defence SMEs) and partnered with Calgary’s Denvr in late March to build a sovereign AI simulation environment for the ACP program.

• Solink had a packed quarter: published its State of AI in Retail research at the NRF retail conference (Jan), launched Solink AI Agents at its Secure Summit in LA (Feb), and opened a Toronto office (Mar).

• Telesat signed a January cooperation agreement with Korea's Hanwha Systems on sovereign satellite connectivity, then added 500 MHz of military Ka-band to its Lightspeed LEO constellation in March. First Lightspeed satellites launch this December.

• Calian Group mobilized an initial $100M CAD through its new Calian Ventures arm to build a sea-to-sea-to-sea network of C5ISRT defence labs, drawing capital from Calian, regional investment agencies, and federal programs.

  • It also announced a March partnership with Quebec’s Tessellate Robotics on autonomous Arctic navigation tech.

• Kinaxis brought on Razat Gaurav as CEO on January 12, then commercially launched Maestro Agent Studio in early March, a no-code platform for building AI agents inside its supply chain orchestration product.

• ARCHIMEDES, the national health data platform led by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, partnered with Ottawa-based Woodway Assurance to embed automated privacy risk assessments into its datasets.

  • Woodway also rolled out EviData 2.0 in February with a new AI companion for de-identification workflows.

• dominKnow named Geoff Surkamer CEO in January and launched AI Translator on its main platform in March, with Pfizer among early customers.

Achievements 🥇

• Solink won The Global AI Awards for Best Computer Vision & Video Analytics.

New Opportunities 🚀

• Calian Ventures is accepting SME applications across command and control, autonomous systems, and space resource orchestration. Register here.

• Dominion Dynamics is hiring engineering and operations talent across Ottawa and Toronto, as it scales after its $21M seed roundis. See open roles.

Upcoming Events 👇

🔎 May 7th

Topic - What’s Broken in Canada’s Startup Ecosystem? A Public Discussion

Co-Host - Deloitte, Technology Fast 50

What’s actually broken Canada’s early-stage startup ecosystem? And what does a healthier ecosystem look like?

Join us for a candid, open discussion on what’s really going on for founders and investors in Canada right now, and where things need to change. No polished answers. Just an honest look at the challenges, the trade-offs, and what could actually move the needle.

Speakers:

• ​Jesse Wiebe, Founder & Executive Director, Canadian Startup Capital Association

• ​Caroline von Hirschberg, Co-CEO, Spring Activator

• ​Suzanne Grant, Executive Director, Capital Angel Network

• ​Moderated by: Darryl Bandoro, Tech Thursday Ottawa

Join the waitlist

🔎 May 21st

Topic - Tech Thursday at MASHUP26: Pitch Fest Happy Hour

We'll be at the 16th Capital MASHUP26 Pitchfest, presented by Capital Angel Network (CAN) and TCC Canada.

250+ founders, investors and leaders are celebrating entrepreneurs & their champions - connecting in a genuine vibey mode. It’s giving - off the charts energy, the right people in the room, the best founder : investor ratio you’ll find, and a track record of on the spot and follow on investment.

Join us at the Pitch Fest Happy Hour: Tough Topic Big Huddle. Use Tech Thursday promo code for a 20% discount: MASHUP26TTH

Get my ticket

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

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April is here, and we have two events lined-up for you Ottawa.

Find your Thursday below! 👇

🚀 April 9th

Topic - Scaling Innovation: From Pilot to Production

​The hardest part of innovation isn’t the idea. It’s what comes after it works.

​This Tech Thursday we’ll dive into what happens after innovation shows early success and how organizations move from pilots and initial projects into scalable, sustained impact.

We’ll explore:

• ​What changes when something that works needs to be integrated more broadly

• ​The organizational challenges that come with scaling (process, people, adoption)

• ​What tends to break down between pilot and production

• ​What it takes to turn one-off success into something repeatable
  
  Speakers:

• ​Khaled Abdelwahab – Sales Director, North America at Nokia

• ​Sienna Hermary – Co-founder & CEO at Urban Camel & Business Development Specialist - Cybersecurity at Invest Ottawa

• ​Russell Smiley – Director, Strategic Innovation Partnerships at Syntronic

• ​Moderated by: Dan Premachuk, Program Admin of Technology Innovation Management Program at Carleton University

RSV here

🏦 April 23rd

Topic - The Future of Money: Transformative Technologies in the Financial Sector

The rules, the rails, and the players in Canada’s financial sector are all changing at once. New policy, new infrastructure, and new technology are converging, changing how money moves, who can access it, and who gets to build the services around it.

​We’ll dig into the real state of Canadian Fintech: what’s progressed, what’s still in the way, and what it means for the people building and investing in this space.

Speakers:

• ​Adriana Vega - Executive Director at Fintechs Canada

• Moderated by: Dr Paul Newton - Creative Producer & Strategist at Up Next Global

• ​More speakers TBA soon!

RSVP here

Brought to you by:

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A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

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With two must-see events, we can’t wait to see you there! 👇

🩻 March 12th

Topic - From Discovery to Delivery: The Diagnostic Entrepreneur’s Path

​The road from a scientific breakthrough in the lab to a validated diagnostic tool in the clinic is complex and often uncharted.

​We’ll move beyond theory to unpack the real-world challenges of translating academic research into a regulated, commercially viable IVD product. We’ll explore from securing translational funding and clinical validation to scaling manufacturing and navigating Health Canada approvals.

If you are building the next generation of diagnostic tools and want a clear, practical map of the journey from bench to bedside, this conversation is your essential guide. Gain invaluable insights to de-risk your own path from discovery to delivery.

Speakers:

• ​Evan Monk, PhD Candidate, Developing an Aptamer-Based Lateral Flow Test for Kawasaki Disease

• ​Dr. Peter Liu, Cardiologist & Researcher at University of Ottawa Heart Institute

• ​Dr. Adam Shuhendler, Founder at Yellowbird Diagnostics

RSVP HERE

🤖 March 26th

Topic - AI Transformation Stories

​AI transformation is happening fast, and the best insights come from the work happening behind the scenes. Join us for a lively panel of leaders sharing real stories of how AI is being introduced and scaled inside their organizations.

​We’ll unpack what’s working, what’s been unexpectedly challenging, and what’s driving real results. If you’re curious about AI in practice (not just in theory) this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Speakers:

• ​​Martin Boyce, General Manager at Ottawa Titans Baseball Club

• ​Olga A Koppel, CEO at EcoSafeSense

• ​Garrett Stewart, Manager of Campus Identification and Information Services at Carleton University

• ​Moderated by: Dan Premachuk, Program Admin of Technology Innovation Management Program at Carleton University

RSVP HERE

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🎙️ Check Out The Latest Episodes of ‘Your Business Is On The Line’

A Thursday Media Podcast: “Your Business Is On The Line” is a business-comedy podcast hosted by Shubh Sidhu with super special guest co-host Philippe Burns.

Catch the latest episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Episode 10: CEaaS w/ Dallas Price

Episode 9: HER & Reinventing HER & Las Pegas w/ Joanna Pariseau & Melissa Ninaber

Episode 8: Bumble for Families & Arranged & Dog-gevity w/ Rachel Zimmer

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube, listen to Tech Thursday Live on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We’ll see you there! 👇

🩻 February 12th

Topic - The Future of AI in HealthTech

Join us for an energizing discussion on what’s driving HealthTech right now, where AI is having the biggest impact, and what the future of the space could look like.

Speakers:

• Sacha Gera, COO at Healwell

• ​Ghayath Janoudi, Founding CEO at Loon

• ​Rana Chreyh, VP and Practice Leader at Stratford

• ​François Charih, Co-Founder & Director of AI research at Nuvo Bio

• Moderated by: Liisa Johns, Strategic Biotech Consultant

RSVP HERE

🧑‍💻 February 26th

Topic - Gemini Demo: Real-World Use Cases of AI in Organizations

This panel will feature a discussion on going from a challenge to action within a technological lens.

Note: this event was rescheduled from January due to severe weather.

Speakers:

• ​Brett Tackaberry, Principal Architect at Google Cloud

• ​Neilda (Pacquing) Gagné, Co-Founder of AGI Ventures Canada

RSVP HERE

🎙️ Tech Thursday LIVE has Officially Launched!

Tech Thursday is bringing some of our favourite panels to Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you can listen to all of our incredible speakers at home, at work, or on the go!

Check it out on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We can’t wait to kick off a FULL year of Tech Thursday in Ottawa with two fantastic events in January.

We’ll see you there! 👇

🤖 January 15th

Topic - Gemini Demo: Real-World Use Cases of AI in Organizations

We're thrilled to have partnered with Brett Tackaberry, Principal Architect at Google Cloud to provide a Gemini Demo. We'll be showing real-world use cases of AI within organizations today.

Speakers:

• ​Brett Tackaberry, Principal Architect at Google Cloud

RSVP HERE

👥 January 29th

Topic - “Innovation in Action” - From Challenge to Impact

Co-Host - Technology Innovation Management Program at Carleton University

This panel will feature a discussion on going from a challenge to action within a technological lens.

Speakers:

• ​Patrick Perron, Senior Product Manager at QNX

• ​Birket Foster, CEO at Storm Internet

• ​David Hudson, Adjunct Professor/Lead at Carleton University

• ​Dan Premachuk, Program Admin of Technology Innovation Management Program at Carleton University

  RSVP HERE

  ---

  A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

  ---

  Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We couldn’t be more excited to announce Ottawa’s calendar of events for the month of November!

We look forward to seeing you there 👇

🌐 November 6th

Topic - AMA with a Silicon Valley VC

Join us for a special Tech Thursday AMA featuring J. Skyler Fernandes, General Partner at VU Venture Partners and Founder of Venture University, the world’s leading investor accelerator.

Speakers:

• J. Skyler Fernandes, General Partner at VU Venture Partners and Founder of Venture University

RSVP Here!

💻 November 13th

Topic - Coders & Creatives: How Creative Strategies & Tactics Increase Tech Product Sales

We’re thrilled to have this conversation with Coders & Creatives to walk through practical creative strategies can have a direct impact on conversions and revenue. We’ll discuss real examples of how small creative changes can move metrics like activation, trial-to-paid conversion, and repeat purchase.

Speakers: ​

• ​Graham Rapsey, Professor of Media Studies & Advertising at Algonquin College of Applied Arts

• ​Marie-Anne Abboud, Senior Brand Strategist, Export Development Canada

• ​Alain Brunet, Creative Director D2L / Fullscript

• Moderated by: Yannis Souris, Chief Marketing Officer at 10X Technology Consulting

RSVP Here!

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We look forward to seeing you there 👇

🤖 October 30th

Topic - Identity, Responsibility, and Risk: How AI is Changing the Field of Training and Certification

Co-Hosted By: Crestview

AI has already changed the world of certifications. Already, Phoebe the Pug, a 9-year-old canine, is approved to sell alcohol in Ontario, and has passed a defensive driving course through the Alberta Motor Association. How is AI changing how the government and universities test? And how will AI continue to change the landscape? These are questions we’ll cover in this weeks Tech Thursday.

Speakers:

• ​Robert Day, Technical Development and CEO at Cognisense

• ​​Farbod Karimi, Former Acting Dean at Algonquin College

• Other speakers TBD

RSVP Here

📈 November 6th

Topic - AMA with a Silicon Valley VC

Join us for a special Tech Thursday AMA featuring J. Skyler Fernandes, General Partner at VU Venture Partners and Founder of Venture University, the world’s leading investor accelerator.

​Skyler has been recognized as a Powerlist 100 VC, having invested in 25+ unicorns and achieved 20+ multi-billion-dollar exits. He’s now on a mission to democratize access to venture capital—helping founders, investors, and aspiring VCs learn how top funds source, evaluate, and scale winning companies.

Speakers: ​

• J. Skyler Fernandes, General Partner at VU Venture Partners and Founder of Venture University

RSVP Here

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We couldn’t be more excited to announce Ottawa’s calendar of events for the month of October!

We look forward to seeing you there 👇

🏛 October 2nd

Topic - Government Procurement and Funding for Deep Tech, Dual-Use & Defence Firms

This will be a deep dive into what deep tech and dual‑use companies need to know to access government procurement and funding: where the money and contracts live, how procurement processes actually work, pitching to defence buyers, and practical next steps to move from prototype to paid contract.

Speakers:

• Tarig Abdellatief, Managing Director at Arctech Accelerate

• ​Hugo Hodgett, CEO at H2 Analytics

RSVP Here!

🧬 October 23rd

Topic - The Future of Quantum Technology

Our speakers will unpack where quantum hardware and software are headed, the practical roadblocks around scaling and error correction, emerging commercial opportunities in sensing, communications, and computing, and the policy and security implications that will shape adoption. Expect perspectives on timelines, investment trends, and what practitioners and organizations should be planning for now.

Speakers: ​

• ​Dr. Marie D'lorio, President at Deep Tech Canada

• Additional Speakers TBA!

RSVP Here

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want to catch up on other Tech Thursday’s? Check out our videos on YouTube and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates on everything Tech Thursday.

We look forward to seeing you there 👇

👥 July 10th

Topic - Disruptive Tech in Talent Recruitment

New tools and technologies have impacted how recruiters source, find, and hire new talent. We're excited to host a conversation with industry experts about the future of talent recruitment.

Speakers:

• ​Ryan Malmberg, Venture Talent Manager at Invest Ottawa

• Hilary Smith, Talent Acquisition at Soarce Consulting

RSVP Here

🎵 July 17th

Topic - Fireside Chat with Polyphonic

​Polyphonic is a YouTube channel all about music. They've garnered more than 1.1M subscribers. We're thrilled to host a fireside chat with the creator of Polyphonic, Noah Lefevre, to hear from his journey including: How to Build a YouTube Channel and What's Next for Polyphonic.

Speakers: ​

• ​Noah Lefevre, Creator at Polyphonic

RSVP Here

🛑 July 24th

No Tech Thursday

🖥️ July 31st

Topic - User-Centric UX and UI Design in SaaS Platforms

This session explores how user-centric UX and UI design can drive engagement, satisfaction, and retention in SaaS platforms, and share strategies for deeply understanding user needs, creating intuitive interfaces, and continuously iterating based on real user feedback.

Co-Host - Coders and Creatives

Speakers: ​

• ​Yannis Souris, Chief Marketing Officer at 10X Technology Consulting

  RSVP Here

A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Want access to more Tech Thursday content? Subscribe to our YouTube to see full videos of our past events thanks to Motiv.

We look forward to seeing you there 👇

🏗️ June 5th

Topic - Building in Ottawa: Women Shaping the Future of Innovation

Speakers:

• Jennifer Francis, Co-Founder of SheBoot

• Sandra Veledar, CEO at I.Liv Performance Inc.

• ​Yoobin Lee, CEO at Quip Medical

• Moderated by: Liisa Johns, Strategic Biotech Consultant

  Get Your FREE Ticket

🤖 June 12th

Topic - Inside the Agent Boom: How AI Builders are Rewiring the Future

Co-Host - AI Tinkerers

Speakers:

• ​Brett Tackaberry, Principal Architect at Google Cloud

• Elham Soleimani Samarin, Lead of Machine Learning at Assent

• Hai Nghiem, co-founder of the global AI Tinkerers community

• ​Rami Alhamad, Co-Founder & CEO at Alma

  Get Your FREE Ticket

🌐 June 19th,

Topic - Technology and Youth

Co-host - Youth Ottawa

Speakers: ​

• ​To be confirmed soon!

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🏠 June 26th

Topic - Solving the Housing Crisis

Speakers:

• Yves Alary, Founder at Cocoriko.org

• Other speakers are to be confirmed soon!

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A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Motiv, and Crestview Strategy.

Other Events

Will you be at Toronto Tech Week? Tech Thursday is hosting ‘Canada's Fintech Opportunity: Collaborating for a Productive Edge’ on June 26th. Our speakers are:

• Hanna Zaidi, VP, Payments Strategy & CCO at Wealthsimple

• Abraham Tachjian, Director, Head of Open Banking at PwC Canada

• Michael Cascone, VP of Government Relations at Xero

We'd Love to Have You!

Want access to more Tech Thursday content? Subscribe to our YouTube to see full videos of our past events thanks to Motiv.

What began as a way to bring the senior tech community together in Winnipeg three years ago—just a few community members looking to connect beyond the boardroom—grew into something bigger in Calgary, and now, here we are in Ottawa!

We’re here to bring members of the tech community together every week for panels that are relevant to what you’re working on. Ottawa’s energy, talent, and warmth have already blown us away, and we’re just getting started.

So, what’s up for Tech Thursday for the rest of the month? Read on—we’ll show you.

Our very first Tech Thursday event in Ottawa! Featuring Suzanne Grant, Megan Maltby, Jeff Smirle, and Darryl Bandoro

Upcoming Events 👇

May 15th: ‘What’s Holding Us Back? A Candid Look at Productivity, Policy, & Tech’

Featuring: ​

• Andriana Vega, VP of Government Affairs at CVCA – bringing a policy and capital markets lens to the issue

• ​Hendrik Brakel, Director at Sussex Strategy Group

• ​Ruwan Hapuarachchi, Managing Director, BP&M Consulting

• ​Moderated by: Dr. Paul Newton, Master Storyteller and Entrepreneur

Description:

​In 2024, the Bank of Canada broke the glass on what it called Canada’s deepening productivity challenges—warning that our lagging output per worker threatens long-term growth, competitiveness, and living standards. But what does this mean in real terms? For tech? For capital? For policy?

​This panel will bring together voices from government, venture, and industry to explore the root causes and what can actually be done about it.

RSVP here.

May 22nd: ‘Tech in Fitness: Ottawa Race Weekend’

Featuring:

• ​Jenn Flemke, Triathlon and Paratriathlon Coach – bringing a unique lens on performance, adaptation, and the evolving role of tech in training.

• ​Oscar Acosta Palacios, CEO at Body M3canix

• ​Moderated by: Liisa Johns, Strategic Biotech Consultant

Description:

It’s Ottawa Race Weekend! So we're shifting gears for our fourth Tech Thursday Ottawa event—diving into the intersection of technology and fitness. From wearables to recovery tools, data-driven training to community platforms, the fitness industry is being reshaped by innovation.

RSVP here

May 29th: ‘Commercialization of BioTech’

Featuring:

• Speakers TBC

• Moderated by: Liisa Johns, Strategic Biotech Consultant.

RSVP link will be posted soon.

A big thank you to our sponsors Neo Financial, Skip, Boast, and Crestview Strategy for making our events a possibility.

Every month, we’ll be publishing our upcoming events here – so be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date.

You can view all of our events on our Ottawa Events Calendar page here.

We’ll see you at an event! And Ottawa, thank you once again for the incredible Tech Thursday’s so far!

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