When it comes to investment- the more the merrier. So we’ve taken the $100k prize, and doubled it.
The best part? One startup may walk away with all of it, or two may split it. It’s up to you to convince the judges. You do not need to apply for this prize, you just need to find the investor judges in the “$200k Prize” tent in the Tent Village- or track down one of the judges onsite during the event (They’ll be wearing a Judge badge). You have until 5pm on Thursday, July 14th, to convince at least one of the judges the money should go to you. If you’re shortlisted- you’ll be invited to pitch at breakfast with all of the investors Friday morning. The winner(s) will be announced at Friday’s closing ceremonies!
Phil Telio
Phil may have an engineering background, but this seasoned entrepreneur got a taste of the startup world fresh out of university. His journey started in the early 90s pre-internet era when he joined Public Technologies Multimedia—a startup that grew from a handful of people, to hundreds of people in just a few short years. Although he launched his career as a programmer, Phil was quickly drawn into the business side of startups and has pursued this vocation ever since. From PTM he joined Locus Dialogue, who was eventually bought by InfoSpace (another startup that grew quickly). In 2003 Phil decided to start his own chapter with Embrase, a business-consulting firm centered on bringing innovation to the enterprise market. Despite his 20+ years of executive experience driving strategic business development, his heart was always in startups so he created a series of events that have now come to be the largest events in Canada for entrepreneurs. Phil is also a board member of the Osmo Foundation and is the President and Chairman of the Montreal Startup Foundation. As the Founder of Startupfest, and the Elevator World Tour, Phil has invested in every one of the investment prizes- including Paris, and Tel Aviv.
Anna Goodson
Anna Goodson is the CEO & Founder of Anna Goodson Illustration Agency and MEATMARKET Photography.
Anna has spent the last 25 years working with creatives and promoting their work. She’s passionate, innovative and is considered a leader and trend setter in her field.
Having launched her first website back in 1996, Anna has always been interested in technology and is an active member of the Startup community in Montreal as well as a Mentor and Angel Investor.
A strong promoter of women entrepreneurs, Anna hopes to inspire other young women to follow their dreams of starting a business.
She believes that freedom doesn’t have a price tag and that balance is the key to real success and happiness in life
Anna is a passionate entrepreneur and is an active member of Montreal’s Startup community and for the fourth consecutive year, she will sit on the Jury of Startupfest.
Michael Hollinger
BS Electrical Engineering – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1988; MCI Telecommunications Corp., 1988-1991; H.W. Hollinger (Canada) Inc. Insurance Brokers, President, 1991 – Present
Nathalie Marcoux
Madam Nathalie Marcoux, CPA CA, is vice-president finance at Capinabel inc, a private holding company, since 2001. She is a member of the board of TC Transcontinental inc and president of the advisory board of HEC’s Remi Marcoux entrepreneurial track. Mme Marcoux is also a member fof the board of Anges Québec, a network of private investors that finance and coaches innovative and high-potential companies in Quebec, member of the Tandemlaunch LPAC and a member of the advisory board of the Carmelle and Remi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management. Madam Marcoux has been on the jury of c2mtl’s 25 Emerging Entrepreneurs, founded by the Bronfman Foundation and a regional and national member of E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year contest. Madam Marcoux holds a B.A. from McGill University and a B.Com from HEC.
Jamie O’Hara
Grise Global actively seeks investments across a wide mandate. Most recently, Grise Global invested in Splash Premium Mixers (www.splashmixers.com). Splash is a non-alcoholic, all natural, one to one measured, gluten-free, kosher, non-GMO, 20 calorie per serving mixer with the tag line: "Your Spirit Has Met Its Match." Other investments include Montreal based WAVO, GuestDriven, ShareTheBus, and Toronto based OneClass. Jamie is a Patron of the Signature Theatre Company and an active fundraiser for the Mount Sinai Hospital Benefit Committee, NYC.
Jean-Francois Bouchard
Co-founder and CEO of Sid Lee, Jean-François has been leading the Montreal agency for 20 years. Sid Lee — an agency known for its outstanding creativity — has carved out a prominent global position by adopting a multidisciplinary approach that breaks down barriers between disciplines and by consistently challenging the status quo. An entrepreneur at heart, Jean-François oversees the work of over 600 professionals from various backgrounds and our offices in Montreal, Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Toronto. A passionate practitioner of what he calls « commercial creativity », Jean-François believes companies must always transform themselves to remain competitive. He is the curator of C2MTL, a global innovation conference that attracts 2000 c-level executives every year and speakers such as Richard Branson and James Cameron. He is also an accomplished photographer and his exhibitions were shown in Montreal, Paris, Miami and Toronto.
Cary Goldwax
Cary Goldwax – COO, Wandrian
Cary is an experienced entrepreneur and hands-on senior executive. After co-founding and successfully bringing Web APM company Coradiant to exit, he’s managed several prosperous ventures, including Wandrian, where he currently leads operations for the global leader in Europe travel and rail solutions. Cary also advises companies, including Montreal-based Cloudops, mentors for FounderFuel, and is an avid angel investor. His success in both the brick-and-mortar and the high-tech startup worlds includes over $200M in acquisitions and exits. Cary’s tough-love approach to mentoring is key to his formula for success.
Gary Pudles
Gary A. Pudles is a “serial entrepreneur” who focuses on helping organizations execute better and become more profitable all while having fun. He is the Founder and CEO of AnswerNet, and the co-founder of TextGen, SA Billing, Splendtastic, and Subout. He is a winner of the SmartCEO Best-Run Companies award and the prestigious « Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year » for business service providers and has led AnswerNet to the 21st spot on the Inc. 500. He also teaches Entrepreneurship at the University Of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Of Business and is a regular participant in Startup Camp and the Intl’ Startup Festival. Pudles’ philosophy is that every project he is involved in must be with the intent of helping companies run their businesses more efficiently and profitably. However, it must be according to their unique style – not by forcing them into a predetermined template, but by replicating proven processes and adding that custom twist unique to their needs.
Jesse Kaplan
Jesse Kaplan is a Managing Partner with Seek Capital Management in Toronto, a private investment company. He is also an active angel investor in the Canadian market. He previously spent time working in the financial markets in New York City, before seeing the light of day of the venture community in Canada.
Mathew Rosenblatt
Mathew is a Toronto based real estate developer and a creative entrepreneur. Mr. Rosenblatt’s experience includes master planning and revitalizing of the internationally acclaimed Distillery Historic District in Toronto, the Creation of the Toronto Christmas Market, an event that attracts over 500,000 visitors per year. The Toronto Christmas Market is considered by USA today, Mashable and Fodors magazine to be one of the Top 10 Christmas Market in the world.
He’s also responsible for the Creation of the Distillery Restaurant Corporation. An award winning hospitality company that now employs over 600 team members
Outside of his own businesses, Mr. Rosenblatt also acts as a marketing and business consultant to a number of other Canadian companies.
Tom WIlliams
Born and raised in Victoria, BC, Tom now lives in San Francisco, where he is the Founder of BetterCompany, an anonymous career advice community for every career and is an angel investor in more than 30 companies. He is one of the most active investors in funding early-stage Canadian startups.
A serial innovator whose proudest professional accomplishments include helping pioneer modern-day crowdfunding, Tom has a legacy of investing in and creating world changing ideas and organizations.
Now a father of two young children, he has coined the term the “Survival Economy,” to describe his thesis for the companies he looks to invest in. Tom and his family return to their home on Vancouver Island as often as they can, especially in the summer.
Neil Follet
Hi there, I’m Neil. I have been doing internet and advertising stuff for a long time, almost 20 years actually, which is shocking to me. For the past 11 years I have been running an agency called Brightworks that I founded. It has been a pretty wild ride.
We now have a team that is about 80 people strong, and in the last 12 months we’ve delivered more than 500 projects for clients in Canada, the US, and other exotic locales. Over the years we’ve evolved to be a full service agency, working on everything from branding, to tradeshow booths to virtual reality. It keeps us on our toes, that’s for sure, and we seem to be ok at it as we’ve won more than 75 awards. Mom is proud.
I have done some pretty cool things in my career and have met great people both through the agency, but also sitting on boards and committees at interesting places like the Canadian Marketing Association and the Art Gallery of Ontario. On the cool list, I am very exited to be a judge for Startupfest, and look forward to meeting everyone in Montreal.
Sanjay Singhal
Sanjay Singhal is the Canadian Venture Partner for 500 Startups, the most active seed investor in Silicon Valley, and aiming to be the largest in the world. Sanjay has personally started five businesses, and has been an angel investor in over 30 others. Joining the world of early-stage venture capital, he hopes to help other Canadian entrepreneurs achieve their own dreams of success.Sanjay’s largest entrepreneurial win has been as founder of Simply Audiobooks, aka Audiobooks.com; however , he has had his share of failures as well, the results of which include a divorce, personal bankruptcy, and chronic paranoia. Sanjay is a founding board member of Angel One, one of Canada’s most prolific Angel investment groups, and also serves on the boards of a number of companies in which he is an investor. Sanjay has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from UNB and UBC respectively, and an MBA from Cornell University.
Steve Abrams
Steven Abrams is a partner in the IT Venture Fund. Hejoined the BDC in 2001, after almost nine years in investment banking with Scotia McLeod and two years as CFO of an interactive advertising agency. As a director in corporate finance, he participated in many IPOs, privatizations, M&A advisory mandates, and equity and debt financings for companies in sectors, including technology, transportation and telecommunications. For an Internet company, he raised a first round of venture capital, did three acquisitions, two startups, and helped grow the company from 20 people to 145. Mr. Abrams holds an MBA in Finance from Cornell University and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from McGill University.
