SAAS NORTH AI Adds a Defence Summit
SAAS NORTH AI opens in Ottawa on November 4 with a new defence and dual-use summit, DEPLOY, and 43 pitch finalists. Here is what to watch, and six companies worth a closer look.
Latest
HeyShip Helps Importers Turn a Profit by Revealing Brazil's Hidden Costs
Neto Concon found his first business idea in a WhatsApp group full of complaints. After a frightening first import in Brazil, he and his co-founders built HeyShip, an AI platform that predicts landed costs, flags margin risks, and now serves more than 300 companies. Payments and fintech are up next.
Money20/20 USA 2026: AI Fraud Fighters and Cross-Border Rails Win the Top Startup Prizes
Money20/20 USA ran October 18 to 21, 2026, in Las Vegas. Charm Security won the Early Stage Startup Grand Prix and Trace Finance won the Growth Stage Grand Prix at the Money Awards. We cover the winners, a silver and bronze medalist, and one more finalist.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Lab-Grown Gut Tissue Wins the Battlefield Cup
Denver biotech Intero Biosystems won the $100,000 Startup Battlefield Cup at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Its lab-grown gut tissue beat 199 other companies.
Ai Everything Abu Dhabi 2026: RankWit AI Takes the Supernova Crown
RankWit AI, an Italian startup that tracks how chatbots describe hotels, won the $10,000 Supernova pitch at Ai Everything Abu Dhabi. It beat four finalists from four countries. Their customers show where applied AI is already earning revenue.
Leeds Digital Festival 2026: An NHS Data Startup, a School Software Pair and an AI Consultancy Take the Top Prizes
Avenue3 took Start-up of the Year at the Leeds Digital Festival Awards, Enablis won Growth Company of the Year, and Senflow won Tech4Good with software already in 110 schools. Each one sells into a sector that still runs on paperwork.
Italy's Startup Delegation at Nrth 2026: Six Companies Looking for Canadian Partners
Six Italian companies pitched at Nrth 2026 with the Italian Trade Agency. We met them after the stage to find out what they build, why they chose Canada, and who they want to meet here.
Nrth 2026: Winners and Standouts From Toronto's Startup Stage
Elevate became Nrth, and its startup stage ran seven pitch sessions plus Tangerine's $50,000 elevator pitch. Moro Technologies, MoVA Realities and Cotriply took home the prizes. Here is every company that pitched and what they are building.
LiONS LAIR 2026: Health Founders Sweep the Podium
NewGen Health took the $30,000 top prize at Innovation Factory's 16th annual LiONS LAIR with an at-home urine screening device for early kidney disease. Seven of the ten finalists are building in health and life sciences, and every one came up through Founders Fast Track.
Top100 Swiss Startup Award 2026: Corintis Repeats
Corintis won the Top100 Swiss Startup Award for the second year in a row, with legal AI company DeepJudge second and space startup PAVE Space third. Six new special awards went to a newcomer, a biotech, a cleantech, a robotics company, the year's biggest raise and its biggest exit.
The Salmon Feed Additive That Activates Natural Immunity and Removes Antibiotic Dependency
Daniela Allerbon solved aquaculture’s antibiotic crisis by shifting from external additives to biological amplification. Her team uses a protein salmon naturally produce to boost immunity, eliminating antibiotic dependency and achieving industry-leading survival rates.
Canada Fintech Forum 2026: Fireraven Takes the Pitch Battle
Ten startups pitched to five of Canada's most active fintech investors in Montreal. Fireraven won with AI security for AI agents. But the real story was the thread running through the entire conference: what does speed cost in trust?
Flashpoint POV
A Tech Founder's Question About Who Controls What You Think
Abhishek Dixit scaled a startup to $70M, then realized AI companies understand human psychology better than people do. His question led to CosmicSoul, a new architecture that proves frontier AI can run locally on any device with 3GB of RAM, no GPUs, no cloud, and no data leaving your device.
On the Circuit
Elevate Festival Is Two Weeks Away: September 22–24
Elevate Festival brings more than 10,000 founders, investors, executives and tech leaders to Toronto from September 22 to 24. Here is what is worth your time, and how to walk in already knowing who to find.
Flashpoint POV
AI-Powered Wearable Ultrasound Brings Cardiac Imaging Home
Sai Zhou discovered that cardiac ultrasound doesn't need specialist gatekeeping. It needs better technology. His AI-powered wearable device brings heart imaging home in minutes, not months, earning 1st place at the American Society of Echocardiography conference.
Flashpoint POV
Aging in Place Without Being Watched
Pontosense discovered that seniors refuse the surveillance technology designed to protect them. Their platform uses invisible sensors to detect what is happening, giving families peace of mind without the cost of watching.
Flashpoint POV
One Breath Test Reaches the Billions of Women Mammography Never Could
Jilma spent a decade in hospitals learning what doctors need and what patients fear. Then she built CanScan, a breath test detecting breast cancer with 95% accuracy for $20. It reaches the billions of women mammography never could, without radiation, without pain, without infrastructure.
Flashpoint POV
What Hospitality Taught a Tech Founder About Healthcare
Luis Furtado’s hospitality-inspired hybrid model for medical clinics grew 4.7x in one year. HubMédica now serves 30 Brazilian clients, managing 463,000 patient messages by combining trained human teams with AI-driven software to improve patient communication.
UpNext Ecosystem
Women in Tech Investment Prize Stole the Spotlight at Startupfest 2026 In Montreal
Women in Tech Investment Prize, funded by The Firehood and judged by a panel of women angel investors handed out $100,000 to a worthy team The top ten Startups spanned fertility diagnostics, hormone care, blockchain payments, and hive health.
UpNext Ecosystem
John Hopkins's Pava Marie LaPere Center First Alumni Accelerator Showcase
They are different from the average accelerator cohort. The founders are Alumni and most already have a product in their customers hands. The cohort built elsewhere and came back to build greater at John Hopkins.
What's UpNext
What’s UpNext: Signals from the Global Startup Circuit
The F1 Circuit of the Startup Ecosystem. Tracking founders, momentum, and signals as they emerge.
What's UpNext
What’s UpNext: Signals from the Global Startup Circuit
The F1 Circuit of the Startup Ecosystem. Tracking founders, momentum, and signals as they emerge.
What's UpNext
What’s UpNext: Signals from the Global Startup Circuit
The F1 Circuit of the Startup Ecosystem. Tracking founders, momentum, and signals as they emerge.
UpNext World Tour
VivaTech at Ten: The Builders Are Still Building
VivaTech's 10th anniversary Decade Edition drew 200,000 visitors to Paris, debuted seven inaugural Bloomberg awards honoring the architects of the modern internet, and put hardware on stage that would have looked like science fiction five years ago. Here's what stood out.