As part of Toronto Tech Week, DMZ hosted its exclusive startup showcase, DMZ Insiders, featuring a selection of its most promising portfolio companies. Startups had the chance to pitch their businesses in front of a curated audience of investors, corporate leaders and DMZ’s global partners.
The event arrived at a landmark moment for DMZ, as the incubator and startup ecosystem celebrates 15 years of entrepreneurship support and marks one year since the launch of DMZ Ventures’ investment fund.
The live pitch lineup at DMZ Insiders included Kelsey Hahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Monark; Julian D’Angelo, Co-Founder and CEO of Talin; Stephen McCabe, Co-Founder and CEO of QuickCasa; Lynn Banks, Founder and CEO of NextGen Sound; and Natalia Bakaeva, Co-Founder and CEO of ARKI.
NextGen Sound, an AI-driven platform transforming marketing for creators and brands, secured the top spot—earning a $150,000 investment from DMZ Ventures.
This year’s DMZ Insiders introduced a $5,000 People’s Choice Award, voted on by the community. ARKI, an AI tool enhancing design workflows through smart reuse of past project data, earned the crowd’s vote and took home the cash prize from DMZ.
Since publicly launching at DMZ Insiders in 2024, the DMZ Ventures Fund has invested in promising early-stage startups, including Leasey AI, Flowjin, Fibra and more. With a focus on inclusive innovation, the fund has supported founders from across Canada — including women entrepreneurs and newcomers — all demonstrating strong early momentum.
Earlier in the week, DMZ partnered with BetaKit to host “The Most Ambitious Launch Party”, an event celebrating its 15th anniversary and the launch of BetaKit’s Most Ambitious issue. To date, DMZ has supported 2450+ startups in raising $2.95 billion in capital and has created over 25,000 jobs.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2025 at 11:34 am and is filed under Commentary with tags DMZ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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DMZ Insiders powers rising tech startups with $155,000 CAD in funding during Toronto Tech Week
As part of Toronto Tech Week, DMZ hosted its exclusive startup showcase, DMZ Insiders, featuring a selection of its most promising portfolio companies. Startups had the chance to pitch their businesses in front of a curated audience of investors, corporate leaders and DMZ’s global partners.
The event arrived at a landmark moment for DMZ, as the incubator and startup ecosystem celebrates 15 years of entrepreneurship support and marks one year since the launch of DMZ Ventures’ investment fund.
The live pitch lineup at DMZ Insiders included Kelsey Hahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Monark; Julian D’Angelo, Co-Founder and CEO of Talin; Stephen McCabe, Co-Founder and CEO of QuickCasa; Lynn Banks, Founder and CEO of NextGen Sound; and Natalia Bakaeva, Co-Founder and CEO of ARKI.
NextGen Sound, an AI-driven platform transforming marketing for creators and brands, secured the top spot—earning a $150,000 investment from DMZ Ventures.
This year’s DMZ Insiders introduced a $5,000 People’s Choice Award, voted on by the community. ARKI, an AI tool enhancing design workflows through smart reuse of past project data, earned the crowd’s vote and took home the cash prize from DMZ.
Since publicly launching at DMZ Insiders in 2024, the DMZ Ventures Fund has invested in promising early-stage startups, including Leasey AI, Flowjin, Fibra and more. With a focus on inclusive innovation, the fund has supported founders from across Canada — including women entrepreneurs and newcomers — all demonstrating strong early momentum.
Earlier in the week, DMZ partnered with BetaKit to host “The Most Ambitious Launch Party”, an event celebrating its 15th anniversary and the launch of BetaKit’s Most Ambitious issue. To date, DMZ has supported 2450+ startups in raising $2.95 billion in capital and has created over 25,000 jobs.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2025 at 11:34 am and is filed under Commentary with tags DMZ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.