The IT Nerd

Toronto Metropolitan University’s DMZ held its highly anticipated Insiders Event at the global startup ecosystem’s headquarters in downtown Toronto. This exclusive showcase featured a selection of the most innovative high-potential early-stage startups from DMZ’s portfolio, offering attendees the chance to witness transformative solutions across various industries.

The eight participating startups pitched their tech solutions to an invite-only gathering of esteemed investors, corporate leaders, and DMZ’s global partners, with the goal of securing investment from DMZ Ventures’ newly launched corporate fund.

The investment fund, managed by the for-profit arm of DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University, DMZ Ventures, will make up to 10 investments per year, ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 CAD. The fund will support promising pre-seed and seed-stage startups, primarily from DMZ’s portfolio, and is strongly committed to backing underserved founders. 

The startups that participated at the Insiders Event represented a wide range of industries, from PropTech and AI to EdTech. Pitch participants included: Azrah Manji-Savin, CEO and Co-Founder of Syzl; Paul Greenberg, CEO and Founder of Creatubbles; Juan Leal, Co-Founder and CEO of Leasey.AI; David Abrams, Co-Founder and CEO of HILO; Julian D’Angelo, Co-founder and CEO of Talin; Gloria Oppong, Co-Founder and CEO of Cleanster, Sheida Mirjahani, Co-Founder and CEO of Flowjin; and Ali Jozi, Co-Founder and CEO of StructurePlus. 

Two additional surprise investments were made at the event, surpassing the event’s commitment to awarding $150,000 CAD. Flowjin, an AI-powered tool that turns long-form video and audio content into short-form clips for social media was awarded $75,000 CAD, and Talin, an AI-powered talent acquisition and sales platform for staffing and recruiting, was awarded $75,000 CAD. All three startups are actively seeking investment opportunities to fuel their business. 

The launch of DMZ Venture’s fund expands on DMZ’s world-leading incubator programming, which includes mentorship, coaching, legal support and opportunities for global expansion, completing its full-spectrum offerings for end-to-end early-stage tech startup support.

The Insiders Event also set the stage for Collision week, North America’s largest tech conference. DMZ’s presence at Collision includes a booth (E276) where attendees can engage with startup showcases, network with corporate and VC leaders, and participate in unique activities, including photo-ops with DMZ’s giant camel and a chance to win exciting prizes. 

Toronto Metropolitan University’s DMZ held its second annual Women Innovation Summit, where 10 women-led tech startups had the opportunity to pitch their businesses to angel investors from The Firehood to secure cash investments.  

DMZ hosted the Summit at its Toronto headquarters in honour of International Women’s Day. The day-long event featured curated activities to empower and celebrate women in entrepreneurship and business. These included intimate roundtables that encouraged candid discussions around women’s empowerment, the unveiling of DMZ’s 2024 Women of the Year recipients, and a pitch competition in partnership with The Firehood, an angel group committed to fueling women-led tech innovations.

The pitch competition, which received over 160 applications to participate from coast to coast, heard from 10 women-led startups and awarded a total of $100,000 CAD to: 

• LyfeMD, a Calgary-based startup that offers an evidence-based platform transforming the management of inflammatory diseases, received $60,000 CAD.  
• Roga, a Toronto-based startup that provides a mental healthcare platform and wearable non-invasive brain stimulation device designed to reduce employee anxiety, received $40,000 CAD. 

Following the pitch results reveal, The Firehood also announced an additional $130,000 CAD investment in DMZ alum Granularity, an AI-powered platform empowering retailers and brands to stay ahead of viral social media and search trends.

The Summit also unveiled DMZ’s 2024 Women of the Year recipients. Created to honour women in Canada’s tech and business community, the annual award recognizes an esteemed list of individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and impact. 

DMZ’s 2024 Women of the Year award recipients include: 

• Amber Mac, President of AmberMac Media Inc. 
• Ashley Wright, Founder and CEO of The Wright Success 
• Fatima Zaidi, Founder and CEO of Quill  
• Helen Ahrens, Chair of OUT at Shopify and Senior Merchant Success Manager of Key Accounts  
• Helen Huang, Co-Founder of Co.Lab 
• Shriya Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Blends 
• Stephanie Curcio, CEO and Co-Founder of NLPatent  
• Sylvia Ng, CEO of ReturnBear 
• Rhiannon Davies, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sandpiper Ventures 

For more information on DMZ Women of the Year award recipients, head over to dmz.to/woty2024. 

Beyond the Women Innovation Summit, DMZ’s Women Innovation Programs provide women entrepreneurs with additional opportunities and specialized support to accelerate their growth, like exclusive community events, mentorship opportunities, a peer network and connections to investors – on top of DMZ’s standard programming all members receive.  

Formally announced at the Women Innovation Summit, DMZ will now provide a $5,000 grant for women founders accepted into their Pre-Incubator program and a $10,000 grant for women founders accepted into their Incubator program. Additionally, women founders in their Incubator program can tap into a pool of $5,000 each to cover approved business expenses.

Following the Summit, DMZ is gearing up to launch an impact report showcasing the breadth and significance of the Women Innovation Summit. Crafted to encapsulate and distribute valuable insights from the event, the report will be widely shared with the ecosystem and organizations committed to empowering women innovators.

To learn more about how DMZ supports women-identifying founders to build and grow their startups, head to dmz.to/WIP.