CONTENT

It’s time for another episode of the TechTO ‘Elevator Pitch Series’

We visit the NextCanada offices and get pitched by their top startups as we ride the elevator 18 floors.

In today’s episode, we chat with , Co-Founder at Vit Vimal, CEO at Tuuli. Tuuli is using software to help customers measure, reduce and monitor the embodied and operational carbon emissions of their assets.

Curious to learn more about what they do? Check out the full pitch.

Interested in testing it out? Check them out at www.trytuuli.com or book a a demo.

Want to pitch us next? Reach out to us at [email protected] and we’ll make it happen!

Stay tuned for new episodes of our Elevator pitch series in 2025. We will be dropping them across social and in our Thursday newsletter!

COMPANY PROFILE

For today’s company profile, we meet Firework, the best tool for today’s brands and retailers. Trey Geiger, Director of Strategic Accounts at Firework shared more insights on how it all works and his best advice for others.

What is Firework?

Firework helps brands & retailers make their eComm channels more immersive, engaging & better performing through a suite of video commerce tools.

How is Firework different from other marketing tools?

The eCommerce merchandising experience hasn't caught up to the changes in shopper behaviour. Too many websites are static walls of text and images which don't resonate with modern shoppers. Consumers demand authentic, personalized content – and to experience products in more immersive, engaging ways. Video is the preferred language for today's shoppers; Firework is connecting video to commerce to shape the future of digitally-influenced shopping.

How impactful has it been?

Forward-thinking brands & retailers who incorporate video into their commerce strategy are seeing direct increases in key metrics like time on site, average order value and conversion to purchase. I believe Firework has been successful by weaving our technology with our consultative approach where we work with clients to share best practices & proactive recommendations to optimize results together. A product without the right implementation is not going to be successful.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve seen with implementing Firework?

Driving change is hard - especially with large brands and retailers who are set in their ways and are often not organizationally incentivized to try new things. Working with forward-thinking brands (like Three Ships) has been instrumental in helping to "show the way" to larger groups.

What’s a piece of advice you’d want to share with others?

Focus is critical. You can't do everything and need to ruthlessly prioritize.

Want to learn more about Firework and engage with their top leaders? Check out our upcoming Commerce event, where Trey Geiger, and other top innovators in the commerce, branding and retail space will share their knowledge.

BUILDERS PERSPECTIVE

In today’s edition of the Builders Perspective, we’re weighing in on an honest take we saw from Tyler Handley, Co-Founder at Inkbox.

As a founder, you’re certain to make mistakes. Lots of mistakes. And that’s ok.

Tyler shares his mistakes and f**k ups in what he calls F*ck Up Friday where he gets candid about mistakes he made in the early stages, and why it’s ok, because there’s always good lessons to be learned.

Constructing a large brand, retaining customers, and growing doesn’t come easy. We all have important lessons to learn along the way, and appreciate the founders and builders who are willing to get real and share their honest takes on what happens along the way.

Check out The Blueprint, for more important lessons on building brands, and a guide to launching something big from those who have already done it.

COMMERCE IS IN 3 DAYS!

Don’t miss out on your chance to learn from the commerce, branding and retail pro’s.

From becoming a giant in the industry, to understanding do’s and don’ts of product marketing, there is something for every stage of the commerce, branding and retail stage of your journey.

Want to know who is joining us in real life?

Katherine Homuth, will be taking the stage for our fireside chat portion of the night. She is the Founder and CEO at SRTX and will be traveling from Montreal to join us! Katherine started Sheertex with a vision to build tights that don’t rip. Since then, Sheertex has grown distribution with #GOALS level retailers like H&M, Macy’s, and Costco. SRTX also just announced $35M in fresh funding to continue to expand it’s manufacturing capabilities here in Canada.

Daniel Debow, VP of Product and Partnerships at Shopify, will also join us! Dan is Canadian tech royalty, he’s an entrepreneur, and an angel investor and knows a lot about how to build great companies and get them acquired. He’s successfully sold three of his past companies to impressive tech giants. His last startup Helpful was acquired by Shopify in 2019. Before that, he co-founded Rypple which was acquired by Salesforce in 2011, and Workbrain, which was acquired by Infor in 2007. Join us to hear his story. Want to do your research ahead? We like this interview with Dan and the team at First Round focused on tactical advice for getting your business acquired.

Connie Lo, Co-Founder at Three Ships, and Trey Geiger, Director of Strategic Accounts at Firework will be partnering up to talk about social commerce strategies for brands. If you haven’t heard about Three Ships, you’ll hear Connie’s story and her insights on what it takes to build a successful beauty brand. Three Ships announced a round of financing last spring and has been expanding rapidly in the US market ever since.

Trey Geiger, Director of Strategic Accounts at Firework, will also join us to host a fireside chat with Connie and discuss his learnings and also how Firework has helped shape the growth and marketing of commerce brands.

Our Commerce event is LIVE on January 20 at Rotman. You won't want to miss your chance to engage with the professionals who are changing our industry.

PARTNER CONTENT

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Technology Development Sites are cutting-edge testing facilities that unlock operational environments for product testing, specifically for solutions that inform the critical technology integrated future of advanced manufacturing, agri-food, construction, and mining sectors. Companies can validate existing critical technology solutions in new industrial environments and/or de-risk new product development activities. CIT helps critical technology products hit the market faster and accelerate their adoption. 

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ANNOUNCEMENT

We have more exciting updates to share with the TechTO community. In case you missed it, we made the official announcement at our recent Together event, the way you know TechTO (and say it) is changing.

More to come on our socials this week, but check out a post from our friends at OneEleven, who perfectly captured the new update.

READS AND OPPORTUNITIES

• 10 FinTech startups to watch in 2025
  

• One of our Rocketship companies just raised a $17m Series A
  

• Tech that is saving lives (especially right now)
  

• Looking to build apps and websites in minutes? This is pretty cool.
  

• SELLIT9 raises $1.45m to launch sustainable trade platform
  

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