Tech, Talks & Takeaways

 📷 RECAP

ICYMI — We spent the week in Montreal last week to bring 7 events to life over 4 days.

Let’s take a look back at the ideas, conversations, and connections that defined our week in Montreal’s tech scene.

Event Highlights

🔹 Monday — Made in Montreal: From Bagels to Billion Dollar Ideas

To kick-off the week, we had Harley Finkelstein (Shopify) and David Segal (Highbeam/ David’s Tea) join us on stage to share their authentic takes on building massive businesses, out of Montreal. From the evolution of David’s Tea, to the growth trajectory of Shopify, they covered all the bases for our audience.

You can watch the full conversation and take in all the action here

🔹 Tuesday — Venture Showcase & Boast Funding Stage

The best startups building in Montreal showcased their business to a room full of curious minds and active investors in the industry. We got a first-hand look at the next generation of great companies, being built right in the Montreal area.

We also heard from those investing into today’s startups on the full fundraising journey. From bootstrapping to IPO, we covered it all.

Check out a few highlights from the day:

🔹 Wednesday — Market Overviews [Gaming & Travel]

We brought together the best in Gaming and Travel to curate in-depth research presentations focused on the opportunities, solutions and future of each space.

Some of our biggest takeaways:

• Gaming: Investors are spending money on gaming tech. Why? Because it is the future of community building and social access.

• Travel: One problem that’s yet to be perfected… corporate travel. If you’re looking to make a splash, there is a need for corporate travel and group travel to be perfected.

🔹 Thursday — Together with Women & The Founder’s Collective

To close out our trip, we gathered an inspiring group of women leaders to share their experiences in building, growth, strategy, and entrepreneurship. From stories of resilience and reinvention after setbacks to celebrating the achievements of Montreal’s trailblazing women innovators, our final day was a fitting conclusion to an incredible week in Montreal.

The best moments from our BDC Dinner and Together with Women event are here:

An unfiltered conversation between Lisa Israelovitch & Marie Chevrier Schwartz during our Together with Women breakfast.

What’s next? 

We’re heading to SAAS North next week to bring more of these community building events to forefront, in Ottawa.

Subscribe to the calendar and check out our full post to see what’s coming up and to save your spot.

🏙️ EVENT SPOTLIGHT

Our biggest monthly meetup returns next week on November 3. Here’s what to expect:

From scaling sustainable commerce and navigating complex enterprise growth, to building impact-driven health-tech and mastering startup pivots — these founders share real, hard-earned lessons on innovation, resilience, and growth in today’s tech landscape.

Emily Hosie, CEO & Co-Founder of REBEL transformed her retail and value-channel expertise into REBEL — a high-growth, tech-enabled business reshaping how brands, retailers, and consumers engage with the returns and overstock economy. She’ll share insights on:

• Building tech around legacy retail infrastructure and creating REBEL’s AI-powered pricing engine.

• Turning the retail-returns problem into a scalable, sustainable business model.

• Growth strategies for tech-driven commerce ventures — from fundraising to global expansion. If you’re building in e-commerce, sustainability, or marketplace tech, this is a session you won’t want to miss.

Joe Noss, Co-Founder of Publicus combines deep technical expertise with operational know-how and a mission-driven mindset. He’ll discuss:

• How to tailor enterprise and government integrations for speed and scalability.

• What startups must get right when working with regulated or public-sector clients.

• The strategic levers that unlock next-stage growth for modern tech companies. Perfect for founders navigating AI, procurement, or enterprise-scale growth.

Joella Almeida, CEO & Co-Founder of MedEssist brings experience scaling a health-tech startup that bridges traditional care and digital delivery. She’ll cover:

• Engaging pharmacies and healthcare workers as partners and end users.

• Building and scaling a compliant, impact-driven business in regulated markets.

• Lessons in finding product-market fit and aligning with clinical workflows. Founders in health-tech or regulated industries will leave with practical, actionable insights.

Michael Kravshik, CEO & Co-Founder of LumiQ offers an unfiltered look at startup growth — from early missteps to achieving product-market fit. He’ll share:

• How he recognized when to pivot and rebuild the business model.

• Hard lessons in fundraising, co-founder dynamics, and trust.

• Tactical advice on scaling, investor conversations, and growth strategy. For founders aiming to move from survival to sustainable growth, this session delivers tools, not theory.

📚 INTERESTING READS

• 📰 Read the full perspective from Mona Minhas on our Founder’s Collective

• 📈 Does a book every Founder should read actually exist?

• 📖 The VC method: How VC’s value startups

💼 NEXT BIG GIGS

Check out the next big gigs in tech we think you’ll love:

• Join Motion as a Senior Full Stack Engineer on their Platform team, where you’ll design, implement, and maintain robust, high-quality backend APIs and services that power Motion’s core operations. Apply here: Senior Full Stack Engineer (Platform Team)

• Lead the product direction for Wealthsimple’s Customer Support and AI platforms, delivering fast, reliable, and high-quality help experiences for clients and agents alike. Apply here: Director of Product - Customer Care & AI at Wealthsimple

Looking to hire or get hired? Check out the TechTO Job Board to see 1,000+ opportunities and learn how to get your companies jobs featured.

📆 MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• Together Toronto: Monday, November 3 @ 6:00pm — REGISTER HERE
  

• TechTO Roadtrip to SAAS North: Tuesday, November 4 @ 10:00am — REGISTER HERE
  

• What Happens After Dark: SAAS NORTH Kick-Off: November 4 @ 7:00pm — REGISTER HERE
  

• The Founder’s Collective: A Curated Dinner Series for Women Shaping the Future — REGISTER HERE
  

• Growth Table: Ottawa Edition (By Application) — REGISTER HERE
  

• Sales Toronto: Wednesday, November 12 @ 6:00pm — REGISTER HERE
  

• Health Toronto: Wednesday, November 19 @ 6:00pm — REGISTER HERE

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