On March 24th startGBC attended the Second China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition, Toronto Division (Sci Innovation Competition)
Initiated by the Municipality of Shenzhen, the competition is sponsored globally by local governments in Toronto, Silicon Valley, Sydney, Tokyo, Boston, Tel Aviv, London, Stockholm and 2018 Sci Innovation Competition featured 20 finalists from Canada that pitched ideas to a panel of high profile judges. 10 of them qualified for the finals being hosted in China.
Entrants across 5 categories had 15 minutes to pitch their business and answer questions to the panel of judges including Don Wright, Director, from startGBC partner, MaRS Innovations.
Companies pitching included Toronto based Pitstop, who design predictive maintenance software for vehicles and Axis Gear, a retrofit solution to blinds automation. Other categories included advanced engineering, bio and life sciences and materials.
Companies presented their products/ solutions, business model and growth expectations as well as use of funds should they win investment.
The city of Shenzhen, hosts of the competition offered a cash prizes worth over CAD $2,000,000, opportunities to open an office in the city and other incentives.
It has already been confirmed that a 3rd competition will be run in Toronto, Canada during March 2019, so if you are a startup then you should make a note of this event and website http://www.itcsz.cn and start preparing for an application next year.