ICUBE, The University of Toronto, and The City of Mississauga are proud to announce the fourth year of the PRIDE Pitch event, which is open to all students, staff, and faculty from all three campuses of the university, as well as members of the community (Peel Region). The program is a competition that offers a total of $5,000 in cash prizes to recognize, reward, and accelerate the growth of 2SLGBTQ+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and others) entrepreneurs.
Individuals or teams who are interested in participating in the competition will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas through a five-minute pitch to a panel of judges. The judges will evaluate the ideas and determine the winners based on various criteria, including originality, feasibility, impact, and potential for success.
The goal of the PRIDE Pitch program is to provide support and resources for 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, and to help them succeed in their ventures. By offering cash prizes, the program hopes to incentivize individuals and teams to pursue their entrepreneurial goals and turn their ideas into reality.
Performance by: Anasimone George
Anasimone is a stand up comedian who’s been described as “raucous, engaging host with a big head of curls” (Fashion Magazine 2018)
She has opened for a number of international comedians, produced some of your favourite large-scale, live variety shows, hosted your favourite events, and taught workshops. More recently, you may have seen her on Crave!
Eligibility
- Students, staff and faculty from all three campuses and community members from the Peel region are welcome to apply. Start-ups members of one or ore of the UofT Accelerators or OnRamp are also eligible to participate.
- At least one of the team members identify themselves as 2SLGBTQ+
- Open to all sectors
- Applicants must have less than $100,000 cumulative funding or investment, and less than $25,000 cumulative revenue as of May 2, 2023.
- Previous PRIDE Pitch winners are not eligible to compete.
- Entrants must be able to present their pitch in person to the panelists on June 14th, 2023
- Competition preparation with an advisor: The finalists will be notified by June 6th and encouraged to work with an advisor ICUBE to help them prepare and perfect their pitch.
Competition day on June 14th, 2023: The competition will take place from 5:00-6:30PM on Wednesday, June 14th in-person at The University of Toronto Mississauga. Each team will present a five-minute pitch to a panel of experts followed by a five-minute Q and A from the panel. Two winners will be announced the day of the event and win cash prizes to develop their ideas.
Judging Criteria
The panel of judges will be looking for the idea’s:
- Opportunity: A clearly identified a problem and articulated and compelling value proposition
- Viability and impact: Demonstrated market opportunity and knowledge
- Growth potential: Sustainable and scalable idea Innovation: Intellectual property and/or strong competitive differentiation
- Talent: A strong team
- Communication skills: An effective and persuasive overall Application and pitch presentation