Pitch@Palace Canada 1.0 kicks off in Halifax

Pitch@Palace Canada 1.0 is officially underway! The On Tour series kicked off in Halifax on March 26 at Volta, one of Canada’s largest innovation hubs. Fourteen entrepreneurs from Atlantic Canada pitched their businesses to an audience of influencers in the Atlantic innovation ecosystem.

“We are so pleased to have our first ever Pitch@Palace event in Canada,” said Barbara Gibbon, Director, Innovation, the Rideau Hall Foundation. “We are off to a great start and ready to discover more brilliant ideas from Canada’s ambitious entrepreneurs.” 

The Right Honourable David Johnston, 28th Governor General of Canada and Chair of the Rideau Hall Foundation, opened the program with inspiring remarks. He was also one of the esteemed judges, alongside local influencers such as businessman John Risley and Volta CEO Jesse Rodgers. Colette O’Hara, Chief Strategy Officer, SaltWire Network, moderated the event. Perhaps the most fun aspect of the day was a pair of buglers from the Royal Canadian Navy Stadacona Band who played when pitches exceeded the three-minute time limit.

Congratulations to the four Atlantic finalists who will move on to the Pitch@Palace Canada 1.0 Bootcamp and Final in Toronto on May 27-28, 2019 during Canadian Innovation Week:

• Clockk is changing the way agencies do time sheets. An automated solution, it gives unparalleled insight into how agencies use and sell time. Clockk allows users to see what they’ve accomplished and where their time went, so they can spend more time being productive.
• eOceansaims to unite the global community of ocean explorers to create the world’s most versatile marine database to be used for science and policy. By crowdsourcing insights from divers, snorkelers, fishers, surfers, sailors, researchers, and more, eOceans rapidly expands our knowledge of marine ecosystems.
• Motryx provides quality assurance insights throughout the transport of blood samples. It monitors preanalytical blood sample transport for more accurate and faster sample processing, which can enhance health services and decrease total operating costs.
• Securicy provides a cloud-based solution that gives teams one place to manage their Information Security and Privacy Compliance Strategy from policy development through to implementation and reporting. Securicy’s mission is to make it easy for businesses to achieve and maintain information security and privacy compliance.

Thank you to all the entrepreneurs who participated and made our first Pitch@Palace event a day to remember. And many thanks to Volta for being an exceptional partner and host in Halifax, and to BMO, our lead supporter.

Our next event is Pitch@Palace Canada On Tour Prairies in Regina, Saskatchewan on April 9, 2019.