Pitching to win at the Canadian Export Challenge

The digital edition of the Canadian Export Challenge (CXC) is now officially a wrap for 2020 attracting nearly 3,000 Canadian entrepreneurs from startup and scale‑up companies across the country.

Presented by Startup Canada in collaboration with the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), Export Development Canada (EDC) and UPS using an interactive platform powered by Google, the event featured a series of live‑stream presentations, expert panels, virtual growth lounges and 1‑on‑1 video meetings—in addition to a digital pitching competition.

Winners of the pitching competitions for startup and scale‑up companies were selected at a series of five regional events from September 14‑21 with three additional wildcard spots available to compete in the Grande Finale on October 20, where participants had the chance to take home national prizes of $5,000 (startup category), $25,000 (scale‑up category) and in‑kind support of up to $100,000.

While every entrepreneur’s pitch was excellent, there could only be two winners announced in the end. In the startup category, British Columbia’s Nyoka Design Labs was awarded the first prize, and the scale‑up category was won by Alberta’s NanoTess.

Congratulations to the national winners as well as the following regional and wildcard winners, who came together to make this year’s event memorable.

Regional winners include:

• Atlantic Region – The Cultured Coconut (startup category) and Parados Cerebral Solutions Inc. (scale‑up category)
• Prairie Region – AGvisorPRO (startup category) and NanoTess (scale‑up category)
• Ontario Region – WeavAir (startup category) and Braze Mobility Inc (scale‑up category)
• BC & North Region – Nyoka Design Labs (startup category) and BinBreeze (scale‑up category)
• Quebec Region – DeLeaves (startup category) and LFAnt Medical (scale‑up category)

Wildcard winners include:

• Scout from Toronto, Ontario (startup category)
• Boardball Inc. from Ottawa, Ontario (startup category)
• Indigena Skincare from Conception BayvSouth, Newfoundland and Labrador (scale‑up category)

Visit the CXC webpage for a complete recap and watch recordings of the events.