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At Collision Conference in Toronto last week, we had the pleasure of hosting over 40 Panache Ventures CEOs from across Canada and abroad for our inaugural CEO Summit in Toronto. The event was an incredible gathering of the visionary leaders and innovators we’ve backed over the last few years, filled with learning, exchanging of ideas, and fostering meaningful connections. Safe to say, it was a big success - one that we hope to do again soon.
Here's a recap of the highlights from this inspiring day.
🔔 Ringing the Opening Bell at TSX:The day began with an exciting start as we rang the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). We proudly celebrated the recent Series B raises of Relay, Colab, and Qohash, showcasing their achievements on the big screen outside the building.
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💡 Sharing Big Ideas:
Our Summit featured insightful presentations on some of the most pressing and groundbreaking topics in technology and innovation today:
🔎 Expert panels on key topics
Sales and Go-to-Market :Michael Hyatt of Kicker AI and Andrew McLeod of Certn provided valuable insights on sales and go-to-market strategies. They stressed the importance of treating sales as a science, building repeatable processes, and focusing on trust within sales teams.
Building with AI:Rodrigue Hajjar of Cohere and Colin Toal of AWS discussed the best applications of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the importance of embedding these models in products that address key pain points. They also highlighted the power of building task-specific models via RAG systems fine-tuned on contextualized data.
Fundraising Insights:A panel of experts, including Damien Steel of Deepsky, Marina Pavlovic Rivas of Eli Health, Simon Bourgeois of Nmbr, and Yoseph West of Relay, shared their experiences and strategies for successful fundraising. They emphasized the importance of differentiation, building relationships with investors early, and prioritizing trust and alignment with investors, above prestigious names and size of cheque.
Paths to Exit (M&A/IPO):Orest Pizyo and Peter Miller from BMO Capital Markets provided comprehensive inside insights into exit strategy best practices. They discussed the current exit landscape, the importance of meticulous preparation for M&A processes, and the benchmarks for successful IPO candidates.
🤝 Fostering Meaningful Connections:
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We concluded the day by hosting Collision's most sought-after mixer, bringing together over 300+ founders and investors. This event provided a fantastic opportunity for networking, exchanging ideas, and building relationships to drive the future of the Canadian tech ecosystem. 🇨🇦
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, Telus Ventures and BMO, and to everyone who joined us. Your support and participation made this day a resounding success.
The CEO Summit left us feeling inspired, energized, and incredibly proud. The collective brilliance and dedication of our CEOs are driving transformational change across diverse sectors. From pioneering advancements in AI and energy to unlocking growth in healthcare, financial services and beyond, our leaders are making a significant impact in Canada and beyond. We’re excited to be a part of their journeys.
Stay tuned for more updates and stories from Panache Ventures as we continue to champion and celebrate the remarkable achievements of our portfolio companies.
The Panache Team 🦌
