The First Pitch Competition at the Canadian Gaming Summit

The Canadian Gaming Summit is well underway, coming up in June 2023. 

As we described in a previous blog post about this event, the summit is taking place between the 13th and 15th of June at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. 

The First Pitch competition will be taking place on the last day of the summit, the 15th of June. 

This is the first time that the Pitch Competition is taking place at the Canadian Gaming Summit. 

It has successfully taken place twice before at the SBC Summit North America and the Global Flagship Summit Barcelona. Both times it was a huge success, producing a few fantastic igaming companies such as Equinom, winner at the IFT First Pitch Competition. 

At the Canadian Gaming Summit, the competition is aimed towards sports betting and iGaming startup firms. 

It should incite growth and leadership within these companies, inspiring them to grow and helping them get themselves started within the industry.

It very much reminded us of the SiGMA start-up pitch competition, which has most recently taken place at the UAE Summit. Take a look at our blog post if you’re interested in reading more about it. 

Do you have an idea you’d like to pitch at the Canadian Gaming Summit? 

Applications are currently open! 

The deadline for you to apply is the 30th of April. Follow this link to the official Canadian Gaming Summit website to get yourself started with your application. 

There are a few criteria your pitch needs to meet in order to be eligible for the competition. 

• All companies applying to be evaluated for a spot in this competition should have been launched in 2020 or later 

• Their main focus should be sports betting and online casino services, unlike the SiGMA startup pitch which accepted proposals for business in various industries

• The companies applying cannot have already raised over $5 million worth of funds, otherwise, they will not be eligible for the $250,000 financial aid from the competition 

• Participants should have a fully formed idea to present, an MVP product which can be discussed and exhibited at the summit 

• Any applicants must be registered or operating in Canada

A brief look into the application process

So, your startup company meets all the criteria we've outlined above? 

Great! 

Let’s take a look at how to apply. 

You can access the competition’s application on the official First Pitch as part of the Candian Gaming Summit website. 

First, you will need to provide a few details about yourself and your company, namely: 

• Your full name

• Your email address

• The name of your company

• A link to your website

Next, briefly describe your company, input the number of employees you’ve already recruited into your company and specify how much funding you’ve raised throughout your activity so far. 

You will also be asked whether you’re actively still raising funds and what time of fund-raising activities you are participating in. 

Next, continue describing your company by adding:

• The location where you are based, specifying whether or not you’re registered or operating in Canada

• The annual revenue for your company

• The phase in which your product development process is currently in

• A pitch deck, therefore a brief presentation of your project and a summary

Finally, specify whether you will be physically present at the summit and accept the competition’s terms and conditions. After that, your proposal is submitted! 

Only five of all the applicants will be selected to be official competitors in the First Pitch competition. 

All applications will be assessed by a panel of judges composed of:

• Scott Secord 

Partner at Cardinal Capital Sports and President and Ceo of Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc. The first enterprise is a sports betting and gaming platform whereas the latter is a software service provider for such websites. 

• Dani Upkin

Manager Director at the Global Innovation Centre, TMX Group. His forte is managing companies and assisting newer companies to go public and launch their services and product. He also raises funding for such companies. 

• Benjie Cherniak 

Principal of Avenue H.Capital, LLC. Cherniak is an investor and advisor for up-and-coming businesses and companies. He helps kickstart their activity and presence in the relevant industry. 

Applicants will be invited to give a 5-minute presentation of their businesses to the judges which will be followed by a brief Q&A.

Of course, all three of these judges have the necessary professional background to be able to evaluate all participants in an informed and unbiased manner. 

However, the judging process let’s, doesn’t stop there. Out of the top 5 selected by the judges, there needs to be one winner who will receive this incredible prize:

• The grand prize of $30,000

• Branding and web design package which is worth $2,800

• A promotional package from SBC Media

The winner will be decided after an exhibition during which the selected five present their products and business to investors and advisors who might even choose to get on board with their projects! 

So what are you waiting for?

This is the perfect opportunity for you to get your brilliant ideas on the road…and the opportunity is coming straight to you in Toronto. 

Do not hesitate from applying, applications close on April 30th 2023!