$10,000 in cash prizes!
Co-hosted by ICUBE and the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, in partnership with The City of Mississauga, UofT Entrepreneurship and QueerTech are proud to announce the seventh 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), and community members of QueerTech. The competition offers a total of $10,000 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 (poster-presentation style). 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 is to provide support and resources for 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, and to help them succeed in their ventures.
Eligibility
- Students, alumni, staff and faculty from all U of T three campuses are welcome to apply. Start-ups members of one or any of the U of T Accelerators, OnRamp members, members of IDEA Mississauga, and QueerTech Community members are also welcome to apply.
- At least one of the team members identify themselves as 2SLGBTQ+
- Open to all sectors
- Applicants must have less than $150,000 cumulative funding or investment, and less than $50,000 cumulative revenue as of the application date.
- Previous PRIDE Pitch Finalists are eligible to compete. Previous PRIDE Pitch winners are NOT eligible to compete.
- Entrants must be able to present their pitch in person (poster presentation style) to the panelists on August 27th, 2026
- Competition preparation with an advisor: The finalists will be notified by August 17th and encouraged to work with an advisor ICUBE and QueerTech to help them prepare and perfect their pitch.
- Competition day on August 27th, 2026: The competition will take place from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Thursday, August 27th in-person at The University of Toronto. Each team will have a booth visited by guests and judges, when judges visit, teams will have five-minute to pitch to a panel of judges followed by a five-minute Q and A from the panel. Winner/s will be announced the day of the event and win cash prizes.
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
For more information on eligibility and judging criteria, please contact ICUBE at cube.utm@utoronto.ca.
Previous Winners
