#UofT Pride Pitch
August 28, 2025
4:00PM – 6:00PM EST

$10,000 in cash prizes!

ICUBE, The University of Toronto, and The City of Mississauga are proud to announce the sixth 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). The program is a competition that 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. 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 program is to provide support and resources for 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, and to help them succeed in their ventures. By offering cash prizes, the program hopes to incentivize individuals and teams to pursue their entrepreneurial goals and turn their ideas into reality.

Performance by: Anasimone George

Anasimone is a stand up comedian who’s been described as “raucous, engaging host with a big head of curls” (Fashion Magazine 2018)

She has opened for a number of international comedians, produced some of your favourite large-scale, live variety shows, hosted your favourite events, and taught workshops. More recently, you may have seen her on Crave!

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, or members of IDEA Mississauga 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 to the panelists on August 28th, 2025
  • Competition preparation with an advisor: The finalists will be notified by August 13th and encouraged to work with an advisor ICUBE to help them prepare and perfect their pitch.
  • Competition day on August 28th, 2025: The competition will take place from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Thursday, August 28th in-person at The University of Toronto – Hart House. 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

Additional in-kind prizes:

First place winner will win one complimentary ticket for full access to the 2-day retreat in September for DoGood Retreat Conference 2025

Canadian trademark application support made possible by SLC Law.

DoGood Logo_3x.png    SLC Law Logo

Previous Winners
LeapON
Raasta AI
CulturExpo
CulturExpo
LIOHAN
Ramuri
Archipelago
Maya Saggar

Ideation Lab W'26 Schedule

Date
Time
Topic
Saturday, Jan 24
9:30am to 4:30pm
(in-person bootcamp)
Welcome + Orientation, 15 Traits of an Entrepreneur, Human-Centered Design, Market Research
Wednesday, Jan 28
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(in-person)
De-Mystifying Early-Stage Financing For Researchers: VC vs Angels
Wednesday, Feb 04
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Legal Session (Ask Me Anything with SLC Law)
Wednesday, Feb 11
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Branding Workshop
Wednesday, Feb 18
Break
Wednesday, Feb 25
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Grants, Loans, and Subsidies 
Wednesday, Mar 04
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(in-person)
Pitch with a Twist
Wednesday, Mar 11
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Sales Workshop
Wednesday, Mar 18
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Accounting Ask Me Anything
Wednesday, Apr 01
5:30pm to 7:30pm
(virtual)
Storytelling & How to Pitch

Indigenous business training program created by RedBird Circle Inc. in partnership with UofT Libraries, ICUBE UTM and The Bridge at UTSC

An experiential learning program that follows the school 3 semesters schedule, for anyone with a great idea who wants to make it happen.

A boutique-style remote program to support your business development and help you grow through one-on-one support. This program is open all year.

A student-led creative studio with intends to serve the prototyping and design needs of our ventures and small businesses in our community.

This 2-day retreat is designed to help you reflect on your journey, what drives you, all the hats you wear and what is next for you and your social enterprise.