#UofTPRIDEPITCH - ICUBE UTM

August 28, 2025

4:00PM – 6:00PM EST

Location

$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 June 1st 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 Mississauga. Each team will present a five-minute pitch to a panel of experts 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