SAAS NORTH Conference

💥 SAAS NORTH is officially ON! Manuela Bárcenas brought the energy, got the SaaS community grooving, and set the vibe straight to “unforgettable.” 💃🕺 The SAAS community—you're bringing the sass and we love it! #saasnorth #saas #saastech

We’re so proud to see Sonya Shorey (Invest Ottawa) and our very own co-founder David Tyldesley share the SAAS NORTH story with CTV News! From putting Ottawa on the map for software innovation to empowering founders, teams, and investors to connect, learn, and close deals, SAAS NORTH is where it all happens. #SAASNORTH #OttawaTech #SaaSEcosystem #CTVFeature

The biggest tech event of the year rolled into Ottawa on Nov. 13-14. SAAS NORTH Conference attracted tech leaders from across Canada and beyond, putting Ottawa in the spotlight. Keynote speakers such as digital marketing legend Neil Patel, TealBook founder Stephany Lapierre, Certn founder Andrew McLeod and many others shared their playbooks with enthusiastic audiences. The conference, which is co-produced by L-SPARK Startup Accelerator 🇨🇦, delivered a “notoriously tactical agenda” and took a deep dive into SaaS sector. Hot topics included growth strategies, mergers and acquisitions activity, company valuations and the “disruptive tsunami” of artificial intelligence. In this episode of #TechopiaLive, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran visited SaaS North to speak with Susan Richards of numbercrunch and Nick Quain of Invest Ottawa. The wide-ranging discussion explored the impact of SaaS North conference on Ottawa, how the SaaS business model is holding up, and how SaaS players are rushing to embrace AI.

Dear SAAS NORTH Community, Thank you for the energy, the laughs, and for proving (yet again) that the Canadian SaaS community is a force to be reckoned with. Seeing the love, and excitement you bring to SAAS NORTH each year reminds us why we do this. To our speakers: you crushed it. To our sponsors: your support fuels our dreams—and our coffee cups. ☕ And to the attendees: we saw those late-night LinkedIn connection requests. Keep hustling, we love to see it! We laughed, we learned, we probably pitched “Uber, but for [insert wild idea]” one too many times. Can’t wait to do it all again next year. Until then, keep disrupting, innovating, and casually mentioning your ARR at parties. Cheers, The SAAS NORTH Team

We’re thrilled to see Forbes spotlighting Marie Chevrier Schwartz's (TechTO) heartfelt keynote at #SAASNORTH! 🙌 Marie, founder of the former Sampler, took to our stage to bravely share her journey—turning the lessons of business failure into a message of resilience and hope for founders everywhere. 💡 Thank you, Marie, for inspiring our community and reminding us that even in challenges, there’s immense growth. 💪 Catch the full story on Forbes and join us next year for more groundbreaking conversations: https://lnkd.in/gjNFq--q #ForbesFeature #SAASNORTH #Entrepreneurship #Resilience

SAAS NORTH Conference didn’t disappoint - the conference absolutely punches above its weight 🚀 Great panel discussion with Sarah Daniele, Sarah Sedgman, and Nick Quain about the wildly different funding journeys startups can take. My biggest takeaway? Building a startup is as much art as science. Sure, there are frameworks, best practices, and advice that everyone swears by. But at the end of the day, no two founder journeys look the same, nor should they. As a founder, you decide how you want to play the game. Maybe you bootstrap toward a smaller, steady exit, or go all-in on VC funding to build a rocket ship. Either way, you need to choose early which path will make your company successful on your terms. Again a huge shout out to David Tyldesley and the entire SaaS North team for putting on an incredible event. Was awesome catching up with Luke Galea, Zeeshan Ali, William Ma, CFA, Danielle Brewin Graham, Jordan Wisenberg, Gideon Mentie, Paul Davenport, Liz Mengxun Liao and the rest of the squad Can’t wait to make the trek up to Ottawa a yearly routine 🇨🇦

IDA Ireland was delighted to partner with the Embassy of Ireland, Ottawa and SAAS NORTH Conference for the second annual Irish Night. Held at the Irish Ambassador’s Residence, this reception brought together over 200 delegates, including international SaaS founders and leaders. Canadian companies have been doing business in Europe through Ireland for decades and has proven itself as the ideal gateway in the European market. Ireland is: ▪️ Well-educated with the highest percentage of 3rd level attainment in Europe ▪️ One of the youngest populations in Europe ▪️ A consistent, open, and progressive business environment ▪️ Supportive – IDA Ireland is here to help you set up for success Discover more about Ireland and all the ways we are the right fit for your business: https://lnkd.in/ervdsvM #InvestInIreland #InvestInExtraordinary #CanadianTech #SAAS

Memories from SAAS NORTH 2024 [part 3]: Thank you for trusting me to be your MC this year! And a big shoutout to Erin Mussolum - the mastermind behind the conference program and speaker coordination.

A huge congratulations to Bruce Ford from Celestra Health Systems for taking home the top spot at this year’s PitchFest! Bruce impressed the judges and audience, earning a $10,000 cash prize and a 90-second animated explainer video from Phantom Productions (valued at $10K) to bring Celestra’s vision to life! 💰🎥 Let’s also give a big round of applause to our incredible runner-up, Ryan Kaufman from 1Price! Not only did Ryan shine on stage, but he’s also one of our youngest PitchFest finalists ever—the future is bright! Here’s to bold ideas, innovative pitches, and the next generation of game-changers. 🙌✨ A big thank you to National Bank of Canada, MaRS Discovery District & Phantom Productions for sponsoring the Pitchfest. #SAASNORTH #PitchFestWinner #Innovation #StartupSuccess #FutureOfTech

At SAAS NORTH, the The Firehood did more than fund startups—they championed women-led innovation. Firehood is dedicated to supporting female founders in tech, providing them with the resources and funding needed to scale their groundbreaking ideas. This year, they awarded $200K+ in funding to two incredible women-led startups making big waves: 🏆 Oasis Learning AI – Harnessing the power of AI to transform education, led by a visionary female founder who’s redefining learning for the digital age. 🏆 Instagrooms Inc – Innovating the pet care industry with new grooming solutions, led by a founder passionate about making life easier for pet parents everywhere. Firehood’s support goes beyond funding—it’s about breaking down barriers, creating more seats at the table, and helping women founders thrive in the tech ecosystem. Here’s to the unstoppable women Danielle Brewin Graham and Claudette M. behind Firehood Angel for investing in the future of women in tech. 💪 #SAASNORTH #FirehoodAngel #WomenInTech #StartupFunding #Empowerment #FutureOfTech