Written by Lidia Vijga
Toronto Tech Week 2026 kicks off May 25–29, and the calendar is wild: 500+ events spread across 30-something neighbourhoods, all happening at once. Great problem to have, tricky logistics. If you’re an early-stage founder, every hour is double-booked, half the rooms are noise, and the ones that actually matter aren’t always the loudest.
These are my top picks if I were running a pre-seed or seed-stage company this year. And this is the filter I was using: investor access, peer-founder density, useful fundraising intel, co-founder and hiring leverage, and the conversations actually worth showing up for.
TiEQuest Summit 2026: Building in Canada for the World
A morning of talks and panels on what it takes to build and scale Canadian companies globally, hosted by TechTO, the community where a surprising amount of Canadian tech quietly happens.
Why you should be there: If you’re an early-stage founder, this is the fastest way to get a read on what’s resonating with Canadian VCs and operators right now. The conversations you overhear in the room are worth more than the talks themselves, and a strong showing here sets up the entire rest of the week. Best for pre-pitch positioning and ecosystem mapping. Register →
Builder Sprint Toronto
Hosted by Highline Beta, a pre-seed VC and corporate venture studio, this is the closing demo + awards night of a week-long sprint where teams build working prototypes against real industry challenges.
Why you should be there: Even if you didn’t participate in the sprint, this is one of the highest-leverage rooms of the entire week for a pre-seed founder. The judging panel and audience are stacked with people who actually write first checks, and Highline’s whole reason for existing is finding 0-to-1 founders worth backing. Show up, ask smart questions, and you’ll be on their radar. Register →
Google for Startups Accelerator: Canada Demo Day
The polished demo day for Google’s Canadian accelerator cohort, investor-heavy audience, well-produced format.
Why you should be there: Two reasons. First, this is a free, no-pressure way to calibrate your own pitch against the cohort that just got picked over thousands of applications. Watch what they show, what they skip, and how they handle the hard questions. Second, the back of the room will be full of investors and program operators — exactly the people you want to be on the radar of when you start your raise. Register →
Reverse Pitch Night with Smart & Biggar
The format is inverted: instead of founders pitching VCs, the investors take the stage and pitch you. They share what they actually want, how they evaluate founders, and what gets a deal across the line.
Why you should be there: Most fundraising advice you read online is generic. This is investors saying out loud, to a specific room of Toronto founders, what they’re funding this year. If you’re 3–12 months away from a raise, this is the single most tactically useful evening of the week. Register →
MaRS Mornings — Hype vs. Reality: Valuation in the Age of AI
A panel of working investors — Brandon Zhao (Two Small Fish Ventures), Parinaz Sobhani (Sagard), Robbie Marks (MaRS IAF) — talking about how AI is reshaping risk and valuations.
Why you should be there: Valuations have moved dramatically in the last 18 months, and if you’re raising as an AI-adjacent company (which is most of you), you need to know what investors are actually willing to pay and why. The room is small enough to ask follow-up questions afterward, which is where the real intel lives. Register →
Toronto Tech Week 2026: Homecoming
The official main stage of the week, with a heavyweight speaker list: Tobi Lütke (Shopify), Nick Frosst (Cohere), Andrew Macdonald (Uber), Alex Danco (Andreessen Horowitz), Lulu Cheng Meservey (Rostra), Emily Hosie (Rebel), Rob Khazzam (Float), and more.
Why you should be there: This is the only day all year where the entire Canadian tech ecosystem is physically in one building. The talks are genuinely good, but the lobby is where you’ll meet the people who matter — fellow founders, investors, operators, future hires. Apply for in-person access if you can, the livestream is a fine plan B. Register →
OneEleven Pitch Showcase
Four standout Toronto startups, five minutes each, pitching to a packed room of investors and operators, followed by a VC-to-VC conversation about current market conditions.
Why you should be there: Watching peers pitch is the cheapest, fastest way to upgrade your own pitch. You’ll see exactly what’s working, what’s falling flat, and what investors actually lean forward for. The VC panel at the end is unusually candid because they’re talking to each other, not to a stage full of LPs. Register →
TTW 2026: Fundraising in 2026 — Panel & Mixer
The most explicitly fundraising-focused event on the entire calendar. Panel first, then a mixer.
Why you should be there: Go for the second half. The mixer is the highest concentration of founders-in-active-raises you’ll find all week, which means you’ll meet people in your exact stage and situation. Compare notes on which investors are responsive, which terms are reasonable, which intros are worth chasing. Founder-to-founder intel beats anything you’ll hear on the panel. Register →
9. Co-Founder Connect
An evening structured to help builders find or strengthen their founding teams.
Why you should be there: If you’re solo, or you have a skills gap on the team — usually technical when you’re business, business when you’re technical — this is worth six months of cold outreach. The format is built around matching complementary skills, not just networking, and the people who self-select into this room are serious about teaming up. Even if you don’t find your co-founder, you’ll find your first engineering hire or design partner. Register →
The Shortlist Founder Showcase: Toronto Edition (Presented by Boardy)
This is the talent room of the week. Six of Canada’s most consequential builders take the stage and each shares what they’re building plus the exact roles they’re hiring for right now. Then a curated mixer. Andrew Yeung and Boardy hand-pick the room: operators, builders, and executives who’ve actually shipped things.
Why you should be there: Two reasons. First, the operators in this room are exactly who you want as your first five hires — pre-vetted, job-curious, and the kind of people who pick a company based on the founder, not the comp band. Second, watching these outstanding founders pitch for talent is a masterclass in how to position your own company when you’re ready to recruit. Apply early, attendance is intentionally limited. Apply →
A Few Last Things
One piece of practical advice: register early. The best events fill up fast, the most popular ones already have waitlists, and others sold out weeks ago.
Once you’re in, two more things. The lobby usually beats the stage. Some of the best conversations of the week happen in the in-between moments, so leave room in your calendar for the unscheduled. And follow up within 48 hours, or it didn’t happen, everyone you meet is about to vanish back into their own busy week.
Tech Week pays off when you show up with a clear goal, not just a full calendar. Plan accordingly, and have fun out there.
