Fourteen of Canada's Top Startups Named as 2026 CIX Award Winners
In its 18th year, CIX Awards, sponsored by Elevate, gives fourteen of Canada's mosts promising startups access to an international audience. CIX Awards alumni list includes Brim Financial, Float Financial, SRTX, ApplyBoard, Clio, League, Wealthsimple, Ada, and Dapper Labs.
"The competition was intense with over 350 applicants, and our selection committee did a stellar job in selecting the winners," said Matthew Leibowitz, Managing General Partner, Plaza Ventures and CIX Startup Awards Co-Chair. "We're thrilled to shine a spotlight on this year's recipients and can't wait to meet them at CIX Summit."
The CIX Summit takes place March 25th, 2026 at the Toronto Design Exchange.
The Summit provides critical connections between Canadian founders and North American investors and features discussions with Canadian unicorn startup leaders who share lessons with others embarking on the same path. The event features pitches from the CIX Award winners, networking sessions, interactive roundtables, and 1-on-1 meetings between founders and investors in the following forums;
Meeting Exchanges: Over 75 investors from across North America will take 1:1 meetings with founders. As each investor will take multiple meetings, there are over 450 meeting opportunities at this year's Summit.
CIX Investor Forum: A closed-door, exclusive gathering of North American VCs and LPs to network and have off-the-record conversations on the latest trends shaping early-stage and growth investing.
CIX Founder Forum: Practical guidance on raising your seed round with confidence, structuring your cap table to maintain control as you scale, and unlocking non-dilutive capital to extend runway without giving up equity.
The 2026 CIX Startup Award Recipients:
Emerging Category Recipients:
PRE Inc. (Marketing Tech)- Toronto, ON
Sonaro (Healthtech)- Montreal, QC
Cashew Research (Marketing Tech)- Calgary, AB
Elle, MD Biotechnologies (Healthtech)- New Minas, NS
Xubin Aerospace (Defense Tech)- Oakville, ON
Early Category Recipients:
Qidni Labs (Medtech)- Kitchener, ON
WeavAir (Climate Tech)- Toronto, ON
Pontosense (Medtech)- Toronto, ON
MedMe Health (Healthtech)- Toronto, ON
LiORA (Climate Tech)- Calgary, AB
Growth Category Recipients:
Venn (Fintech)- Toronto, ON
Eavor Technologies (Climate Tech)- Calgary, AB
Loopio (Sales Automation)- Toronto, ON
Hiive (Fintech)- Vancouver, BC
Elevate is a Canadian non-profit that unites innovators for change. Via the annual Elevate Festival and diversity-driven programs for startup founders, they spotlight Canadian innovators and help to bring about meaningful change in Canada and on the global stage. To purchase tickets to the CIX Summit, click here.
