Toronto’s Elevate Festival Welcomes Startup Open House on Oct. 9

The 2025 Elevate Festival is set to launch in Toronto, featuring the much-anticipated Startup Open House on October 9. This event, which takes place from 15:00 to 19:00, will allow visitors to explore over 500 startups and organizations throughout the city. Notably, some remote-oriented companies will also present their work at the MaRS Discovery District.

Startup Open House first emerged in 2013, initiated by Busbud CEO Louis-Philippe Maurice and Mission COO Gabriel Sundaram. Their goal was to foster connections within the startup community, enabling access to potential recruits, investors, and innovative minds. By 2018, the initiative had expanded to seven cities, featuring over 500 startups and attracting more than 10,000 participants.

In 2019, Elevate acquired Startup Open House, recognizing the need for a dedicated team to scale the project effectively. While the open houses continued in three cities that year, the COVID-19 pandemic halted events from 2020 to 2023. The program made a comeback in Montréal in May 2024 after the local rights were purchased by the nonprofit Montreal NewTech.

Events and Collaborations

The Toronto edition of Startup Open House is organized in collaboration with community promoters TechTO and ElanTech. At the recent Montréal event, attendees witnessed a fireside chat featuring Shopify President Harley Finkelstein and DavidsTea Founder David Segal, hosted by BetaKit in partnership with TechTO and Sage.

This year’s Startup Open House arrives at a pivotal time for the Canadian tech sector, which faces economic challenges amid ongoing trade tensions with the United States. Layoffs, leadership shifts, and fundraising difficulties are prevalent as startups strive for limited resources.

Elevate Festival co-founder and CEO Lisa Zarzeczny expressed to BetaKit that the stakes are high for Canada, particularly concerning pressing issues such as AI policy and technology sovereignty. She remains hopeful that this year’s event will facilitate discussions on these urgent topics. Zarzeczny noted the encouraging alignment between public and private sectors, stating, “There’s real momentum, with government and private initiatives pulling in the same direction.”

TechTO CEO Marie Chevrier Schwartz echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the collaborative spirit behind the event. “Startup Open House was one of my favourite ecosystem events before the pandemic,” she remarked. “It’s an opportunity for amazing companies to open their doors and for promising talent to discover incredible opportunities for employment or partnerships.”

Zarzeczny concurred, describing Startup Open House as a more interactive experience than traditional panel discussions. “It’s about walking into a startup’s space and seeing innovation come to life,” she said.

The Elevate Festival’s Startup Open House is poised to reinvigorate the Toronto tech landscape, fostering connections and inspiring collaboration among startups, talent, and investors. As participants prepare for this dynamic event, the focus remains on innovation and the future of Canada’s tech ecosystem.