Toronto Startup Event List Fall 2012

Getting ready for startup event fatigue? Toronto is an active ecosystem (based on total activity in the Startup Genome database). But there are a lot of upcoming events, here is my inital tracking of Toronto startup events list for fall 2012. The question is which events to attend and which ones to stay heads down and work. An actual guide would breakdown the benefits of each of these events. But I’m being lazy, I’ll add some commentary around each event. Or please feel free to add events and commentary. I’ll update the post.

And for those of you thinking about attending everything, go read Mark Suster’s Be Careful not to become a Conference Ho.

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

CIX Top 20 – 2012

CIX Top 20 Canada's Hottest Innovative Companies

We’ve written about CIX Top 20 Follow @CIXCommunity in 20082009, 2010 and 2011. So you’ll be shocked to find that I’m writing about it again in 2012.

What is CIX?

“The CIX Top 20 is an elite index of the most forward-looking companies in the Canadian innovation ecosystem, and connects the key players driving technology-based business both in Canada and beyond.”

Who should apply?

“The CIX Top 20 is open to any Canadian company working in Digital Media or Information and Communication Technology with annual revenues under $10 million.”

Why do you care?

These are some of the leading companies in Canada. Don’t believe me, past participants include:

Alright, there probably is a correlation between the success of these companies and their CIX submission and attendance. But CIX is an amazing opportunity for Canadian startups to generate attention, drive awareness with investors and media, get input and feedback in a safe environment and start to build connections.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky

Nothing is foregone conclusion, as in past performance is not an indicator of future success. But you can’t win if you don’t apply (follow the directions on the bottom of the page).

2011 CIX Top 20 Nominations

CIX Top 20 ApplicationWe’ve written about the work that CIX is doing in building Canadian Technology Accelerator with ties to the US. They continue to build a showcase for Canadian startups in a variety of emerging fields. They have recently announced the nomination process for companies to the Top 20 competition for 2011.

Robert Montgomery (LinkedIn), Mark Greenspan (LinkedIn, @markgreenspan) and the team at Achilles Media has been working hard to deliver value to the startups that participate in CIX. And we’re seeing a number of past winners have success, traction and exits. Cognovision, the 2009 winner, was acquired by Intel. The 2010 winners included:

It’s a great opportunity to get access to some of the movers and shakers in digital media and ICT in Canada. And hey, the press coverage doesn’t hurt either. The 2010 short list of 20 companies included an impressive set of digital media and software (ICT in larger player lingo), including:

Hopefully the entrants for the 2011 cohort will be just as impressive.  If you are a Canadian startup working in Digital Media or Technology and have less than Cdn$10MM in revenue, you should consider applying.