MaRS teams up with Elevate to showcase innovators in sustainability and AI at the 2023 Festival

The annual tech and innovation festival takes place at Meridian Hall, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, and the Design Exchange in Toronto from September 26-28

TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - MaRS is collaborating with Elevate Festival, Canada's largest homegrown tech and innovation festival, to showcase innovators and build momentum around Canadian startups.

In 2023, Elevate Festival continues to bring top tech leaders and luminaries to its stages, inspiring an audience of 10,000+ entrepreneurs, investors, startups, media, policy makers and innovators. Headlining speakers at Elevate 2023 include:

• Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland;
• Journalist and Broadcaster, Lisa LaFlamme;
• CEO & Founder, Sweet July, Ayesha Curry;
• Astronaut and Elevate Co-Chair, Chris Hadfield;
• Founder of TransTech Social Enterprises, Actress, Producer & Advocate, Angelica Ross,
• and many others.

"Since 2017, Elevate has provided a homegrown platform to showcase local and global leaders in tech, innovation and the creative sectors," says Krista Jones, Chief Delivery Officer, MaRS. "We are very proud to be collaborating with them this year to draw attention to the groundbreaking work happening in new materials innovation (MycoFutures); future food solutions (Opalia and Friendlier) and AI (Minerva AI; Penfield AI and Pontosense). Canadian tech is having an outsized impact in these areas like climate, food and AI and we look forward to highlighting opportunities to partner with these ventures."

"We're thrilled to be working with MaRS to shine a spotlight on Canadian innovators who are tackling some of today's biggest challenges," says Lisa Zarzeczny, Co-Founder and CEO of Elevate. "MaRS is doing incredible work to create opportunities for Canadian startups and scaleups, and we're proud to be working alongside them."

Elevate Festival will tackle 11 content tracks this year including AI, future societies, cybersecurity, as well as the latest trends in gaming, fintech, and the future of work. MaRS has a full itinerary showcasing thought leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators:

• September 26, opening night: Join Elevate, MaRS and Kids Help Phone at 7:20 p.m. to hear how these three organizations are joining forces to transform the e-mental health ecosystem for young people in Canada.
• September 27:
  • 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., attend a Masterclass on buying Canadian AI technologies, with leaders from AI-driven ventures — Jennifer Arnold, Co-founder and CEO, Minerva AI; Tahseen Shabab, Co-founder and CEO, Penfield AI; and Muxin Ma, COO, Pontosense. This class will be hosted by Krista Jones, Chief Delivery Officer and Mark Hyland, SVP, Marketing, Business Development and Growth, with MaRS.
  • 2:40 p.m. Don't miss a panel session on mitigating the impacts food production and convenience have on our climate. Panelists include: Kayli Dale, CEO, Friendlier and Jennifer Côté, Co-founder & CEO, Opalia. The session will be moderated by Leah Perry, Senior Manager, Cleantech, MaRS.
• September 28: At 2:35 p.m., attend a panel discussion that will explore the future of sustainable fashion. Hear from experts Sage Paul, Artistic Director of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto and Stephanie Lipp, Co-founder and CEO of MycoFutures in conversation with writer Odessa Paloma Parker.

For more information about this year's Elevate festival, visit ElevateFestival.ca. Media can apply for accreditation at ElevateFestival.ca/press-room/.

About Elevate
Elevate is a Canadian non-profit that unites the world's innovators to solve society's greatest challenges. Through its annual Elevate Festival and diversity-driven programs for startup founders, the organization spotlights Canadian innovation while bringing about meaningful change at home and on the global stage. Elevate has hosted global icons such as First Lady & Author Michelle Obama, Businesswoman & TV personality Martha Stewart, Tennis Champ & Entrepreneur Venus Williams, Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and U.S. Vice President Al Gore, each of whom have inspired millions of people. Learn more at Elevate.ca.

About MaRS
MaRS is North America's largest urban innovation hub. A registered non-profit, MaRS supports high-growth startups and scale-ups tackling key issues in health, cleantech, fintech and other sectors. In addition, MaRS convenes all members of the tech ecosystem to drive breakthrough discoveries, grow the economy and make an impact by solving real problems for real people — in Canada and around the world.

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