After shifting online for the past two years due to the pandemic, one of Kanata-based accelerator L-Spark’s signature events is reverting to an in-person gathering this spring as the province eases COVID-19 restrictions.
The organization announced Wednesday that its annual SaaS Showcase will be held in the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne Park on April 6.
L-Spark’s “graduation ceremony” for up-and-coming software-as-a-service startups will feature the seven members in the current cohort of its six-month entrepreneurship bootcamp. The founders will each make seven-minute pitches to the assembled crowd of peers and potential investors.
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L-Spark director of marketing Stef Reid said that with capacity limits at meeting spaces across Ontario being lifted in the wake of declining COVID-19 case counts, organizers felt it was time to put the showcase back in front of a live audience.
“I think we’ve just seen a real hunger for that face-to-face connection.”
“I think we’ve just seen a real hunger for that face-to-face connection that unfortunately, (despite) our efforts to replicate virtually, just hasn’t been the same,” she told Techopia. “We’re trying to bring the community back together and be one of the first out of the gate to do so.”
Reid said the L-Spark team will be keeping a close eye on the COVID situation and the event will adhere to all necessary public health measures in order to stage as safe an event as possible. She said organizers are still waiting to find out what the capacity limit for the showcase will be.
“But given recent news, it sounds like we may be in good shape for April 6,” Reid said. “We’re really excited to give that in-person exposure to our founders so they can connect with the incredible ecosystem that we’re so lucky to be a part of.”
The seven L-Spark startups in this year’s SaaS Showcase are:
- Chata
- Corfix
- DirtMarket
- Dispensation
- HILO
- Oomple
- Paidiem
Registration for this year’s SaaS Showcase is now open here.
