​​🚀 AI is reshaping how we build, scale, and invest. What does that mean for founders, operators, and investors?

​​Join StandUp Ventures & TechTO for a dynamic morning of panels, breakfast, and candid discussions featuring women leaders in tech, AI, and venture capital.

​​This event will bring together 150+ founders, investors, and operators to explore:
✅ How AI is transforming leadership & decision-making at high-growth startups
✅ The new rules for building in an AI-native world
✅ How VCs are rethinking capital efficiency, moats & risk in AI investing

​

​Agenda

​​9:00–9:30 AM | Networking Breakfast

​​9:30–9:40 AM | Welcome & Opening Remarks

​​9:40–10:10 AM | The Unfiltered Journey – Later-Stage Founders Panel

Raw, real conversations beyond the glossy headlines—highlighting success, failures, pivots, and leadership lessons including leading through these recent times from Founders who have reached that next level.

​10:15-10:45 | Pre-Seed Founder Panel: Building in an AI-Native World

​​AI is rewriting the rules for how companies are built—faster development, leaner teams, and new capital efficiency dynamics. But is it really that simple?

​10:50–11:20 AM | VC Partner Panel: How Venture is Evolving in Real Time

​​Hear from 4 founding partners at VC funds on how AI is reshaping venture capital—new theses, founder expectations, and portfolio strategy shifts.

​11:20–11:30 AM | Closing Remarks

​​11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Networking

​

​🌟 Additional Highlights:

​​📢 Women-Owned CPG Showcase – Featuring innovative products from female-founded consumer brands
🤝 Networking with 150+ founders, investors & tech leaders
💬 Women Founders Office Hours – 1:1 investor meetings for women founders (apply via event page)
🎟 Limited spots available! Secure your ticket today.
____________________________________________

​Featured Speakers

​Shelby Austin, CEO & Founder at Arteria AI. Arteria AI, under the leadership of CEO and Co-Founder Shelby Austin, has secured a total of $50M USD in funding. Their $30M USD Series B round in October 2023 was led by GGV Capital U.S., with participation from Illuminate Financial, Information Venture Partners, BDC Capital, and Citi.

​

​Candice Faktor, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Disco, the AI-first learning platform that helps organizations build, operate, and scale modern academies. By combining AI-powered course design, personalized learning, and automated operations, Disco makes it radically easier to create and run engaging learning experiences—whether for customer education, professional training, or internal upskilling.

A serial entrepreneur and former GM at Wattpad, Candice is revolutionizing online education for the world's leading organizations. Under her leadership, Disco has raised $20M USD from investors including GSV Ventures, Quiet Capital, Inovia Capital, Golden Ventures, and StandUp Ventures

​Mallorie Brodie is the CEO and Founder of Bridgit, a construction technology company transforming how contractors manage projects and resources. Bridgit has raised over $43 million from investors including Camber Creek, Storm Ventures, and BDC Capital.

​Annie Luchsinger is the Founding Partner of Breakers, a Seattle-based venture capital fund backing early-stage software and consumer internet startups across North America. Previously, she was an investor at Anthos Capital, where she helped launch its Seattle office. Annie also co-founded Grace, an end-of-life startup, giving her firsthand entrepreneurial experience. A University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate in Retailing and Entrepreneurship, Annie champions diverse, outlier founders beyond traditional tech hubs. She’s part of Recast Accelerate’s inaugural cohort, a program supporting women and non-binary fund managers.

​Jamie is Partner of Golden Ventures, he works closely with portfolio founders, entrepreneurs, accelerators, incubators, and the broader startup community, to help find, fund and build exceptional companies.

​Jamie began his career in corporate development at O’Leary Ventures, a private early-stage investment company owned and chaired by Kevin O’Leary. He then joined Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP where he practiced corporate law with a focus on M&A and corporate finance in the technology sector. Prior to joining Golden Ventures, Jamie was the Head of Business Development for Avid Life Media.

​

​Michelle McBane is the Founder and Managing Director of StandUp Ventures, a pre-seed and seed stage fund investing in women-led and co-led B2B SaaS, digital health, and marketplace startups across Canada and the US. A recognized leader in early-stage venture, Michelle was named the 2025 Woman of Achievement in Venture Capital. Under her leadership, StandUp Ventures has raised two funds and backed some of Canada’s most promising early-stage companies (including all of those featured today!) Beyond investing, Michelle is a champion for inclusive innovation, serving on the CVCA Diversity & Inclusion Committee and shaping national conversations around equity in tech and VC.

​Amar Varma is the Co-Founder & CEO at Mantle. Amar began his tech career in Silicon Valley, playing a key role in the development of foundational technologies like the PC GPU and USB 1.0. His experience in the public and private sectors ignited his entrepreneurial drive, leading him to venture capital, where he developed a keen eye for promising ventures. A prolific entrepreneur, Amar co-founded Xtreme Labs (acquired by Pivotal/VMware), Hatch Labs (parent of Tinder, acquired by IAC), and Autonomic (acquired by Ford). Now, as co-founder and CEO of Mantle, he brings extensive experience and unwavering dedication to innovation.

​Alex Norman is the Partner of N49P, an early stage fund Canadian Venture Fund and the Co-Founder at TechTO, Canada’s largest tech community. Previously Alex established and led AngelList Ventures in Canada, co-founded HomeSav which was acquired by Rebellion Media and helped launch Simply Business which was acquired by The Travelers Cos. Alex also has significant professional services experience having worked for McKinsey & Company and Lehman Brothers in their technology mergers and acquisition group. Alex has a BCom from McGill University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

​Thank You To Our Sponsors

​If you would like to know more about our sponsors, please visit:
CIBC
Mantle
Dentons

​We are officially part of Toronto Tech Week 2025, a weeklong citywide collection of events to connect and celebrate the builders. June 23 → June 27, 2025 | torontotechweek.com.