Co-Founder Connect With BEA & Yspace
Match Smart & Scale Fast
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
Join us for Co-founder Connect, presented by the BEA in partnership with YSpace — an evening designed to help founders, builders, and innovators find the right partners to strengthen their ventures.
Whether you’re looking for technical expertise, business strategy support, or a complementary co-founder to take your startup to the next level, this is your chance to pitch, connect, and build powerful collaborations.
What to Expect
Fireside panel on finding the Perfect Match
Quickfire 60-second Founder/Venture pitches
Co-Founder Matching
Social mixer
Headshots
Great food, drinks & Vibes
Meet the Panel
Dwayne Forde, Mantle
With over 20 years in engineering, Dwayne has championed full-stack solutions primarily in startups, covering sectors from finance to entertainment. Their expertise extends to managing vast cloud infrastructure projects for top banks and government agencies. As a seasoned leader, Dwayne has directed teams of 180+ across multiple locations. An esteemed speaker, their insights have illuminated platforms like TEDx Silicon North. Celebrated for introducing innovative patterns in new tech domains, Dwayne remains a trusted figure in the industry. Previously, Dwayne was a Senior Director of Engineering at VMware & Pivotal via the acquisition of Xtreme Labs.
Avery Francis, Bloom
A fan of growth in all its forms, Avery has spent her career helping leaders navigate the challenging world of talent, hiring, and building genuinely inclusive company cultures. An award-winning HR leader, champion of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, Avery is a Canadian Entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Bloom. Avery loves to paint, explore the world, and read a great book in her free time.
Neil Grunberg, Storytime Capital
20 years of operational experience, riding 3 unique rocket ship startups along the way. Most recently and notably, as co-founder of AlayaCare, Neil has helped grow and lead an industry changing entrant to global dominance in less than a decade. Neil possesses a deep understanding of what it takes to go from zero to one!
How it works
Current Founders! If you're ready to pitch your startup during the 60-second pitch segment, fill out the quick pitch form after you RSVP by June 6st!
→ Apply Here
Potential Co-Founders! If you're serious about finding a co-founder or collaborator, make sure you complete the matchmaking form after you RSVP by June 6st!
→ Apply Here
Important details
Applications for current and potential founders need to be submitted by June 6, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us at bea@bcchc.com.
About BEA:
The Black Entrepreneurship Alliance (BEA) is a Black-led initiative that exists to amplify and advance the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. BEA provides fully funded programs, partnerships, and access to help Black entrepreneurs and professionals grow successful ventures and careers. Learn more at www.thebea.co.
About YSpace:
YSpace is York University’s pan-university entrepreneurship and innovation hub supporting startups and entrepreneurs from a variety of sectors and communities. Our programming spans across scaling innovative technologies through customer and investor capital to scaling agri-food businesses into mass retail to diversity-focused initiatives like ELLA for women-led businesses and in partnership with Black Entrepreneurship Alliance (BEA) for Black-led businesses. We are also home to two physical hubs in the City of Markham and the Town of Georgina. https://www.yorku.ca/yspace/