After an exceptional premiere event, we’re back for more! For the second time, Northern Ontario Angels (NOA) has joined forces with NORCAT Innovation to combine our renowned pitch events, creating an exciting platform for entrepreneurs in our region.
The evening will kick off with a keynote presentation by Craig McLellan, Founder & CEO of ThinkOn, networking opportunity with appetizers and beverages followed by PITCH finalists, who will compete for cash prizes.
We are proud to present Venture North PITCH 2025, taking place at Collège Boréal in Sudbury, Ontario on Thursday October 2, 2025. This meticulously crafted event is designed to captivate Accredited Angel Investors while encouraging companies to explore the vast opportunities in Northern Ontario. Join us and discover the limitless potential that awaits in our vibrant region! After all, why not choose the limitless possibilities of Northern Ontario?
Craig McLellan, Founder and CEO of ThinkOn, Inc. has been at the forefront of technology innovation and data security in Canada and the U.S. for the past twenty-five years.
Under Craig’s leadership, ThinkOn continues to grow, both organically and through strategic acquisition, and has been ranked on both the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ and The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. A pioneer in cloud services, ThinkOn was one of the first companies in the world to receive VMware Cloud Verified certification and was recently recognized as the VMware Sovereign Cloud Partner for Canada.
Craig currently sits on advisory boards for several industry-leading organizations including Veeam, Hitachi, and VMware, where he helps to guide strategy. In his free time, Craig enjoys baseball, spending time outdoors and flying his drone.
Northern Ontario Angels (NOA)
Kimberley Wahamaa-Deschenes, Operations & Events Manager
kim@northernontarioangels.ca
705-207-2658
"Participating in the 2024 NORCAT Venture North PITCH competition was a transformative experience for the Chamber Perks App™ . The exceptional mentorship, guidance, and unwavering support from the NORCAT team were instrumental in refining our business strategy and enhancing our presentation skills.
Pitching our vision to a diverse audience of community stakeholders, business peers, family, friends, and investors provided invaluable exposure and feedback crucial for mapping our company's future.
Since participating and winning the People's Choice Award in the 2024 NORCAT Venture North PITCH competition, the Chamber Perks App™ has experienced significant growth. We have expanded our team to support our increasing operations and have extended our reach across Canada. We have developed a bilingual version of the app, enabling us to effectively promote and serve businesses and users in Quebec and the Atlantic regions.
We are further innovating by developing a chamber member management software complementing the Chamber Perks App™."
Karen Hastie, Chamber Perks App Founder/CEO, PITCH 2024
"Pitching at PITCH 2023 was an incredible opportunity for WaiveTheWait. We had just moved to Sudbury, and this event launched us into the ecosystem, which led us to our first Sudbury-based angel investor. The exposure from the event made networking a breeze. At the event, and since then, we have met important stakeholders, investors, mentors, and physicians, which has helped us grow significantly over the past year."
Tabassum Pasha, WaiveTheWait Cofounder and COO, PITCH 2023
"My first pitch with NORCAT Innovation was a night I'll never forget. Not only did I conquer my stage fright, but I also won! This unexpected victory caught the eye of a major investor—one who had never invested in a startup before. His investment of over $1 million, my largest yet, changed everything.
Since that night in Sudbury, our company has taken off. We've relocated to the city, secured $2 million in seed funding from local investors, and grown our team from 7 to 26 in just two years. The momentum from that initial win has opened doors to new partnerships and investments, solidifying our place in the industry."
Luke Begley, CircuitIQ Founder, PITCH 2022
"Participating at PITCH 2019 was an amazing experience for me personally and for all of us as a team. The event was well organized and gave us a wonderful introduction to the City of Sudbury. The pitch also provided us with the resources we were looking for, including the northern Ontario investment ecosystem both public and private, and significant networking across industries, that enabled us to succeed.
Thanks to the opportunity to pitch, we got a lot of coverage and wonderful support both locally and beyond. As a result, we received funding support at multiple levels both from public and private sources.
This opportunity got us to establish our head quarters in Sudbury. Further, granted us easy access to the outstanding talent pool from the local academic institutions. As a result, IRegained experienced significant business traction and growth of the company overall."
Veneet Johnson, iRegained CEO, PITCH 2019
"It was a fun, and was able to introduce us to investors who have helped us. Subsequently the investors were extremely helpful. Today we are in the final process large scale clinical trial at 40 centers across NA and Europe. It is a difficult task to bring an invention to market but we had a lot of help from people in Sudbury, now 6 years later you can see how far we grown” great practice and networking. Sudbury has been very helpful."
John Connolly, EVP Corporate Development, PITCH 2014
“What do you do when you are a bunch of scientists with a great idea wanting to create a business but you don't know how? Fortunately, NORCAT was there. It's entrepreneurship 101 course was perfect for us to understand all the facets of starting a business. As we encountered typical startup hurdles, the NORCAT team was always there to provide insight and advice.
I believe we were one of the first startups to be in the inaugural NORCAT PITCH. The assistance in preparation for this was so helpful and that experience has been utilized constantly over the last few years in our numerous pitches - many successful.
Verv is still in the startup mode, still moving forward and raising capital for our venture. We are now in the commercialization phase of getting our Biochemistry analyzer into consumer hands. Optimizing our system, getting ready for certifications, mass manufacturing, marketing and sales, there is a lot to creating a successful business and NORCAT has been helping us all the way.
As a northerner, the only way to have our community grow and diversify is to develop a class or entrepreneurs who will create business here. To do that, entrepreneurial mentorship, advice, and fostering angel investment is necessary and NORCAT has helped lead this.”
Jeff Sutton, Founder & President, PITCH 2014
