Meet the Winners: 2026 Desjardins Startup Prize Pitch

An impressive lineup of startups took the stage at the 2026 Desjardins Startup Prize Pitch Competition, part of U of T Entrepreneurship Week’s True Blue Impact Day. Competing for more than $100,000 in prizes, ten startups made their pitch to a full house at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus.  

The Early-Stage category included emerging innovations in health and biotech, with founders sharing solutions ranging from at-home diagnostic care to waste upcycling.   

Third place, early-stage category cheque presented to Farname Diagnosis by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

Taking the third-place prize was Farname Diagnosis, a startup developing rapid and cost-effective point-of-care devices for early ovarian cancer detection. The device addresses a major gap by bringing timely, accessible screening to clinics and underserved settings.      

Second place and People’s Choice, early-stage category cheque presented to Aiko Translations by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

Second-place prize and Dongjun Wang Family People’s Choice was awarded to Aiko Translations, a two-way, real-time translation device for older adults and healthcare providers in long-term care. Language barriers can increase safety risks and emotional distress for older adults while adding to care time for staff. Aiko aims to bridge that gap, supporting over 130 languages with adaptive models that account for speech patterns and care environments.  

First place, early-stage category cheque presented to Stryde Health by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

The top prize in the early-stage category went to Stryde Health, a startup developing continuous, personalized cognitive care assessments at home. Cognitive impairment affects an estimated 60% of stroke survivors and increases the risk of developing dementia. Stryde aims to improve continuity of care by bridging the post-discharge gap, syncing patient progress to clinicians in real time.   

The  Late-Stage category featured startups scaling innovations with solutions in education, healthcare, and space communication. 

Second place, late-stage category cheque presented to Graspr AI by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

The third-place prize was awarded to Graspr AI, a web-based app transforming static PDFs into personalized video explainers and interactive quizzes. Graspr AI focuses on active, social, and visual learning, allowing students to engage with material in a more dynamic way.  

Second place, late-stage category cheque presented to Tightbeam Photonics by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

Second-place prize and Dongjun Wang Family People’s Choice was awarded to Tightbeam Photonics, a startup improving satellite-to-ground communication using a novel silicon photonic beam receiver. Tightbeam’s chip replaces entire adaptive optics systems that make current ground stations large and expensive, offering a cost-effective alternative.  

First place, late-stage category cheque presented to VRiT by Jon French, Director of U of T Entrepreneurship and Jonathan Raiken, Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking and National Accounts, Desjardins     

The competition’s top prize was awarded to VRiT, a startup transforming wound and surgical care with a handheld bioprinter that eliminates the need for autografts. From a third-place finish in last year’s Early-Stage category to first place prize in 2026, VRiT impressed judges with its bioprinting system, aiming next for regulatory readiness and a strategy to protect and commercialize intellectual property. 

Thanks to our partners  

This pitch competition would not have been possible without the support of our judges and partners.  

Special thanks to judges Eva Lau, University of Toronto alum and co‑founder of Two Small Fish; Mina Mitry, University of Toronto alum and CEO of Kepler Communications; and Nishant Raizada, Managing Director, Technology and Innovation Banking at Desjardins, for taking on the challenging task of selecting the top prize winners. We also thank emcee Kayla Sousa from the ICUBE campus accelerator at UTM for keeping the competition on track.  

Finally, thanks to our lead partner, Desjardins, for their continuous support of the competition and to Jonathan Raiken, Vice President of Corporate Banking at Desjardins, for delivering the award results. 

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of the 2026 Desjardins Startup Prize Pitch Competition! All finalists receive up to $5,000 in legal counsel from Cassels and a one-year membership to the ONRamp, U of T’s co-working and community space. The winner in each category also receives a complementary Startup Pass to two passes to Startup Fest in Montreal in July 2026.

The University of Toronto’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to show what’s possible when ambition meets innovation, offering a promising look into the future of solutions that will have real-world impact.