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IDEA Mississauga Hosts Step-Up Program Pitch Featuring Next-Gen Startups

Mississauga’s startup ecosystem took center stage yesterday as IDEA Mississauga hosted its highly anticipated Step-Up Program Pitch & Showcase, spotlighting some of the region’s most promising early-stage ventures. Held at the Mississauga Civic Centre, the event gathered investors, mentors, and local leaders for an afternoon of bold ideas, cutting-edge technologies, and community-driven innovation. The Step-Up Program—designed to […]

Mississauga entrepreneurs take centre stage at IDEA Mississauga’s Step-Up Program pitch event

From medical technology and freight, to food services, water purification, and education, entrepreneurs from a wide range of sectors gathered on June 19 to celebrate innovation and growth at IDEA Mississauga’s highly anticipated Step-Up Program pitch and showcase event.  The event marked the conclusion of the 2024 Step-Up Program, a six-month program designed to support diverse, underrepresented, high-potential businesses […]

Building More Than Brands: How EmpowHER Helped Turn Traditions into Thriving Enterprises

As a third-generation immigrant from India Sophia Noreen feels a responsibility to help those that came to Canada after her. The registered physiotherapist, whose grandfather immigrated in 1974, says that she wanted to share some of her family’s traditions and holidays with her two little girls, but couldn’t find decorations at an affordable price point. […]

Transforming Water Purification: Xatoms Journey to Provide Clean Water for All

For many Canadians, access to clean drinking water is a challenge that only exists a world away; for Shirley Zhong, it was a reality of everyday life. “I grew up in China, and I witnessed water pollution firsthand,” she says. “I used to get sick just from water pollution, so that planted a seed inside […]

EmpowHER Tech Launchpad: Alumni Spotlight

Zahra Qureshi always wanted to start her own business, but it wasn’t until she lost her job for the second time that the accounting professional decided to open her own firm in 2019. Around that same time Qureshi began volunteering as a workshop facilitator helping startups, who rarely had dedicated finance teams, with their books […]

Member Spotlight: How Zpayd is Revolutionizing Global Bill Payments

Gezim Ramabaja doesn’t know where his entrepreneurial spirit comes from; he just knows that when he sees an opportunity, he can’t resist pursuing it. At age 18 he founded a coffee shop in his hometown in Kosovo, and after moving to Canada in 2006 and enrolling at Laurier University he started a restaurant, and later […]