MaRS Mornings at Toronto Tech Week 2026

Whether you are scaling a startup, managing a fund or seeking new opportunities this is your "daily stand-up" with the innovation community.

​Attendees include:

• ​Founders from pre-seed to IPO
• ​Investors
• ​Policy-makers
• ​Corporate partners
• ​Tech media

Tariffs and market uncertainty have had detrimental effects on Canadian startups. Amid the upheaval, however, new opportunities are emerging. This panel will explore how Canadian startups can scale internationally amid trade friction and shifting geopolitical alliances.

​Panelists:

• ​Elena Balkos, Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
• ​Mona Minhas, Managing Partner, BDC Thrive Venture Fund & Women in Tech Venture Fund
• Will Ma, Managing Director, MaRS IAF (moderator)

​This MaRS session showcases several exciting Canadian ventures leveraging AI, quantum and emerging technologies to build solutions that quantify energy loss in buildings, support scientists with drug discovery, provide plant-based crop protection, enable next-generation nuclear fusion reactors and more.

​Participating ventures:

• ​Peyvand Melati, CEO, QEA Tech
• ​Lauren Phillips, CPO and Co-Founder, BioBox
• Mark Barnet, CEO and Co-founder, TightBeam
• ​Zaky Hassan, Founder and CEO, Molagri
• Henry Gould, Founder, Daedal Systems

​The investment decisions VCs make today are influencing the technologies of tomorrow. But how are investors assessing early-stage AI companies and their solutions? Hear from several seasoned AI investors as they share their decision-making strategies and how AI is changing the concept of risk in the venture capital space.

​Panelists (more to be announced):

• ​Brandon Zhao, Partner, Two Small Fish Ventures
• ​Parinaz Sobhani, Managing Director, Head of AI, Sagard Holdings
• Robbie Marks, Director of Investments, MaRS IAF
• Jeanne Lam, SVP Growth & Global Marketing, Propel Holdings (moderator)

This panel explores how energy prices, data centres and infrastructure constraints are reshaping AI economics and how innovators are tackling AI’s energy issues. We will look at how the industry is responding and what innovations are emerging to address these challenges.

​Panelists (more speakers to be announced):

• ​John D. Malcolm, Chief Technical Product Officer, Multiverse Computing
• ​Hemant Agrawal, Director of Product, TELUS AI Factory
• ​Shannon Bell, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer, OpenText
• ​Murad Hemmadi, AI Reporter, The Logic (moderator)

Toronto takes on the world: Winning strategies for global growth

Hear how Toronto-based ventures approached international expansion, what worked, what did not and how you can get it right — the first time.

From leveraging the city’s diverse talent and globally-connected ecosystem to identifying the correct markets to expand into, this conversation focuses on the decisions behind scaling beyond Canada. Learn how Export Development Canada and the Trade Commissioner Service can support your growth.

Register here:

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Host or Publisher MaRS Discovery District