Lost in the woods? We can guide you.

Join us at our next event, which is being hosted by the University of Alberta at Enterprise Square on March 14, 2023. Pitch your plan whether for a social enterprise or a new startup, high value product or service related to big data, software, biotech, health, agriculture, resources or energy - we are sector agnostic. Presenters receive valuable feedback, new contacts, scorecards and a video of their pitch within a day, access to experts with advice on business development and funding streams.

Testimonials from presenters at our events:

"You did an admirable job of putting this together. From the quality of the participants/viewers to the administration of the process and the follow-up, I'm impressed. I have two meetings as a direct result of my presentation. Thanks for including me, and for inviting me to the next one; I fully intend to present at the next meeting" - KH

"Great event! It was captivating" - RJ

"Thank you again for the opportunity to pitch. Actually, we are having a couple of followup calls with stakeholders" - HL

"Our project has picked up significantly since we last presented at DiscoveryLab. We have partnered to expand our program for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and we are now at 22 sites."

"Our DiscoveryLab presentation led to participation of 2 investors in our seed round, a strategic machine learning technology development partnership, a remote patient monitoring collaboration with a University, and this week’s announcement of an exciting product launch."

"The suggestions I got from the DiscoveryLab meeting were great. Thanks!"

"I would like to thank you for organizing the pitch event. We were very happy about the outcome of the pitch. We wanted some advice and that's what we got. We would love to pitch again."

"I wanted to send a note to thank you very much for the opportunity to present yesterday. We enjoyed the experience and also were able to resolve an issue."

"My company got funding."

General Schedule for DiscoveryLab Events

Teams are welcome to present a plan for free in 10 minutes. Some presenters will be offered an upgrade to a 20 minute in-person slot as well as networking reception - submit your executive summary to qualify. A supportive panel of business advisors, industry experts and investors provides free advice and offers to connect are made.

Early stage ventures, academics, start-ups and SMEs are welcome to present their plan and will be given tailored advice on how to commercialize, spin out, scale and reach new markets.

For clarity, DiscoveryLab does not recommend advisors or investors, but can make introductions. Each person and company has the responsibility of obtaining legal advice and performing due diligence before signing contracts or taking investments.

New ventures, SMEs and startups at any stage are invited to registor as are advisors interested in joining our panel. No bystanders please, everyone is asked to participate actively.

Anyone is welcome to register to pitch a business idea or plan in any field, at any stage, and from any province.

An updated executive summary of your business plan must be submitted to finalize your pitching slot.

Note: Please tell us if you can't make it in to pitch, unjustified last minute cancellations and no-shows are subject to a charge of $20 as they prevent others from pitching to our advisors.

Tips for pitching your plan

1. Presenters are asked to give the organizers their business plan summary (1 or 2 pages) a week before and their slide-deck the day before the event. This way we can ensure technical compatibility and line up the talks to minimize any downtime.
2. Feel free to bring your own Flash drive or computer with cable and adapter.
3. Arrive about 10 minutes early to get oriented. You’ll be given a debrief and evaluation after your pitch.
4. Stay on time (10 minutes for a full presentation, or 2-5 minutes for an elevator pitch) to ensure there is enough time for Q&A.
5. Say a few words of background about yourself to start out the presentation. 
6. Focus on the business plan, not technical or proprietary detail (which you can cover in follow up meetings if desired). Show how this presented a unique and timely opportunity for scalable growth, investment and/or partnering.
7. Turn complexity and jargon into plain English.  Use accessible pictures or videos.  Avoid technical terms and abstraction. Instead, give specific examples, numbers and explain.
8. Be passionate. Present potential risks as well as plans and successes. Show confidence and ambition.
9. Don't be boastful or flaunt your ego.
10. Engage with your team and panel, listening carefully and taking constructive criticism.
11. Don’t read your talk. Notes are ok.  Rehearse beforehand to get the timing, clarity and impact right.

Slide guidance

1. A graphic image or video communicates better than text.   Avoid crowded collages.
2. Text is not needed.  Spoken words communicate more effectively.  If text is used, a few lines should suffice.  Avoid slides which consist of only a headline and list of bullet-points.
3. Show several slides which each present a single idea, graph, image or data type, and form a progression, e.g. from challenge, opportunity, discovery, reality check, to future plan.
4. Aim for no more than 1 slide per minute.
5. Keep a clear surrounding margin around text for increased legibility.
6. Sans-serif fonts (e.g. Helvetica) are easier to read at a distance than serif fonts (e.g. Times).
7. Use a simple background.
8. Use high-resolution images that are from your work, are licensed, or else attribute the source.
9. For data graphs or charts, use a text font size that can be read from the back of a board room, including labels on x- and y-axes and data points.