Notes from the Floor: Cantech Investment Conference, Day 1

Day one of the Cantech Investment Conference took place on Tuesday (January 29) in Toronto, focusing on numerous verticals of technology, including cleantech, blockchain, esports as well as spotlighting areas of life sciences and cannabis.

The event, which was hosted by Cambridge House International, has grown every year since its inception in 2013, and over 100 companies exhibited their products in the 2019 edition.

Over the course of the day, investors and attendees had the chance to visit booths of these companies in addition to attending panel discussions.

If you were unable to attend the show, don’t worry — the Investing News Network (INN) braced the storm and the snow and was there on the floor, attending panel discussions and interviewing companies at the event.

Here’s a brief overview of what happened on day one of the two day event.

The day started with a welcome address by Nick Waddell, founding editor of CantechLetter opening the TSX exchange to celebrate the 2019 conference.

Nick Waddell, Founding Editor, @CantechLetter and delegates of #Cantech19 opened the market to celebrate the 2019 conference! Be sure to stop by our booth to hear about TMX Matrix. https://t.co/i1hUvTfSTF pic.twitter.com/qo5vixDgSX

— Canada’s Markets (@tsx_tsxv) January 29, 2019

Following the welcome greetings, the first panel went underway, which was moderated by Waddell. Panelists included Kevin Krishnaratne from Equity Analyst and Pradeep S. Sangha of Haywood Securities. The panelists discussed their top picks for 2019.

The second panel of the day featured fund managers who also shared their top picks for 2019.

The fund managers share their top picks for 2019 panel is currently underway. Panelists are optimistic about 2019. #Cantech

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

The panelists included Bill Burnham of Inducting Capital, Colin Fisher of StableView Asset Management and Rob Ballard of Pathfinder Asset Management.

Rob Ballard of Pathfinder Asset Man. is bullish on AI moving into 2019. #CantechConf

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Fund Managers Top 2019 Picks: Bull Burnham of Inductive Capital chose Ccom— TSX:CMI and Well Tech TSX:WELL #Cantech19 #Cantechconf

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Fund Managers Top 2019 Picks: Colin Fisher of Stableview Asset Man. selects iLOOKABOUT TSX:ILA as his top pick. #Cantechconf

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Meanwhile companies were also making their presentations including the likes of Siyata Mobile (TSXV:SIM) and Bee Vectoring Technology (TSXV:BEE).

Siyata Mobile is now presenting It’s push to talk technology and it’s evolution. #Cantech19 pic.twitter.com/l7K0nCt0T6

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Agricultural technology company BeeVectoring has developed a tech to help increase productivity through natural biological products through managed pollinator hives. ? #Cantech19

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

The company is currently testing its system on honey bees. Currently works with bumble bees. #BeeVectoring #Cantech19

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Panel discussions and presentations continued in the afternoon including All Things Connected in which the panelists talked about the investment opportunities in the connected platform.

All Things Connected panel is now underway #Cantech19 #cantechconf pic.twitter.com/h9bPCgtWPO

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

When it comes to big data, “we haven’t seen anything yet.” Steve Johnson, Corus360 #cantech

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Company presentations included the likes of SQI Diagnostics (TSXV:SQD) and Cognetivity Neurosciences (CSE:CGN).

SQI’s revenue trajectory #Cantech pic.twitter.com/Q2XsZ775Xp

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Next up, Cognetivity Sciences CEO Sina Habibi. His company is developing technology to diagnoses dementia. #Cantech19 pic.twitter.com/OABpiCw7bn

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

“Canada has an innovation problem.” Jim Balsillie, is now giving the keynote address regarding Canada’s innovation challenges. #cantechconf #Cantech19

— Tech Investing News (@INN_Technology) January 29, 2019

Stay tuned for INN’s coverage of day two of the conference, which takes place on Wednesday (January 30).

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.