Keynote Speaker, Ben Yoskovitz
KELOWNA – Accelerate Okanagan is celebrating a record-breaking year for the Okanagan Angel Summit, with investors committing $407,000 across three Canadian startups, marking the largest amount invested in the program’s history. The milestone reflects the continued growth of the Summit and the increasing confidence of Okanagan angel investors in Canada’s next generation of innovators.
Following eight weeks of training, pitch preparation, investor meetings, and due diligence, accredited investors allocated capital to three companies during the 2026 Okanagan Angel Summit Finale, held at Metro Hub in Kelowna. More than 225 attendees gathered to witness the live pitches, connect with founders and investors, and celebrate entrepreneurship from across the country.
The investments included:
● Drawbridge (Saskatoon, SK), led by CEO Janna Shea, received $74,000. Drawbridge helps brands, agencies, and influencers run interactive story-based campaigns that drive audience growth, customer engagement, and first-party data collection.
● Bullfinch Earth (Vancouver, BC), led by CEO Seth Sternberg, secured $120,000 from the Summit fund, along with an additional $25,000 personal investment from keynote speaker and Highline Beta Founding Partner Ben Yoskovitz, bringing the company’s total investment to $145,000. Bullfinch Earth is building a wearable sensor platform that creates a ground-truth data layer for forests, supporting insurers, carbon registries, and financial institutions.
● shuriii (Toronto, ON), led by CEO Curtis Carmichael, received the largest allocation of the evening at $188,000. The company is developing a mobile-first operating system that consolidates more than 100 educational applications and administrative tools into a single platform for K-12 school systems.
“This year’s results demonstrate the strength of both the founders participating in the program and the investors committed to supporting innovation,” said Thuy Carter, Director of Programs at Accelerate Okanagan. “The quality of companies, the engagement of our investor group, and the willingness to evolve the program created an incredible outcome for everyone involved.”
The 2026 Summit introduced several notable changes. For the first time, applications were open to startups from across Canada, expanding the program’s reach and increasing national visibility for the Okanagan as an emerging investment destination. Investors also adopted a new funding model that allowed capital to be distributed across multiple companies and enabled additional investments to be made on Finale night, contributing to the record-setting total.
The Top 5 finalists who pitched on stage included shuriii, Bullfinch Earth, Thermaspire Technologies, Lyrata, and Drawbridge. Investors faced one of the most competitive cohorts in the program’s history, with the 2026 Summit beginning with 81 startup applicants from across Canada and 36 accredited investors participating in the process.
Now in its eighth year, the Okanagan Angel Summit has directly invested more than $1.5 million in Canadian startups, trained 141 angel investors, and supported more than 350 companies through pitch training, due diligence, and founder-investor relationship-building.
The Okanagan Angel Summit is powered by Accelerate Okanagan and is designed to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs seeking growth capital and investors looking to support promising ventures. Through its hands-on approach, the program provides founders and investors with practical experience, education, mentorship, and meaningful connections that extend well beyond the finale event.
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