AAGEF Entrepreneur Challenge 2025
Date: November 26, 2025
Location: TBA
About us
AAGEF Ontario, with over 2,000 executives, is a networking association of French Elite Graduate Schools alumni, living and working in Ontario. We also welcome Ontario-based alumni of Canadian and global Elite Universities.
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/72309514
In June 2021, AAGEF Ontario successfully hosted its 100th event. All our events are open to everyone and are conducted in English during the presentation. Networking is bilingual English/ French. Find more information about our events and register for them on our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/72309514
AAGEF Entrepreneur Challenge is in its tenth year. And since its inception in 2015, the event has garnered a lot of interest and traction in the business community.
Our Jury Members and Master of Ceremony for 2024
Edmond Mellina
President at Orchango
Master of Ceremony
Meaghan Kappel
Partner, Deals at PwC Canada
Jury Member
Sébastien Gendron
Co-Founder, CEO at TransPod Inc
Jury Member
Guillaume Marbach
Project Director at Aecon
Jury Member
2025 Applicants
The AAGEF 2025 Entrepreneur Challenge is now welcoming applications from the most exciting start-ups to be a part of our Annual Challenge. For the start-up community, it’s a perfect platform to be coached and advised by industry top leaders.
All entrepreneurs are invited to apply. Upon submission, applications will be reviewed by our selection committee. The three finalists will be named on a date to be announced later. The three selected entrepreneurs will present in front of a jury of investors and top executives on November 26, 2025. The winners will be awarded cash gifts and prizes besides the invaluable guidance from top executives.
Application Deadline: Sunday, September 14, 2025 11:59pm EST
Testimonials
Sebastien Gendron
Co-Founder & CEO,
Transpod Hyperloop
ISAE-SUPAERO
"I strongly encourage entrepreneurs to participate in this challenge. It's an excellent bridge to introduce your product and company to the European market as you will have the opportunity to pitch your project in front of the industrial partners, both from Canada and Europe."
Anneke Van Heuven
CEO, Co-Founder at AlgoBio
Challenge winner 2021, University of Waterloo
"The AAGEF Entrepreneur Challenge was a great experience. Not only were the awards super impactful to our company as we are in such an early stage but the networking and connections we made at this event were invaluable. The pitches by the other companies were done super well and I would recommend anyone to apply to pitch in next years event."
Lisa Mattam
Founder & CEO,
Sahajan
McMaster University
"My participation in the 2016 Challenge was an enlightening and rewarding experience. Even though our brand had received initial traction, including being the only Canadian brand selected for Sephora's Inaugural Accelarator, the pitch competition helped me to translate that success and convey the potential of the brand to investors, buyers and other supporters in more relevant fashion. I gained great insight from jury members and invaluable contacts, including a potential investor."
Rae Massop
Founder & CEO at Aworie
Jury Award Winner 2022,
University of Toronto
A massive thank you / merci to the team for hosting the AAGEF Entrepreneur Challenge 2022! [...]
As a female entrepreneur, I am honoured to have been offered a full tuition scholarship to become a graduate student for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Valar Institute! Education is absolutely priceless and I will cherish this opportunity for the rest of my life.
Mikhael Taye
Business Development Officer,
Able Innovations
Challenge Winner 2019,
McGill University
"The AAGEF 2019 Entrepreneur Challenge was a fantastic experience for Able Innovations. We received an excellent opportunity to gain exposure for our venture and network with influential individuals to forward our business goals. This competition is an ideal opportunity for Canadian entrepreneurs to gain exposure with a new audience and form novel partnerships to take their ventures to the next level."
Sophie Howe
CEO & Co-Founder,
Xesto
winner of the 2020 Jury Award
"The AAGEF Challenge was a great opportunity for Xesto to showcase our company to a large audience with a significant network. The exposure provides entrepreneurs access to well connected and generous individuals who want to see Canadian startups succeed. I would highly recommend this challenge for any Canadian entrepreneur looking to expand beyond Canada"
Past Events
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