Startup Events April 2018

Startup and Small Business Events Happening in April 2017

Every month our team compiles a list of startup and small business events in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario that we’re interested in attending and think will be useful to the startup and small business community.

Some of these events may fill up fast, so if you’re interested in attending please register quickly. Business events are generally free of charge unless a price is listed. If you’re hosting an event or come across one that you think should be included here, feel free to contact us with your suggestion(s).

TORONTO AND GTA EVENTS

TechToronto

Each month, TechToronto Meetup is designed for Toronto technologists to learn something new and meet someone new. You’ll learn something new from one of our 5x5s, or five presentations of five minutes each.

Event: TechToronto Meetup + Afterparty
When: April 3, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
Where: RBC WaterPark Place Auditorium, 88 Queen’s Quay West, Toronto, ON
Price: $20.00
 

Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre

Whether you are starting or growing a small business, or just thinking about it, the Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre (MBEC) can help you.

Event: Designing a Website for Your Business
When: April 4, 2017, 6:30 p.m – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Central Library, 301 Burnhamthorpe Rd W, Mississauga, ON
Price: TBA
 

Women in Biz Network

WIBN connects and empowers entrepreneurial and professional women through membership, mentorship, workshops, conferences and online learning. We have a strong online and in-person community that support each other in the pursuit of finding balance while growing within their professional business lives and ventures.

Event: Linkedin for Business Hands-on Training in Toronto
When: April 4, 2017, 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: Shecosystem – 703 Bloor Street, Toronto, ON
Price: $50.00
 

RIC Centre

As the Entrepreneur and Innovation Hub for Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon, the RIC Centre offers a comprehensive range of support services to entrepreneurs for free, including mentorship and advisory services, hands-on workshops and networking events.

Event: Growing Your Business – The Power of Digital Marketing
When: April 6, 2017, 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Where: Xerox Research Centre of Canada, 2660 Speakman Drive, Mississauga, ON
Price: $25.00
 

MaRS Discovery District

MaRS is where entrepreneurs get the help they need, where all kinds of people meet to spark new ideas, and where a global reputation for innovation is being earned, one success story at a time. The often-free events at MaRS are ideal for start-ups, science, technology and social entrepreneurs looking to make connections and learn more about a particular aspect of business.

Event: MaRS Sales ABC Workshop
When: April 6, 11 and 18, 2017, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: MaRS Discovery District, 101 College Street, Toronto, ON
Price: $100.00
 

Toronto Entrepreneurs

We are Toronto Entrepreneurs, comprised of start-ups, professionals and investors with a variety of expertise and resources in the extended Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We organize free events for members with a purpose to inspire further entrepreneurship, technologies, business, and social innovation.

Event: Digital Main Street Forum: Embracing Bricks and Clicks
When: April 6, 2017, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Toronto City Hall – 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
Price: Free
 

Camp Tech

Camp Tech is a tech skills training hub. They provide half and full-day in-person workshops for adults who want to learn website and digital skills. They create a welcoming environment for those who are hesitant around technology, and emphasize skills that can be put into practice right away.

Event: Intro to Email Marketing with Mailchimp
When: April 11, 2017, 06:00 p.m. – 09:00 p.m.
Where: 639 Queen Street West, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON
Price: $99.00
 

Ladies Learning Code

Have you taken their HTML and CSS workshop? Looking to expand your web development skills? Wonder what all this CSS3 stuff is about? CSS is a powerful language used to create layout and design for web pages. Without CSS, the web would not be as pretty!

Event: HTML and CSS for Beginners: Build a One Page Website from Scratch
When: April 15, 2017, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: HackerYou, 483 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
Price: $55.00 plus tax
 

BrainStation

BrainStation is a progressive educational institution that is powering the next generation of creators. BrainStation is education for the 21st century, where business, creativity, and technology collide.

Event: Fireside Chat | Head of Business Marketing, Twitter Canada
When: April 19, 2017, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: BrainStation Toronto, 460 King Street West, Toronto, ON
Price: $45.00
 

Toronto Public Library

Event: Introduction to LinkedIn
When: April 20, 2017, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: 35 Fairview Mall Drive, Toronto, ON
Price: Free
 

Enterprise Toronto

Enterprise Toronto is a one-stop source to start and grow your small business. Their team of small business advisors can help you make the right decisions during your business start-up and help develop your management capabilities as your business venture grows.

Event: GrowthWheel Entrepreneur Boot Camp
When: April 25, 2017, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge St., 3rd Floor, Committee Room 6, Toronto, ON
Price: $25.00
 

Startup Toronto

Startup Toronto is a grass roots entrepreneur-led community of Startup Canada. We connect our members to the startup ecosystem in Toronto, foster a supportive home for all entrepreneurs, and provide programs and tools that help accelerate business growth.

Event: Small Group Mentoring: Social Media Workshop
When: April 26, 2017, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Where: TBA
Price: $25.00
 

Digifest 2017

Digifest is a three-day conference located on Toronto’s waterfront (Corus Quay, 25 Dockside Drive) that focuses on the future of education, creativity, entrepreneurship, gaming, and technology; organized by George Brown College. We connect the creative community with the most innovative technologies, ideas, and initiatives focused on learning, leadership, and positive social change.

When: April 27 – 29 2017, 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Corus Quay, 25 Dockside Drive, Toronto, ON
Price: $69.00 (day pass), $129.00 (full conference pass)
 

WATERLOO REGION EVENTS

Communitech

Founded by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs in 1997, Communitech is Waterloo Region’s hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies. Over the years, they have supported and helped build a tech cluster of nearly 1,000 companies that now generates more than $30 billion in revenue.

Event: Communitech Scaling Series with Geoffrey Moore
Moore’s life’s work has focused on the market dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations. His first book, Crossing the Chasm, focuses on the challenges start-up companies face transitioning from early adopting to mainstream customers.
When: April 19, 2017, 5:00pm – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Tannery Event Centre, 151 Charles Street West, Kitchener, ON
Price: $30.00 (member), $75.00 (non-member)
 

Waterloo Region Small Business Centre

The Waterloo Region Small Business Centre encourages and contributes to the enterprising spirit and economic vitality of our commmunity by assisting entrepreneurs with the development of new or existing businesses.

Event: Business Plan Coaching Seminar
When: April 10, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
Where: 200 King ST W., Kitchener, ON
Price: $22.00 plus tax
 

HackerNest Kitchener-Waterloo Tech Socials

HackerNest Tech Socials are a fun, relaxed way to connect with your local tech community. Atmosphere: chill, friendly, unpretentious, agenda-free (no sales pitch), and brimming with Ultra Smart People.
When: April 10, 2017, 8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Where: Atomic Labs, 119 King Street West, 4th Floor, Kitchener, ON
Price: TBA
 

Hive Waterloo Region

Hive Waterloo Region works with partners and stakeholders in our community to promote digital literacy for all and build diversity in the tech sector. We are a not-for-profit, official Mozilla Foundation Learning Community.

Event: Social Media Workshop
When: April 12, 2017, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: 44 Gaukel Street, 2nd floor, Kitchener, ON
Price: Free
 

TechWaterloo Region Meetup

TechWR Meetup is designed for WR technologists to learn something new and meet someone new. You’ll learn something new from one of our 5x5s, or five presentations of five minutes each. Each presentation is made by a Waterloo Region technology company big or small, and they use their time to share a lesson learned, a counter-intuitive finding, or demo a new technology.

When: April 19, 2017, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Shopify, 57 Erb St W, Waterloo, ON
Price: $12.00
 

HAMILTON EVENTS

Innovation Factory

Innovation Factory helps advance Hamilton’s innovation community and serves as an inspiring, expert resource for entrepreneurs that fosters connections across the community and accelerates growth.

Event: Click & Convert: How to Use Paid Search to Get More Leads! – IF’s April Sales Peer2Peer
Innovation Factory’s April Sales Peer2Peer will be presented by Robert Clarke. Robert is the Managing Director at Op Ed Marketing, a Google Partner Agency that helps B2B Businesses attract, convert, and keep customers.
When: April 12, 2017, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Where: McMaster Innovation Park, 175 Longwood Road South, #101a, Hamilton, ON
Price: Free
 

Software Hamilton

Software Hamilton covers the Hamilton, Ontario technology and startup community.

Event: CoderCamp Hamilton
When: April 12, 2017, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Where: The Pheasant Plucker, 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton, ON
Price: Free
 

Hamilton Digital Marketing Summit 2017

Join 300+ Digital Marketers and Influencers from across Southern Ontario at Hamilton’s historic & luxurious LIUNA Station for a full day of developmental workshops, panels, product demonstrations, and keynote speeches. These stations are designed specifically to have you leaving with digital strategies and skills that you can implement immediately!

When: April 13, 2017, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Liuna Station, 360 James St N., Hamilton, ON
Price: $150.00 – $399.00
 

Women Entrepreneurship – Becoming a Social Maven for your Biz!

Are you launching a business? Or perhaps you’re already running a business. Social media can be very effective in helping you grow, network, and maintain visibility amongst your target demographic and peers.

When: April 27, 2017, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: McMaster Innovation Park, 175 Longwood Rd S. Conference Room C+D, Hamilton, ON
Price: Free
 

HALTON EVENTS

HalTech

HalTech is the leading source of support and personal service for tech and advanced manufacturing entrepreneurs in Halton. They assist Halton’s entrepreneurs and technology companies with developing their ideas, commercializing their products/services and establishing and expanding their businesses.

Event: Power Hour for High-Growth Startups
Join us as we caffeinate and have open discussions with Vince Mifsud around how to strategically scale-up your company. Talks are on a variety of timely topics: raising capital, strategic growth planning, diversifying the leadership team, expanding product/service lines, accessing global and new markets, tapping foreign investors, sales growth, and much more.
When: April 7, 2017, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Where: Goldstar Café, 350 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville, ON
Price: $5.00
 

Silicon Halton

Silicon Halton organizes a number of events throughout the year in the region Halton which including Burlington, Oakville, and Milton. Their monthly meetups and Peer2Peer has three main components; a key notes presentation, a get to know a member presentation, and time set out for networking. These events are catered to anyone at a startup – especially in the tech industry – that want to learn more about business best practices.

Event: Women in Tech Peer-2-Peer: Customer Journey Mapping
When: April 25, 2017, 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Where: The Ivy, 3330 South Service Road, Burlington, ON
Price: Free
 

GUELPH EVENT

Guelph B2B Networking Group

The Guelph Business to Business Network Group draws members from a 125km radius of Guelph. Members are B2B providers who provide a service to businesses (as opposed to the people in the business), living/providing services within Guelph and Wellington. All are well connected, experienced business people, experienced in networking and they can and do share contacts and leads

When: April 13, 2017, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Where: Symposium Restaurant, Stone Road, Guelph, ON
Price: $15.00
 

NIAGARA EVENTS

St. Catharines Enterprise Centre

The St. Catharines Enterprise Centre provides the information, tools and resources that entrepreneurs need to launch and grow their business. Aspiring and existing entrepreneurs are serviced through many support services, including a number of informative seminars and events.

Event: Sales and Marketing Seminar
When: April 19, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Where: 1 St. Paul Street, 3rd Floor, Suite A301, St. Catharines, ON
Price: Free
 

Innovate Niagara

Innovate Niagara is a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, a network of regional and provincial not-for-profit organizations that deliver services and programs to help entrepreneurs succeed.

Event: Perfecting your Pitch
When: April 21, 2017, 12:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Where: Cairns Building, Room 207, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON
Price: $100.00
 

Startup Drinks Niagara

Startup Drinks is a monthly networking event for Niagara Startups and those interested in the Niagara business community. Startup Niagara is a place for budding and seasoned entrepreneurs alike to gather, learn from each other and get access to invaluable resource and programming. We are entrepreneur-led and committed to the long-term success and sustainability of our community.

When: April 26, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
Where: TBA (Niagara, ON)
Price: Free

Are we missing any startup or small business events? Let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

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Startup and Small Business Events Happening in April 2017