By mid-afternoon, the Lower Lobby of Meridian Hall was already buzzing. Elevate Festival(now called NRTH) had filled downtown Toronto with founders, investors and the steady hum of a city that likes to talk about what comes next. At 2:30 PM, seven Italian startups stepped up to show what that “next” might look like when it’s made in Italy.
Avacam, BCC Studio, Fast Charge Engineering, Nano-Tech, PickEat, Prometeo and Therness had arrived in Canada two days earlier for the Canada Start-Up Program 2026, a week of training, pitching and networking led by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) with two of Canada’s leading accelerators, DMZ in Toronto and Centech in Montréal. They had already pitched at DMZ’s Pitch Arena on Monday. Elevate was the big room, and Montréal was waiting the next day.
For many in the audience, Italy still means design, fashion, food and wine. The pitches told a different story, one of engineering, nanotechnology, energy and software, from a country that ranks 5th in Europe and 11th in the world for patent applications.
Paola Rosa Maria Furno, Deputy Trade Commissioner of the Italian Trade Commission, sees the Elevate(NRTH) stage as just one chapter in a much bigger effort. “Depending on the event, we bring anywhere from 7 to 50 companies, and around 100 companies over the course of a year to Canada,” she said.
“And it works both ways. We help Italian companies find partners here in Canada, and we also support companies that are looking forward to setting up in Italy.”
Behind the scenes, the ITA team watched the founders take their turns. For James Johnson, Trade Analyst at ITA Toronto, the week was the result of a process built on fairness. “Our goal is to give every company the same chance to participate,” Johnson said. “We open the selection process publicly on our website, once a year for each event, and in every sector we cover: technology, machinery, consumer goods, apparel, food and beverage, furniture and construction.”
The timing is good. Sales of Italian products in Canada hit a record 13.6 billion Canadian dollars, the best figure in five years, and electrical and electronic equipment is now among Italy’s top five export sectors to Canada.
As the session wrapped up, business cards were traded, meetings were pencilled in, and a few conversations spilled out onto Bay Street. The founders had one more train to catch, to Montréal and the Centech pitch event. But in Toronto, at least, Italian innovation had officially landed.
Giulio Ancilli, Prometeo: We build algorithms that ensure you can trust what comes out of an LLM prompt,” said Giulio Ancilli of Prometeo. “Our work applies to medical and chemical applications, oil and gas, and manufacturing systems. We already work as a system integrator alongside partners like Deloitte, and supply chain optimization is a big part of what we do.
Our team includes Vittoria Bussi, a mathematician and world record holder in cycling, so we know a thing or two about precision. Now we’re looking for Canadian partners, especially system integrators, who want to bring that kind of precision to their clients.
Pietro Paolo De Crescenzo, Founder, Therness: Every weld tells a story through heat, and our software reads it. Since 2025, we’ve been bringing this quality control technology to automotive and defence, as well as to the railway, shipbuilding, and oil & gas sectors, where a single faulty weld can have serious consequences.
Canada has a strong manufacturing base in exactly these industries, so we’re here to establish our presence and meet potential distributors and partners who see a fit for our solution.
Andrea Giovannelli, Founder, Nano-Tech: At Nano-Tech we do advanced composites materials using innovative chemistry and nanotechnology. We deliver the best materials for the hardest challenges.
Our customers are already F1 Teams, supercar manufacturers and prominent companies in aerospace & defence. At elevate I’ve presented may company and what we do. We hope do develop interesting contacts that can help us enter the canadian market. We are looking for agents, distributors and business partners in general.
Meet the seven Italian startups
- Avacam develops remote monitoring technology to detect ground movement and help manage landslide risks.
- BCC Studio applies blockchain technology to business processes and collaboration.
- Fast Charge Engineering develops high-performance battery and energy storage systems.
- Nano-Tech produces advanced composite materials for demanding applications, including automotive and aerospace.
- PickEat helps event venues and vendors manage food and beverage orders and service.
- Prometeo develops AI solutions for complex business decisions and operations, including supply chains.
- Therness uses cameras and AI software to monitor welding and support industrial quality control.
