Startup Train Wrapup | @ThreeFortyNine

With it’s second year under our belts, our Startup Train is becoming a bit like fight club in that you just don’t quite understand it until you experience it. Inspired by conversations on our train, Mira from Profit wrote about the role ego plays in startups and how to protect startup ideas. Katherine from ShopLocket summed it up well….

“The Startup Train was an amazing experience for everyone on board. I couldn’t imagine a better way to make new friends and connect with people before the event in Montreal”

As this is a wrapup post of sorts, I wanted to thank everyone who came on the train this year. You all know that the train is all about the people on it, so thanks for making it awesome. As well, thanks to our sponsors for supporting the train in a variety of ways, including being on the train with us. A special thanks to our two premier sponsors VIA Rail Canada and Fasken Martineau. Our other sponsors this year included:

Treats!!

Through our sponsors, we also managed to hand out some serious prizes/swag that I wanted to share. VIA Rail Canada handed out a total of $2500 in travel vouchers. The top level $1500 voucher went to Lloyd Longfield.

Jeff and Kevin awarded two Fasken Martineau prizes to train folks. Their Fasken Martineau Startup Program prize, with an approximate value of $2000, was awarded to Aran Hamilton and Brandon Kane from Vantage Analytics. As well, their Keep On The Right Track prize was awarded to Andrew Konoff of Strings.fm.

Several BlackBerry Z10 devices were awarded and a special congratulations to Ivan Lukianchuk from Will Pwn 4 Food, who won the Onstage pitch competition at Startup Festival. As well, thanks to the crew from Ryerson DMZ went the extra mile and served up some mimosa’s to kick off the trip.

Plans for the 2014 edition are already well underway. Keep an eye out here in the coming months as we’ll be sharing more experiences from this year’s Startup Train.