Lion’s Lair Gala Winners! #HamOnt was the Biggest Winner!
First off…no Snappay my own top ten finalist mobile app did not win, but then again, we did!
Lion’s Lair as all our regular readers know, is Hamilton’s answer to the CBC Dragon’s Den TV show – and we offer up a similar contest right here in #HamOnt for our own local startups to come and pitch to 5 local Lions! And what a great second annual it was this year too!
First for background, we covered the whole contest here…beginning back in June with the notice that we were one of the top ten finalists. We followed up that post with our own Elevator Pitch strategy post here….and then came our big win at the Innovation Factory SHOWDOWN competition here. We also published and made available our own final Pitch Deck too…the one that we used to present our Snappay app to the Lions. And finally we also showed the full page article published by our own Hamilton Spectator newspaper here….with the top ten finalists stories and a recap of the event.
And then came last Thursday night’s Gala and the showing of the top ten finalists pitches and the big reveal of the winners….and no, we didn’t make that cut!
Tip-O-the-Hat to Dunlea Farms, REfficient and Nervu! Job well done you entrepreneurs and I look forward to hearing more about each of you as you succeed!
But am I also disappointed?
Yes, in all sincerity I am a bit as I thought that Snappay surely was close to winning same…but am I still enthralled with the whole Lion’s Lair contest?
YES….I am that for sure!!!
It was the single most important event in our city when it comes to startups, new businesses who look to the future and for some kind of validation to what they have lived, breathed and yes, almos died over as they get their startup up and running. The simple fact that the big Gala was attended by some of the city’s top echelon of business leaders and technology visionaries was also quite apparent too….just trying to “work the room” was a real chore as you couldn’t walk 2 feet without stopping to chat with the next #HamOnt leader!
I loved it. It was without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever taken part of in our city – and the fact that Snappay did not win did not dull my love of the contest…it was – and it will be in the future the best startup event in town!
For the official re-cap of the event held Thursday Oct 4th up at our Carment’s Banquet Centre you should go here too…it offers up the winners and the various sponsors too who all need to be congratulated too! And a special thanks to Peter Mercanti and JP too….Carmen’s is surely one of the best venues in town and the hospitality given was outstanding!
And as I said before…”So Kudos to the Hamilton Chamber and David Adames their CEO and to our Innovation Factory and their Executive Director Ron Neumann….and their leadership on propelling Hamilton into the future using events like the Lion’s Lair and others too! Kudos to you all!”
Now….let’s all get started on Lion’s Lair 2013 shall we!