CIX 2026 Warm-up Mixer ⚡️

The CIX Summit is Canada’s biggest stage for startup investment - but the best deals often start with a handshake the night before. 
On March 23, Startup Grind Toronto is hosting the official warm-up mixer to welcome founders, investors, and delegates to the city. This is a pure networking event: just focused, high-impact connections in a high-energy environment. Whether you are a local founder or a visiting VC, this is the place to set your agenda for the summit ahead.

Why You Need to Be There:

Connect with other CIX attendees before the summit floor gets crowded.
Break the ice in a relaxed setting so you can walk into the Design Exchange on March 25th with a calendar full of warm leads.
Show out-of-towners why our ecosystem is the best in the country.

The Flow:

6:00 PM: Doors Open For Networking & Registration

7:00 PM: Pizza arrives!

9:00 PM: Close (Rest up for the Summit!)

Get in the room.

Agenda

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Hosts

Ankur Sethi - Winner Capital (Founder and General Partner)

Ankur Sethi is the Founder and General Partner of Winner Capital, a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund backing the next generation of North American consumer technology companies. He has over 17 years of experience as a consumer tech operator, having built and scaled three companies from inception to $100M+ in revenue, with one reaching a valuation above $2B.
His investment the…

Daria Tilikanova - Winner Capital (Startup Coach and Mentor)

Daria Tilikanova is a business and startup coach who helps founders and service-based entrepreneurs build scalable businesses with clear strategy, strong positioning, and predictable revenue systems.
Originally from Russia, she founded and sold two education companies before moving to Canada, where she shifted into full-time mentoring for early-stage and growing foun…

Lydia Emanuel - Startup Grind Toronto (Events Lead)

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Global Partner

Carta (http://www.carta.com/launch?utm_campaign=20240423-nam-general-smb-startup_grind_partnership&utm_medium=social&utm_source=startup_grind)
Carta helps people manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Carta Launch is the only free cap table product, helping new founders get started. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 7,000 funds and SPVs, and over two million equity holders to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. For more information, visit carta.com.

Partner

Winner Capital (https://winner.capital)
Winner Capital is an early stage to growth stage syndicate fund investing across North America

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Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-toronto-presents-cix-2026-warm-up-mixer/.