Hey Everyone,

Last night we celebrated Canada’s most inspiring young founders on stage at the YEY Awards, hosted by Manitoba Innovates and presented by the League of Innovators. It was a heck of an evening:

• Trophies were given

• Dance parties broke out

• Mid-Day Squares were thrown into the crowd

• And the founder of Skip the Dishes even made a surprise appearance

All of these fun things for one reason — because these incredible young entrepreneurs are building the future of Canadian innovation, and they deserve all the credit they can get.

So with that in mind, ready to meet the category award winners from last night? Of course you are.

Special thanks to Josh Bruneski from OverTime Marketing for capturing all of the photos and videos of the night. Please tag him and OverTime Marketing with credit in any photo you share from our event photo album.

📰 Congrats to Our 2025 YEY Award Winners

🏆 2025 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by Manitoba Innovates: Francesca Albo, Puppy Sphere

🏆 Young Black Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt: Nanette Sene, Juno Technologies

🏆 Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by TD Canada Trust: Annika Ng, Blossom Social

🏆 Young Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by The League of Innovators: James Quinn, Larry's Catch

🏆 Emerging Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by Futurpreneur: Georgiy Sekretaryuk, Overdrive

🏆 Emerging Tech Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by Boast: Ankur Boyed, Boardy.AI

🏆 Clean Tech Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award — Presented by Baker Tilly WM: Jennifer Cote, Opalia

Thank You to Our Speakers

Jake Karls and Mike Fata blew the roof off last night with their stories.

And MC, Jennah Dohms, did a fantastic job introducing them.

Thank You to Our Partners

We couldn’t have done this without the support of our incredible partners and sponsors:

Thank you to Manitoba Innovates for welcoming us to Winnipeg as our Host Partner.

And to our friends at Flair Airlines, Osler, Baker Tilly, Boast.ai, TD, Futurpreneur, Float Financial, and Shift Canada — you were the ENTIRE REASON this event was the success it was. Thank you for that.

And to our Category Partners, thank you for your support in showcasing diverse stories of entrepreneurship.

And to our Community Partners, thanks for spreading the word, nominating your founders and raising your hands to help judge our incredible entrepreneurs.

You were the backbone we needed to pull off this dream.

And to our Prize Sponsors, thanks for adding a bit of surprise to each gift bag:

• Tentree

• Native shoes

• Sunnii Gum

• OhMe!!

• Arrow Supplements

• DUER

• Before Toothpaste

• Mike Fata’s book, Grow

• Mid-Day Squares

• Flair Airlines

All of our partners were incredible. And they didn’t just believe in us, they bet on us, and they did it BIG.

Stay In Touch

Stay in touch with us on LinkedIn and Instagram to keep following along the founders shaping Canada’s entrepreneurial future.

And forward this email to a young founder you know to inspire them to apply to next year’s YEYAwards.

Thank you to our finalists, partners, judges, and volunteers who made this celebration of entrepreneurship possible.

Together, we’re building a stronger, more connected community of innovators

From our team to you, thanks for a history-breaking 2025 YEY Awards!

Until next year!

The LOI and 2025 YEY Awards Team