Y2 Startup Challenge for high-school students (February 14 & 21, 2026)

In this conference, you'll work with a group (of your choosing) to develop an idea for a startup business and pitch it to a panel of judges. Your startup ideas aren't limited to just "business" ideas - solutions to address all types of problems, whether they be in social justice, education, trades, arts, sports, health & wellness, LGBTQ+, etc, are highly encouraged!

In this 2-Saturday program that takes place at York University's YSpace innovation hub, you will identify an issue you want to solve, create a persona to understand the unmet needs caused by the problem, build a prototype of your solution, and develop a pitch that you will present to a panel of judges.

You'll be supported by several hands-on workshops and mentoring from business owners and industry professionals. Plus, 3 full meals will be provided on both Saturdays, all covered by your admission fee of just $40 (plus Eventbrite's fee).

And what's at stake? 3 cash prizes will be awarded!

• $300 to the startup that the judges would invest in
• $200 to the startup that is most ready to launch as a real business
• $100 to the People’s Choice

So, why should you come to Y2?

• Work with like-minded youth - meet people as passionate as you
• Form your own groups to solve a problem that you get to choose
• Expand your personal network, as you interact with mentors from across York Region and the GTA
• If you have an idea already, you can accelerate your business!

**Note for SHSM Students: If you let us know beforehand that you’re in SHSM (any sector), you’ll receive a SPE-ICE certification for participating in the conference. If you’re a Business SHSM student, you’ll also receive a Public Speaking certification. These are both included in your admission fee.**

See you at Y2!

You get to choose which group you work with, and then as a group you choose the problem you want to tackle. We'll give some food for thought, but the decision of what problem to address and your solution are entirely up to you! There’s also a good balance between instruction & speaker time and group work & socialization time, so you'll have time to get work done as well as make new friends and contacts.

Not at all. You retain full ownership of your idea. We just want to help you develop it; we don't want to take any of it away from you!

Absolutely! You’ll have time at the conference to come up with an idea of your own, and if you don't have one you can join a team that is working on an idea that you like.

100%! You can even form a team with them and work on an idea together - although more often friends who come together wind up working on different startup ideas, and the ensuing trash talk is epic.

The mentors, speakers and judges are all business owners, product owners and / or leaders in their organizations. As we confirm mentors, we will share their bios.

All of the workshops will not only help you develop your startup idea and pitch, but can be applied to other ideas you might have outside of the Challenge. Here's what the workshops will cover:

• Using a persona to understand customer and user needs
• Prototyping
• Covering the costs of your solution (costs and revenue)
• Gathering feedback
• Your solution's Unique Value Proposition

Yes. On February 14 you'll develop your startup idea and begin to work on the pitch; on February 21 you will present your pitch to the judges.

We'll add information about our sponsors as they're confirmed. Come back for more info!

Also check out other Contests in Markham, Workshops in Markham, Health & Wellness events in Markham.