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LEVERAGING AI
TO ACCELERATE
INCLUSIVE INNOVATION
2.0
Redefining What’s Possible
Maclab Theatre, Citadel,
Edmonton Alberta
26 June 2026
5PM TO 9PM
- BTF 3.0
BLACK TO THE
FUTURE
Summit 2027
Black to the Future Summit returns to Edmonton in 2027. 600+ founders, investors, executives, policymakers and builders were in the room in 2026. Early Bird is $60 until [Close date TBC]. After that, $80.
Early Bird pricing is limited. Prices go up [date TBC].
- Where Innovation Meets Infrastructure
Canada’s national platform for Black-led innovation.
Black to the Future Summit is where ideas become opportunities, conversations become partnerships, and partnerships become measurable economic activity.
It is a one-day national gathering focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology and inclusive economic growth. Main stage programming, the BoB Pitch floor, the BTF Launchpad showcase, and a deliberately built networking floor where the majority of the value gets made.
It is also a graduation. Founders working through the Access Lab pathway reach the Summit as the milestone of the Black to the Future stage — arriving formalized, live on The Nod App, and ready to be seen by the people in the room.
Who is in the room
In 2026, 600+ people came from five provinces. They looked like this:
- Entrepreneurs and founders building in tech, product, energy, services and consumer
- Investors and capital allocators
- Corporate innovation and procurement leaders
- Government representatives and policymakers
- Post-secondary institutions and researchers
- Technology professionals, students and emerging talent
- Ecosystem builders and community organizations
Why it matters
Black founders in Canada do not lack ideas or capability. They lack proximity to capital, to procurement, to the decision-makers who move money. The Summit closes that distance in just a day and the platform holds it open for the rest of the year.
90+ collaborations were facilitated across sectors in the past 12 months. That is the metric that matters. Not attendance. Contact.
Who delivers it
Black to the Future Summit is owned by The Nod Foundation and delivered in partnership with The Nod Inc. The Foundation builds the supply side — formalizing businesses, running the Access Lab, producing the national research. The Inc. side builds the infrastructure and the audience: The Nod App, The Nod Magazine, and the campaigns that move demand city by city.
The Summit is where both halves meet in person
- BTF SUMMIT 2026 · THE IMPACT
Here is exactly what happened.
The Summit, in numbers
Black to the Future Summit 2026 drew more than 600 attendees to Edmonton — entrepreneurs, executives, investors, government representatives, post-secondary institutions and corporate leaders from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
attendees
provinces represented
speakers across main stage and breakout programming
sponsors and partners
BoB Pitch finalists
BTF Launchpad companies
The year around the Summit
The Summit sits inside a platform that runs continuously. Over the past twelve months, The Nod ecosystem delivered:
50,000+ readers per magazine edition
1M+ annual impressions across the magazine, contributors, partners and digital channels
80+ Black-owned businesses featured
120+ Black leaders and changemakers highlighted
90+ collaborations facilitated across sectors
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- WHAT LEFT THE BUILDING
A summit is judged by what happens after it ends.
BoB Pitch put five finalists in front of a live room and a panel of investors. Kemi Bolatito took it. Five startups came through BTF Launchpad. And $35,000 in Black Entrepreneurship Program funding was announced from the stage.
BoB Pitch 2026
Five finalists. One stage. Real capital on the table. Rolla won BoB Pitch 2026. Rolla is a cross-border multi-currency financial platform that lets you send, receive, hold, and exchange money globally from a single account.
- BTF Social
BTF Launchpad 2026
Five companies took the Launchpad stage in 2026:
BIMA
An AI-powered financial protection and insurance comparison platform operating in Canada that helps users assess their protection needs and connects them with licensed advisors.
UOMMA
A hiring service platform that connects Canadian founders, C-level professionals, and businesses with vetted virtual professional talent, focusing on building long-term working relationships with skilled BIPOC professionals.
Rootify
A foodtech that connects local producers, growers, and communities with markets looking for culturally significant produce.
KIO Renewables
A Canadian initiative specializing in the sustainable decommissioning and recycling of end-of-life wind turbines, transforming composite wind blade waste into valuable material for concrete.
Propurti
An AI-powered property management operating system and PropTech startup that unifies leasing, maintenance, rent collection, and tenant communication into a single platform.
- Who built 2026
It took an ecosystem, and the ecosystem showed up.
Sponsors
Government
Speakers
Volunteers
Participants
Black to the Future Summit is delivered by The Nod Foundation in partnership with The Nod Inc., and built with partners across the private sector, government and the post-secondary system.
2026 Innovation Partners & Funders
- The work continues
The Summit is just a day. This is the other 364.
Black to the Future Summit is one expression of a platform building Canada’s media and commerce infrastructure for Black-led businesses.
- The mandate
Recirculate $100 million over four years through 600 Canadian Black-owned businesses.
Everything below exists to move that number.
The Nod App
Canada’s social commerce platform for Black-owned businesses. Storefronts, deals and integrated payments in one place, with geolocation for finding Black-owned businesses and events nearby.
Access Lab
Canada’s first AI-enabled accelerator for Black founders. A six-stage pathway that takes a business from the informal economy to formalized, capital-ready and transacting: The Blackprint, Gold is Black, Black to the Future, Black on Board, Banking on Black, and Paying it Black. The Black to the Future stage graduates at this Summit. Banking on Black graduates at the BoB Pitch showcase. The programming you see on stage is the visible end of a year of work.
ACT
A multi-partner Black entrepreneurship program delivered across multiple cities, funded through PrairiesCan.
Access AI
A venture-building platform co-produced by The Nod and Odio HQ. Access AI isn’t a tool. It’s a venture-building platform.
The Nod Magazine
Canada’s leading voice for Black business. 50,000+ readers per edition, 80+ Black-owned businesses featured and 120+ leaders highlighted across the past year.
Research & Insights
The Nod Foundation tracks the informal economy as it formalizes, in real time, through platform data, and validates findings through academic partnerships. The output is the credible national baseline on Black business activity in Canada.
All of it meets in one room, once a year.
Black to the Future Summit 2027. Edmonton. Early Bird $60.
- BTF Summit 2027 · Edmonton
Two ways in.
Buy the ticket, or put your name on the room.
Attend
Early Bird ticket sales are on for $80 $60 only. Register early to claim your discount while offer lasts.
Sponsor
Reach 700+ founders, investors, executives and policymakers in one room, and stay in front of them for the year that follows.
Want to speak, volunteer, or represent your organization in another way? Tell us what you have in mind.
Be first to know.
Speaker announcements, agenda drops, and the warning before Early Bird closes. No noise.
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