Hutsy Financial founder Tefari Bailey was announced the $100,000 Black Entrepreneur prize winner at the 2023 Startupfest, held in Montreal from July 12 to 14.

Bailey also won the Audience Choice Award for participating in the event’s Best Pitch competition. He was a Top 10 finalist in that category, a statement reads.

“This win fuels my motivation to propel Hutsy even further, revolutionizing the financial industry through innovation,” Bailey told BetaKit. “I’m excited to harness this momentum for our growth and continue to inspire other (minority-owned) founders.”

Rep Matters presented the Black Entrepreneur prize to Hutsy Financial in partnership with FACE, Groupe 3737, and Tribe Network.

The fintech platform allows customers to track their spending through a companion app and make purchases using a Peoples Trust-issued Visa prepaid card. Hutsy Financial also plans to launch new features, such as credit-building abilities, early direct deposit, and a one per cent cash back on all purchases, which caught the attention of eventgoers.

Hosted to emphasize the impact of AI and tech in our changing world, the Startupfest brought together hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs, executives, and decision-makers during the three-day event, which featured a wide range of speakers and activities.

Over $585,000 in cash prizes were awarded to startups last week, primarily due to investor participation. A total of $300,000 was expected to be distributed, according to Startupfest’s website.

Black investors and speakers that took centre stage included Monique Woodard, managing director of Cake Ventures, a venture capital (VC) firm that recently received $100,000 in funding from Blk Grvty and Known Holdings.

Cake Ventures was also part of a $5 million capital raise in April for Eli Health, a Montreal-based healthcare technology company committed to enhancing women’s lifelong health through saliva-based hormone testing.

Other speakers were Dr. Theresa Johnson, product manager at Airbnb; Ron J. Williams, partner at Co-Created, a partly Black-owned VC firm; Jerry Overton, CEO of appliedAIStudio; and Brittany Charlton, founder and CEO of Ohh! Foods, whose vegan food products and snack bites are available in more than 1,800 Canadian stores.

On Tuesday (July 18), Charlton announced expansion plans to a unknown major retailer in the fall, according to a recent LinkedIn post.

Also included was a wide range of accelerator programs for entrepreneurs to access at the event’s Tent Village, where many activations were held over the three days. You can see the complete list of programs here, as well as the names of the judges who presided over the contests.