Canadian-based Carbon-capturing startup, Cura Climate, wins PITCH at Web Summit Vancouver 2026

Canada-based Cura Climate, a deep tech startup helping cement producers slash their emissions, won the top prize at the Web Summit Vancouver 2026 PITCH competition, in partnership with KPMG. A staple of every Web Summit event, PITCH gathers early-stage startups from around the world to compete against hundreds of startup applicants and share their ideas across three days of rounds before thousands of attendees and investor  judges. 

The second edition of Web Summit’s North America event welcomed 20,235 attendees, 1,197 startups, and 768 investors from over 100 countries to the Vancouver Convention Centre, marking the largest investor turnout the North American edition has ever seen. Out of hundreds of applicants, 35 startups advanced to the three-day PITCH contest, and Cura ultimately impressed the judges the most, competing in the final against sports data startup Drive Hockey Analytics, and funding startup DealStack.

Cement is the foundation for our  modern world, and it’s also one of the most polluting industries on the planet. Co-founded by Sabrina Scott, Cura Climate is on a mission to change that, helping producers cut their emissions by up to 85%. Its technology, called electrochemical pre-calcination carbon capture, removes emissions upstream without forcing producers to replace their plants, their materials, or the way the industry already works. 

“Cement is one of the hardest industries in the world to clean up, and we’re showing it can be done with the infrastructure that already exists,” said Sabrina Scott, COO and co-founder of Cura Climate. “We’re a true deep tech, climate tech company.”

Just six months old and headquartered in Calgary, the company has already signed six MOUs across the cement value chain.

Reflecting on her time at Web Summit Vancouver, she said the most rewarding part has been seeing Canadian deep tech standing on the world stage at Web Summit Vancouver.

PITCH winner Sabrina Scott, COO of CURA, is interviewed by Casey Lau, Co-host og Web Summit (Florencia Tan Jun/Web Summit via Sportsfile)

“Vancouver Web Summit has something really special. There’s a bigger presence of hard tech, deep tech, and manufacturing here, and that’s a reflection of the Canadian tech ecosystem. It’s great to be able to showcase it to the world”, said Sabrina Scott, COO and co-founder of Cura Climate.

This isn’t Cura Climate’s first Web Summit. Earlier this year, the team flew to Doha for Web Summit Qatar, reaching the semifinals of the PITCH competition. “It was a totally different experience. We ended up connecting with a lot of really relevant contacts and investors. A big push for us to go to Web Summit Qatar was to start building up relationships in the Middle East, where there’s a lot of potential for growth, and we ended up starting some key relationships there,” said Sabrina Scott, COO and co-founder of Cura Climate.

US-based DealStack and Canada-based Drive Hockey Analytics finished as runners-up. DealStack is an end-to-end platform for people buying small businesses, bringing 100,000+ listings, AI-powered deal analysis, and lender matching into one place. Drive Hockey Analytics brings NHL-level player tracking to amateur hockey. Using sensors and AI, its portable system captures detailed data from tryouts, practices, and games, giving coaches, players, and parents the kind of insights that were once reserved for the pros. 

PITCH as a launchpad for visibility

Web Summit’s PITCH stage is a launchpad for visibility. Lite-1 won Web Summit’s first ever all-female PITCH final at Web Summit Vancouver 2025, alongside fellow Vancouver based finalists Vodasafe and Glüxkind. Since winning, Lite-1 has been named one of Canada’s Top Moonshot Ventures of 2026 by NACO.

Web Summit Vancouver 2026 highlights 

Web Summit Vancouver 2026 opened at the Vancouver Convention Centre with 20,235 attendees from over 100 countries, a nearly 30% jump from last year. With 1,197 startups and 768 investors on the ground, it marked the largest investor turnout the North American edition has ever seen.

Top VCs included Khosla Ventures, Benchmark, Fusion Fund, Insight Partners, and White Star Capital, alongside major exhibitors Microsoft, AWS, Google, IBM, Cloudflare, and Dell Technologies. Leading startup sectors were AI and machine learning, SaaS, healthtech, fintech, and education, with government and trade delegations from Italy, South Korea, Portugal, Qatar, Poland, and others.

Across three days, founders, investors, and policymakers explored the global AI race, the future of film and gaming, shifting trade and supply chains, and the push to scale clean tech, supported by 157 AI-matched meetups linking attendees around shared interests.

• Read more about the numbers, investors, media, startups, and partners at Web Summit Vancouver here. 

Top talks at Web Summit Vancouver 2026 included:

• Loneliness at the end of empire: Dr. Gabor Maté and Hasan Piker examined loneliness as a defining feature of late-stage Western hegemony, arguing that trauma, disconnection and unfulfillment are systemic outcomes of inequality, media saturation and political fragmentation, and calling for new forms of solidarity;
• From AI assistants to AI coworkers: what’s next?: Spence Green (CEO, Lilt) and Andrew Filev (CEO & founder, Zencoder) explored the shift from AI as a writing tool to autonomous agents that join teams, translate strategy into tasks and manage full project lifecycles.
• How to win in AI:  Courtney Fukuda (Co-founder, Metropolis) and Max Lytvyn (Co-founder, Superhuman), unpacked what actually creates durable advantage in AI today, whether through fundraising, fast growth or building lasting systems.
• Brand building in the age of AI: Jasmine Tookes (Co-founder, Brunel) and Jenny Wang (Founder, ALTA) discussed how doubling down on personality and protecting creative DNA helps brands stand out as AI content becomes ubiquitous.
• Building products people love:  Danny Rensch (Co-founder & Chief Chess Officer, Chess.com) and Jess Kirkman (Global Head of Brand Creative, Mattel) looked at how community, culture and shared experiences turn products into movements by designing for participation rather than consumption.

Meeting the right people

Web Summit Vancouver brought together attendees for over 150 curated meetups that encouraged meaningful dialogue and connections across shared interests. Using its Summit Engine software, the platform matched participants based on industry, expertise, and community background. 

Top meetups at Web Summit Vancouver included: 

• Women startup founders meetup
• Vancouver tech & founders meetup
• Speed Networking: meet & match
• North America meetup
• The AI-Native Happy Hour: Founders & Engineering Leaders by Scrut Automation

Web Summit returns to Vancouver in 2027, from May 25 to May 28.