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Sep 30 - Oct 2, 2025 Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Startup Spotlight Competition

Wednesday, October 1 | 3:00 PM

MTCC, Toronto, Ontario

Keynote Hall (Hall F, Level 800)

The Black Hat Startup Spotlight Competition at SecTor 2025 is a pitch competition designed to showcase the best innovations in the cybersecurity industry.

Enter your startup today to gain visibility, connect with industry leaders and accelerate your growth. Finalists are offered the opportunity to win their way to Black Hat USA 2026.

About The Competition

Win your way to SecTor 2025 and Black Hat USA 2026

Create and submit your 5-minute video using the Form below, calling out your company’s competitive advantages of the product or solution and how it will help cybersecurity pros. Products and solutions can be in development, about to launch or in the recently launched phases.

Finalists Receive

  • One Turnkey Startup booth at SecTor 2025
  • One scheduled speaking session
  • One 30-minute call with an Omdia Cybersecurity Analyst

Key Dates

  • June 16: Competition Opens
  • August 18: Submissions Due and Competition Closes
  • September 3: Finalists Announced
  • October 1-2: Finalists Pitch LIVE at SecTor
  • August 2026: Winner Pitches LIVE at Black Hat USA in the Global Startup Spotlight Competition

Who Can Enter

Any startup company 5 years old or less with less than 50 employees is eligible to enter the competition.

Note: It is not necessary to be an Exhibitor at SecTor 2025 to enter the competition. There are no entry fees.

LEARN MORE about promoting your company as an Exhibitor at SecTor 2025

Submit your Entry

Submissions are now closed, thank you for your interest!

Judges

Finalists will present their cutting edge product or service before our panel of judges and live audience in a 5-minute final pitch, followed by 5-minutes of Q&A from our judges.

Startup Spotlight Judges

Roy Firestein

Roy Firestein

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CEO

Autohost.ai

Roy Firestein is a strategist, seasoned hacker and expert in cyber security, business development and project management. He has a background in security, programming, research, management, marketing and sales with a unique ability to manage multi-disciplinary projects while navigating complex cyber challenges. Roy’s passion lies in Big Data and Machine Learning, especially when applied to cyber security. As a multi-linguist of technology-driven business, he speaks fluent geek, marketer, designer, salesperson and investor.

Helen Oakley

Helen Oakley

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Senior Director Software & AI Security

SAP

Helen Oakley, CISSP, GPCS, GSTRT, works at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and software supply chains—where the rules are still being written. At SAP, she leads a global team of architects, security experts, and scientists, securing development and pipelines at scale. She created the first open-source AI SBOM generator for models on Hugging Face, bringing clarity to AI supply chains. A core contributor to OWASP’s Agentic AI Security guide, she maps how autonomous systems can be manipulated or hijacked. Helen also co-leads the AI SBOM initiative under CISA and is a Founding Partner of AISUF.org, shaping secure AI frameworks for critical infrastructure. Named one of the Top 20 Canadian Women in Cybersecurity, she co-founded LeadingCyberLadies.com to support the next wave of builders, breakers, and leaders.

Eldon Sprickerhoff

Eldon Sprickerhoff

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Strategic Advisor

Caledon Ventures

Eldon Sprickerhoff devotes significant time as a strategic advisor to infosec startups.

Eldon is best known as a founder of eSentire, a premier Managed Detection and Response infosecurity services company with global operations.

Ways to connect with Eldon:

Additional judges TBA.

NOTE: Judges must disclose any conflicts of interest with participating startups and will not evaluate companies where such conflicts exist. Each startup is scored according to the official competition criteria, with final rankings determined by the average of all eligible judges' evaluations.

Questions? Contact startup@blackhat.com