Sustainable colourants startup Lite-1 wins Web Summit’s first-ever all-female PITCH final

In a competitive final round, Vancouver-based biotech startup Lite-1 took home the top prize in the first-ever Web Summit Vancouver Pitch Competition.

The win capped off a multi-day contest that saw 35 startups pitch live—narrowed down from more than 1,100 applicants. Notably, all three finalists—Lite-1, Glüxkind, and Vodasafe—were based in Vancouver and led by women founders.

“I think this is going to have a big impact on Lite-1,” said CEO and co-founder Roya Aghighi. “Especially being in Vancouver with a novel biotech company—the city is not an anchor for the type of innovation we’re doing. This puts us on the map and says, ‘Hey, Vancouver startups are doing amazing things, too.’”

Lite-1 stood out for its sustainable colourants—a clean, biological alternative to synthetic dyes used in fabrics, food, and more. Web Summit’s pitch competition is known for its visibility: according to Crunchbase, startups that pitched at Collision (Web Summit’s previous North American edition) raised a combined $1.2 billion over the past year.

“As a result of this competition, we already have investors reaching out,” Aghighi added. “It’s been an incredible opportunity for networking and building connections.”

This year’s Web Summit Vancouver brought together 15,727 attendees from 117 countries, alongside 50 trade delegations from countries including South Korea, Ukraine, Turkiye, and Nigeria.

“It can feel isolating doing what we do in Vancouver,” Aghighi said. “So hopefully this starts to change that.”