The Collision Conference has survived its sign-trashing debacle, successfully wrapping up the event in Toronto on Thursday. 

With it, the PITCH competition for early-stage startups also came to a close.

Two Toronto-based companies emerged from the 500-startup competition as the winner and runner-up—and both have relevance to local issues.

Syzl took home the top spot for its business-to-business marketplace platform that allows chefs to rent professional kitchens near them.

The system allows users to filter through and find kitchens with the equipment that fits their needs. 

Congratulations to Syzl on winning PITCH 2023 👏

The team is revolutionizing the food industry space by connecting food makers with underutilized commercial kitchen spaces. pic.twitter.com/XeJ8qdSg8A

— Collision Conf (@CollisionHQ) June 29, 2023

The company's co-founder Azrah Manji-Savin cited her parents' immigrant background in a press release. "The easiest and quickest way for immigrant communities to make money is to sell food," she revealed.

"We were so passionate about finding something to support these communities so that they're able to scale and grow, because this is the economy’s backbone." 

Fractionum is a real estate investment platform, also based in Toronto. 

The startup describes itself as Canada's first fractional real estate platform, allowing members to invest as little as $1 in properties on and off the market. 

The team at Fractionum finds properties for users to invest in and, once bought, will retain or manage them on your behalf.

It's free to sign up—Fractionum takes a 1 per cent assets under-management fee instead. They've also clarified that users don't need to have a good credit rating to sign up. 

Who knows, maybe the service can help users capitalize on an increasingly unlivable Toronto real estate market that has seen landlords renting half a bed.