A founder who rebuilt after a failed startup.
Founder Recognition ProgramInaugural Award • 2026
Canada’s Award for Founders Who Refused to Quit
Honouring the builders who kept going through the setbacks, pivots, near-death moments, and years when nobody was paying attention.
Inaugural winner announced July 8, 2026 during Startupfest Montréal.
Why I Created This Award
Over the last twenty years, I’ve met hundreds of founders.
The ones who changed me were not always the founders who raised the most money, moved the fastest, or made the most noise.
They were the ones who kept building after everyone assumed they would quit.
The founder who lost a major customer and started again. The founder who survived a failed product. The founder who kept serving customers when nobody was watching. The founder who stayed in the arena long enough for the world to finally catch up.
The Honey Badger Founder Award exists to recognize those builders.
— Stephen Southin
Built for the founders who are still building.
What the Award Recognizes
The Honey Badger Founder Award recognizes one Canadian founder each year who has demonstrated extraordinary persistence, resilience, and resourcefulness in the face of real setbacks.
This is not an award for the loudest launch, the biggest funding round, or the trendiest company.
It is for the founder who kept going when the easier answer was to stop.
Founder Resilience Award
What Makes a Honey Badger Founder?
A founder who kept going after losing funding, customers, or momentum.
A founder who survived a hard pivot and kept serving the market.
A founder who built quietly for years before the world noticed.
A founder who showed uncommon resourcefulness when resources were scarce.
A founder whose resilience made other builders believe they could keep going too.
Why Honey Badger
Relentless. Resourceful. Unbreakable.
Honey badgers are known for toughness, adaptability, and refusal to back down.
For founders, that spirit rarely looks glamorous.
It looks like hard pivots, quiet rebuilding, uncomfortable tradeoffs, long nights, scarce resources, and the decision to keep serving customers before the world catches up.
Why a Ring?
Rings are worn. Trophies sit on shelves.
The Honey Badger ring is designed to be carried forward as a reminder of what it took to keep building. It is not just a prize. It is a marker of persistence.
Winner Receives
One ring. One founder. One story of persistence.
The custom Honey Badger Founder Award ring
Full Startupfest Montréal registration pass
Official induction into the Honey Badger Hall of Fame
Long-form founder profile on StephenSouthin.com
Recorded founder interview / story feature
Digital winner badge for LinkedIn, website, and email signature
Lifetime Honey Badger Founder designation
Personal introductions where helpful and appropriate
Nomination Criteria
Persistence matters more than polish.
Founder must be based in Canada or building a company with a meaningful Canadian connection
Founder must be actively building or have recently built through a major challenge
Founder should demonstrate resilience, resourcefulness, and persistence
Company stage can be early, growth, turnaround, or post-exit
Funding amount is not the deciding factor
Self-nominations are allowed
Nominations from investors, operators, customers, peers, and community members are encouraged
Nominate a Founder
Tell us who kept building.
Share the founder, the challenge, and the reason their persistence deserves to be recognized. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.
Honey Badger Hall of Fame
The first chapter starts in 2026.
Inaugural Recipient
To Be Announced
July 8, 2026
Timeline
Inaugural 2026 award calendar.
Now
June 30, 2026
July 8, 2026
Startupfest Montréal
FAQ
Questions before nominating.
Who can be nominated?
Canadian founders and founders building companies with a meaningful Canadian connection are eligible. The award is designed for active builders, whether they are early, growth-stage, rebuilding, or post-exit.
Do nominations need to come from someone else?
No. Self-nominations are allowed, and nominations from investors, operators, customers, peers, and community members are encouraged.
Is funding or company size the deciding factor?
No. Funding amount is not the deciding factor. The award recognizes persistence, resilience, resourcefulness, and the founder’s willingness to keep building through difficulty.
Can I nominate a founder who has not raised venture capital?
Yes. Funding is not the deciding factor. The award is designed to recognize persistence, resilience, and resourcefulness, regardless of whether the founder has raised outside capital.
When will the winner be announced?
The inaugural winner will be announced on July 8, 2026, with the award presentation connected to Startupfest Montréal.
Still building?
Nominate a Canadian founder whose story deserves to be seen.
Submit Nomination