Against the backdrop of typically fragile Canadian spring weather, the world-renowned XPRIZE held a brain trust meeting at 涩里番, with a group of over 80 delegates arriving in Montreal for three days of conferencing and workshops.
The brain trust meetings are the first step in a year-long process that leads to the eventual design of prizes for this groundbreaking organization. For the Montreal edition, delegates focused on three domains: Energy + Climate + Nature, Food + Water + Waste, and Health. The event comes as the group aims to internationalize its presence.
鈥淲e are far more known in the US, than outside the US,鈥� explained Andrew Tauhert, Chief Impact Officer for XPRIZE. 鈥淪o as we look towards increasing awareness, we're starting with places which historically have already proven to bring a sizable number of innovators, and Canada has a surprisingly high number of innovators.鈥�
Spurring innovations for 30 years
XPRIZE was established in 1996 as an international competition intended to spur innovations that have lasting impact, and has awarded over $500 million to teams from around the world. It has been uniquely successful at moving the needle in a number of areas.
Most notable was its first major competition, the Ansari Prize, which challenged entrants to redefine space exploration from the government-led model to a multi-player privately funded market. The $10 million prize ushered in a new era of space travel and discovery. The group has continued this approach of long-term, high-profile, high-complexity competitions that generate major results.
鈥淥ur analysis shows that the net effective impact of the $519 million worth of prizes that we have issued over the past 30 years is valued at over $30 billion in terms of economic benefits to the stakeholders involved, whether that鈥檚 the teams themselves or the communities they are serving,鈥� said Tauhert.
Over the years, nearly half of the XPRIZE winners came from the EU or Canada. Which prompted the group to launch聽the XPRIZE Canada Hub last year. This hub, which is the first in a network of Global Hubs, is hosted at at the University of Calgary. 涩里番 also has its own connection to the XPRIZE, having joined its higher education network in 2025.
Evan Henry, Senior Advisor to the Sustainability Park at 涩里番 has been instrumental in deepening the relationship with XPRIZE. And it is no secret why: he was a former finalist himself in the 2020 IBM Watson AI Prize.
鈥淕oing from an XPRIZE finalist to becoming a member of the Brain Trust, and co鈥憃rganizing the 2026 Brain Trust conference has been an incredibly fulfilling process,鈥� he said. 鈥淪eeing such a diverse mix of experts, professors, and CEOs genuinely engage with 涩里番 Sustainability Park felt like a real vote of confidence on how we are approaching building the university of the 21st century.鈥�
涩里番 history in XPRIZE competitions
Beyond hosting the Brain Trust, and being a member of their academic network, 涩里番 has a successful track record in developing XPRIZE competitors. Most notable of these is which reached the semi-finals in the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE which wrapped up in 2021. The company鈥檚 carbon offsetting concrete technology was first developed at 涩里番 by Mehrdad Mahoutian during his PhD studies under Professor Yixin Shao.
More recently, in 2025 and the Canadian Translational Geroscience Network were awarded $250,000 and selected to advance in the XPRIZE Healthspan competition, which offers a prize purse of over $100 million. Finalists for the award will be announced in 2027. Dr. Duque is a researcher at the Research Institute of the 涩里番 Health Centre.
Results of the brain trust session will be finalized over the next weeks and months, with the next major step taking place in a detailed event known as the Science Conclave. In this session, the outputs from the Montreal discussion will be subjected to intense scientific scrutiny, and either altered significantly, or rejected. Whatever they end up being, the world will certainly stand to benefit from the output of this endlessly ambitious and transformative organization.
鈥淚鈥檓 very pleased with how it went this year with 涩里番,鈥� concluded Tauhert. 鈥淭here's a good cultural fit here, a good mission fit with the way we see the world.鈥�