Techstars is organizing a series of global virtual startup weekends to devise solutions to problems created by the COVID-19 crisis, and the Canadian version will be held this weekend.

Titled “Unite to Fight COVID-19”, the event will take place from Friday April 24 to the following Sunday, and feature participants from across Canada.

Startup weekends are usually 54-hour events that take place in a single location, with participants coming together to spend a weekend developing a product. They always wrap up on a Sunday evening with pitches to a panel of judges.

Obviously, people can’t come together during the pandemic, so Techstars – the global accelerator network that bought the Startup Weekend parent company in 2015 – is organizing virtual events around the world.

“Whether you set out to solve a small-scale local issue or a national or global problem, the Techstars global community can support you,” said the Techstars Startup Weekend Canada Organizing Team in a statement. “We believe this Techstars Startup Weekend Covid-19 virtual edition is the perfect way to unite our country in an inclusive and safe way while creating impactful solutions.”

Several Atlantic Canadians are involved in organizing the event or serving as mentors. They include: Dominic Blakely, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategist at University of New Brunswick; Halifax-based entrepreneurship specialist Mary Kilfoil; Florian Villaumé, Director of the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship in St. John’s; Jade Yhap, CEO of Fredericton-based Reframe Games; and D. Darren MacDonald, Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurial Centre at Cape Breton University.

During this live, online event, innovators, developers and inventors from every province and territory will come together to develop prototypes that could solve pandemic-related problems.

Canada is one of more than 60 countries around the world participating in the event. The top 20 teams globally will go on to participate in a Techstars Innovation Bootcamp.

Participants are invited to submit their ideas 48 hours before the event kicks off on Friday. You can buy tickets to join here.