On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2026. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Axel ↗
In their words
Who cares when you start? Who cares who you are? Who cares what you do? And this is going to be a master class on how to win with $0, okay? Because I had $0
She's like, "Do you want money?" I said, "Actually, no." All the VCs are like, "What are you doing?" Sorry. I chose to get notoriety and notability and trust. So, I said, "Put my logo on every time they dance for the whole thing."
In 2.5 years we got over 10,000 plus users and we got over 60% market share in North America for software performing.
Around the web ×3
Quick answers
Who is Axel Villamil?
U of T News (2019-03-21) describes him as a hip hop dancer with about 15 years in the industry, a 2017 U of T Scarborough graduate, and StageKeep's co-founder alongside William Mak (BSc 2015), with the app built at UTSC's The Hub accelerator. TechTO's description of his October 2026 talk calls him co-founder of StageKeep, and stagekeep.com (read 2026-10-19) names him founder.
What was the Toronto Raptors deal?
On the TechTO stage he said a U of T story about the app reached about 85,000 views, MLSE's head of entertainment messaged him, and instead of payment he asked for StageKeep's logo on the arena screens whenever the dancers performed during the 2019 championship run (2:59). U of T News (2019-03-21) confirmed the Raptors were working with StageKeep and that its name was displayed in the arena; stagekeep.com quotes MLSE's Amberley Caroli saying the logo appeared at every halftime show that year.
How big is StageKeep?
He told the TechTO stage in October 2026 that StageKeep had 10,000+ users, 20,000+ performances created and more than 60% of the North American market for stage-planning software (6:37); those are his figures. Earlier milestones are documented by U of T: the choreographer app launched at the U of T Startup Showcase in March 2018 (2018-03-07), the team pitched on season 13 of CBC's Dragons' Den (UTSC, 2018-05-25) and left without a deal (U of T News, 2019-03-21).