In collaboration with Urbana Marketing
A rather special event was held in 10 cities around the world: 57 female entrepreneurs took to the stage simultaneously to present their start-ups, all broadcast internationally via a viewing platform. The audience? More than 1,000 investors, advisors and business leaders came to applaud these women in technology and company founders. What do these women have in common? They’re all looking for venture capital for their companies. How did this event come about? Meet the instigator of the project in Montreal.
One spring day in 2019, Ana Marinescu heard an announcement from the federal government: they wanted to double the number of women entrepreneurs in Canada by 2025, from 16% to 32%. It clicked in her head! She’s going to help the country reach its goal. Entrepreneurship is Ana’s passion. Ana holds an MBA from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business, where she teaches a course on entrepreneurial motivation. She became an entrepreneur herself, founding her agency, Urbana Marketing, in 2006.
In pursuit of her mission, Ana hears about Women’s Startup Lab, a program that enables female founders to propel their businesses forward. Wanting to hit the entrepreneurial world hard, the program’s organizers decide to hold an international event showcasing women-owned businesses. It’s called WiSE24. The aim was to showcase female role models and enable female entrepreneurs to find financing. So Ana decided to organize the Montreal version of the event. It will take place at Element AI and will be supported by the co-founder of the successful Montreal startup, Anne Martel.
Here are the six female startup founders who took to the stage:
Ashley Werhun, co-founder of Mentorly, an online platform offering mentoring in the creative and innovation fields.
Gabrielle La Rue, co-founder of Locketgo, offering mobile recharging lockers for event participants.
Sarah Jenna, co-founder of MyIntelligentMachines, helps life sciences companies use artificial intelligence to optimize food and pharmaceutical production.
Josette Landry, founder of Streamline Genomics, offers a platform enabling clinicians and researchers to benefit from the power of genomic sequencing, without expertise in data analysis.
Marina Massingham, founder of AIfred Health, offers a clinical decision tool to help predict which mental health treatments are most likely to be effective for a patient.
Jade Doucet-Martineau, co-founder of Puzzle Medical Devices, develops the least invasive heart pump possible.
Ana Marinescu has decided to make her commitment to women’s entrepreneurship official by founding a non-profit organization: Initiative pour la Diversité et l’Inclusions Entrepreneuriales (Initiative for Entrepreneurial Diversity and Inclusion). The official launch is imminent.
