Fifteen women-led Canadian tech companies have been selected to participate in the third iteration of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and BDC Capital’s Women in Tech accelerator.
GAC, through its consulate general in Los Angeles and consulate in Silicon Valley, has partnered with BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund (WIT) to host the 2021 Women in Tech ‘California Dreaming’ Program from March 2 to 4.
The three-day accelerator aims to help promising women entrepreneurs grow their businesses outside of Canada.
The three-day accelerator aims to help promising women entrepreneurs grow their businesses outside of Canada. Due to COVID-19, this year’s program, which was previously known as the Women in Tech Silicon Valley Program, will be hosted virtually.
“Taken alone, California’s GDP would make it the fifth largest economy in the world,” said Rana Sarkar, consul general of Canada in San Francisco. “If you consider that the Bay Area remains as the world’s top technology and venture capital ecosystem, the immensity of opportunities that present for Canadian companies is clear.”
The program involves direct introductions and one-on-one meetings with potential investors and strategic partners, group forums with peers, advice from local experts, and various other networking opportunities.
According to GAC, the 2021 program will be the first to combine Canada’s two diplomatic missions in California—Los Angeles and Silicon Valley (Palo Alto).
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“In our current environment, finding creative ways to help companies make strategic connections to scale outside of Canada is critical,” said Michelle Scarborough, managing partner, Strategic Investments and WIT at BDC.
“Our mandate is to support strong, scalable women-led tech companies and working with the Canadian Government, we can help propel their growth more quickly and to inspire more women to play strong leadership roles in tech and as investors,” she added.
The WIT is a $200 million CAD fund supported by the Government of Canada that aims to invest in women-led tech companies and support programming that furthers gender diversity in the ecosystem.
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This year’s full list of attendees includes:
Ample Labs – AI – Toronto
Boss Insights – FinTech – Toronto
Four Eyes Financial – FinTech – Saint John
Gallea – e-commerce – Montreal
Learning Branch – HR Tech – Vancouver
My Gas Tank – FinTech – Calgary
Optimity – healthtech – Toronto
Rebelstork – e-commerce – Toronto
Rival Technologies – market research tech – Vancouver
RockMass – industrial tech, Toronto
Shift – productivity tech – Victoria
SpaceRyde – space tech – Concord
Summit Nanotech – cleantech – Calgary
Welbi – healthtech – Ottawa
Willful – LegalTech – Toronto
Photo of Lori Weir, CEO and co-founder of Four Eyes Financial, courtesy of Four Eyes Financial