L-Spark, an Ottawa-based SaaS accelerator, has partnered with Queen’s University to launch Compass North, an accelerator program designed to support women entrepreneurs in the Kingston, Bellville, and Brockville regions.
“This program will help women entrepreneurs in the Kingston region to grow their existing technology-based companies.”
Compass North is a five-month cohort-based program that aims to help female entrepreneurs scale their technology companies with the support of hands-on mentorship and training from expert advisors.
During the program, each participant will be paired with a mentor to receive guidance on creating strategic plans and reaching business goals and objectives. Participants will also receive access to networking opportunities and workshops on topics such as digital marketing, sales, product, and public relations.
“Our aim is to help women entrepreneurs scale their businesses through mentorship, strategic training, and access to our community,” said Leo Lax, the executive managing director of L-Spark.
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L-SPARK noted that an advisory group has been formed to oversee the program. The group includes Shopify’s global wellness specialist Chivon John, Connections’ Silicon Valley chief executive officer Joanne Fedeyko, and entrepreneur Mallory Rowan.
“This program will help women entrepreneurs in the Kingston region to grow their existing technology-based companies and achieve new heights of success,” said Janice Mady, the research and innovation partnerships director at Queen’s University.
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Compass North is being supported by the Government of Canada, which made a $3.2 million contribution to Queen’s University to design and deliver programs that support and provide resources to women entrepreneurs. The funding comes from the government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy Ecosystem Fund, a $2 billion investment looking to double the number of women-owned businesses by 2025.
The accelerator is one of several programs launched by L-Spark, in partnership with other companies and institutions. In March 2019, L-Spark partnered with Telus, BlackBerry, and Solace to launch the Secure IoT Accelerator program, which aims to support Canadian IoT businesses. In September 2018, L-Spark launched a new accelerator with BlackBerry to give companies access to QNX technology.
Image source Compass North via Twitter.