Women & Wearables

We Are Wearables and Electric Runway have teamed up to host “Women and Wearables,” a night of celebration, conversation, and activism empowering women in wearable tech.

This special edition of WWTO will touch on the opportunities & challenges for women in hardware, the need for diversity in tech teams, and the journey of the female founder.

Beverages & food will be provided courtesy of Herscu & Goldsilver and Meta.

Our Goal

The goal of this event is to raise awareness, drive conversation and illicit action on the need for diversity in tech in the Toronto wearable and hardware space.

Celebrating Female Founders & Female-focused Products

In addition to an all-female cast on stage, we are also hosting female-founded or female-focused startups and organizations in our demo area.

Canadian Female Hardware Cup

We are excited to announce that We Are Wearables has joined forces with ideaBOOST to host the Canadian Female Founders Hardware Cup – a showcase and celebration of Canadian female founders of growth-oriented startups building hardware and wearable products for the Canadian media and entertainment industry. Six female founder semi-finalists will be invited to pitch and demo at this event with one Canadian finalist chosen by a jury of judges to pitch and attend the International Hardware Cup on April 19 – 20, 2017 (Pittsburgh).

Developing a wearable or hardware products with a focus on media & entertainment? Submit your application here. 

• Product must be past ideation stage (eg. working prototype, beta version)
• Your hardware or wearable product must have an media and entertainment use-case (applicable to gaming, VR, broadcasters, entertainment brands, etc)
• Founding team includes female Founder
• Co-productions and joint ventures between Canadian and non-Canadian companies are also eligible, provided that the Canadian team member is the one who submits the application

Participating Companies

Meta, InteraXon (Muse), Linkitz, eSight, OCADu’s Social Body Lab, CFC ideaBOOST, Little Robot Friends, Ripple, Daniel Christian Tang, Ladies Learning Code, Women of Wearables, and more to be announced soon!

Agenda

6:00-6:45: Registration & Networking (Expo open)

6:45-7:00: Opening Remarks – Paula Kwan, Co-Organizer of We Are Wearables

7:00-7:10: “Women and Hardware” – Amanda Cosco, Founder of Electric Runway

7:10-7:25: Keynote – Karen Kwan, VP of Finance & Operations, Meta

7:25-7:40: Keynote – Ana Serrano, Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Film Centre

7:40-8:10: Panel: Diversity and Design – Women in Wearables

• Kate Hartman – Director of the Social Body Lab, OCAD University
• Ariel Garten – CEO & Founder of InteraXon, makers of Muse
• Sky Gillespie, Director of Digital Communications, Ripple
• Yvonne Felix – Partnerships at eSight, smart glasses for the nearly blind
• Lyssa Neel – CEO & Founder of Linkitz, wearable toys for girls
• Ann Poochareon – Co-founder & COO, Little Robot Friends
• Moderated by Amanda Cosco, Founder of Electric Runway

8:10-9:00: IDEABOOST & WE ARE WEARABLES present the Canadian Female Founders Hardware Cup

9:00-10:00: Networking and expo area