RainStick Shower, HyIvy Health awarded collective $100,000 at Winter 2020 Fierce Founders Bootcamp

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RainStick Shower and HyIvy Health have been named winners at Communitech’s Winter 2020 Fierce Founders Bootcamp.

The bootcamp invites women founders from early-stage companies to develop business skills, collaborate with mentors, network with like-minded women entrepreneurs, and learn to pitch. A total of 25 female entrepreneurs from across Canada participated in the program at the Communitech Hub in Kitchener, Ontario, over the course of a month.

Launched in 2016, Fierce Founders aims to help female tech entrepreneurs accelerate their companies.

Alisha McFetridge, co-inventor of Toronto-based RainStick Shower, was awarded $75,000. RainStick has developed a shower that claims to reduce both water and energy consumption by 80 percent. The product recirculates, heats, and filters water while aiming to provide a high-pressure and relaxing shower experience.

Rachel Bartholomew, founder and CEO of Kitchener-Waterloo startup Hylvy Health, was awarded second place and $25,000. Hylvy Health develops sexual rehabilitation devices for women with pelvic health diseases and cancers. The device provides real-time information from eight different sensors and five mechanical functions to give users the most comfortable and informed experience through their sexual recovery.

Launched in 2016, Fierce Founders aims to help female tech entrepreneurs accelerate their companies. The program is supported by FedDev Ontario, as well as the Business Development Bank of Canada and Google for Startups.

RELATED: FedDev Ontario investing $264,000 in Fierce Founders

Throughout the bootcamp, participants learn about how to run a successful startup and attend classes on business fundamentals including customer validation, leadership, financials, and sales. Participants also received mentorship from entrepreneurs and experts, which included coaching on their pitch presentations.

The pitches for the Winter 2020 bootcamp were judged by a panel of industry experts, which included Danielle Graham, principal at Dream Maker Ventures, who helped create Fierce Founders, legal advisor Amy Hastings, Rebecca Tascona, regional president of South Western Ontario at BMO, and Steven Woods, senior director of engineering at Google.

At last year’s competition, Communitech awarded $100,000 to Alexandra McCalla, co-founder and COO of AirMatrix, a company developing a mapping system for drones in urban areas.

Image source Rainstick Shower

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle Kirkwood

Isabelle is a Vancouver-based writer with 5+ years of experience in communications and journalism and a lifelong passion for telling stories. For over two years, she has reported on all sides of the Canadian startup ecosystem, from landmark venture deals to public policy, telling the stories of the founders putting Canadian tech on the map.

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