Lauren Thibodeau

SheBoot is a national non-profit corporation headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, that prepares women founders across Canada to pitch their business and secure investment. Founded by Julia Elvidge, Jennifer Francis, and Sonya Shorey and built together with the Capital Angel Network and Invest Ottawa in early 2020, this organization aims to help address the funding gap facing women entrepreneurs by increasing the number of women making and receiving investment. Designed and delivered by women investors and entrepreneurs, SheBoot’s annual training program arms technology and technology-enabled startups with investment-readiness skills paired with support services that prepare entrepreneurs to secure investment. The bootcamp portion of the program starts in the fall and culminates in a pitch competition for a minimum of $300,000 in equity-based capital. This investment is made by 30 women investors committed to fueling the next generation of women-owned and led firms.

SheBoot is a national non-profit corporation headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, that prepares women founders across Canada to pitch their business and secure investment. Founded by Julia Elvidge, Jennifer Francis, and Sonya Shorey and built together with the Capital Angel Network and Invest Ottawa in early 2020, this organization aims to help address the funding gap facing women entrepreneurs by increasing the number of women making and receiving investment. Designed and delivered by women investors and entrepreneurs, SheBoot’s annual training program arms technology and technology-enabled startups with investment-readiness skills paired with support services that prepare entrepreneurs to secure investment. The bootcamp portion of the program starts in the fall and culminates in a pitch competition for a minimum of $300,000 in equity-based capital. This investment is made by 30 women investors committed to fueling the next generation of women-owned and led firms.

Capital Angel Network (CAN) An established investor group. Since 2010 our Members have been flywheels supporting the launch of hundreds of Canadian startups. Cumulatively, they have invested close to $100M and provided the confidence and support for portfolio startups to land VC rounds. Investment typically ranges from 4-10 million dollars annually. Our members include Corporate experts providing key insights for founder facing programs, solo angel investors and Venture Members - VCs, Family Offies and Accelerators. Our programs include Capital MASHUP - Celebrating Entrepreneurs and Champions, CANLABS - Raising Expectations and Momentum, and investLABS - Early Stage Investment Insights We partner and support more than 25 community partners building an entrepreneurial culture in Canada. CAN primarily invests across the Innovation Corridor, from Montreal to Waterloo, with a keen interest in Gatineau, Ottawa, and Kanata. We also have investments from Coast to Coast. CAN investments have led to over $1B in additional investment through grants, syndication with other angel groups, and follow on venture capital funds. Membership includes more than 55 investors and champions including new, next gen, and established angels, VCs, family offices and corporate members. 37% of memberships include a woman. CAN partners with SheBoot, the Ottawa Bootstrap Awards, uOttawa’s entrepreneurship club, TECDE’s Elle Gala and provides mentorship to universities, colleges and incubators on the regular.

Invest Ottawa, is Ottawa’s leading economic development agency for fostering the advancement of the regions globally competitive knowledge-based institutions and industries. Invest Ottawa delivers its economic development services through a unique partnership with the City of Ottawa, where the City and Invest Ottawa, through its members set the strategy and manage the programs that move Ottawa’s economy forward. Invest Ottawa is a non-profit, partnership organization that operates on an annual budget that comes from a variety of sources including: municipal, federal and provincial government; membership fees; professional development programs; and private sector contributions.

We enable Canadian SaaS companies from startup through early stage growth to later stage growth. For Startups, we provide SaaS metrics mentoring and enablement at no charge to startups. For Growth-stage companies, we provide customer-centric advisory services.

Innovative solutions for Enterprise Software Companies, and Not-For-Profits.