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The FemTech Breakfast aims to bring together all tech ecosystem partners to support and gain knowledge about FemTech opportunities in Canada, ultimately bridging the current Funding Gap.
Pitch competitions are designed with founders in mind and can become a learning opportunity for those involved.
The mission.
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National Pitch Competition
The FemTech Breakfast Club brings together incubators, accelerators, entrepreneurs and investors alike to support FemTech founders looking to raise a Pre-Seed or Seed round.
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The FemTech Breakfast Club will travel across Canada to find one winning FemTech company per city.
Each winner will receive
One winner per location, each winning over $15,000 in services to support the growth of their company.
Culture audit from Cap Inclusive
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Cap Inclusive is a consulting firm that helps venture-backed companies align their purpose with their processes and practices. The culture audit is a $10,000 in-kind service that helps startups communicate their Purpose as a vector for strong employer branding.
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The process
September 1st, 2023
Call for applications opens
Briefly describe your degree and any other highlights about your studies you want to share. Be sure to include relevant skills you gained, accomplishments you achieved or milestones you reached during your education.
6 weeks before the event
Applications close
All applicants are screened during a selection committee where our ecosystem partners select a Top 5 to participate based on a FemTech-adapted scorecard. The Top 5 is coached by FemTech Canada to ensure they have the best chances of winning.
The day of the event
Top 5 pitch
The 5 startups are invited to pitch and our jury is invited to vote based on FemTech-adapted criteria and questionsOne startup per location is awarded the prize
Why FemTech?
Market potential.
$75B
The FemTech industry is expected to grow rapidly at an average CAGR of 13% to reach $75Bn by 2025
Underfunded industry.
13%
Only 13% of all digital health venture capital is allocated to FemTech while it has the potential to improve and impact 51% of the population
Lack of VC attention.
3x
While VC funding has tripled since 2015, the lack of investments remains the key barrier along with insufficient R&D funding
How do we define FemTech?
Products or services that improve the health to quality of life of women.
Subcategories
Diseases specific to women
Reproductive Phase: Fertility Solutions/Egg Freezing, Reproductive health & Contraception, Menstrual HealthPregnancy: Pregnancy and nursing, Breastfeeding care
Perimenopause: Mental Health, Pelvic & Uterine Health CarePost Menopause: Menopause Care, Women’s Longevity Solutions
Our Sponsors
Prime Sponsor
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Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP’s Emerging and High Growth Companies Group and Venture Capital teams help clients recognize, develop and realize innovative venture capital opportunities. Osler acts for more than 1,500 early, growth and late-stage ventures and venture investors across Canada, the United States and around the world. Osler is a leading law firm with a singular focus – your business.
National Partners
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Femtech Canada, operated by Innovation Factory, is a national network that connects Canadian femtech companies with resources and recognition. Through mentorship, advocacy and a growing online community, Femtech Canada inspires entrepreneurs to lead in women’s health innovation. The Femtech Canada network is intentional, intersectional, and inclusive and values technology that enriches the lives of the end-user.
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Innovation Factory is a not-for-profit business accelerator, serving as the catalyst for technology innovation in the greater Hamilton area since 2010. Innovation Factory provides business services, training, mentorship, and strategic connections to drive market adoption, leverage intellectual property, and increase revenues, investment, and jobs. Innovators can also access sector-specific resources including exclusive smart transportation test environments and data; and a formal life science and health innovation ecosystem.
Guest Juries.
Montreal
Regional Partners
Montreal
Ecosystem Partners
Next AI is a world-class founder and venture development acceleration network for AI-enabled startups. Leveraging a renowned ecosystem of AI and business experts, Next AI provides support on both AI product development and market commercialization. Each year, Next AI identifies the top early-stage teams developing ambitious AI-powered solutions and provides them with the mentorship, education and network to have a global impact.
Centech is an ecosystem that propels technological innovation and entrepreneurship projects from science and engineering. Thanks to its Acceleration and Propulsion programs, Centech acts as a real instrument of growth, thus creating one of the largest concentrations of technology entrepreneurs in the start-up phase in Quebec and Canada.
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based mentorship program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. CDL-Montreal is geared towards founders innovating in the sectors of AI, Supply Chain and Blockchain/Web3.
Located in the heart of Quebec’s AI ecosystem, Mila is a community of more than 1,000 researchers specializing in machine learning and dedicated to scientific excellence and innovation.
Spring is where founders and investors come together for impact. Our community is a global incubator, accelerator and advisory firm - and a place where you can find inspiration, support and true belonging. From personalized mentorship and funding opportunities to lively discussions and thought-provoking events, we're here to help you scale solutions for a better future.
Guest Juries
Annick Charbonneau
Accelia
Partner at Accelia, a $60M Fund investing in seed and early-stage innovative businesses and female-led technology startups.
Marina Pavlovic-Rivas
Eli Health
Co-founder and CEO of Eli Health, the women's health company on a mission to improve lifelong health through continuous hormone monitoring.
Katheleen Eva
StandUp Ventures
Associate at StandUp Ventures, a $55M seed-stage venture capital fund focused on investing in high-growth ventures with at least one female founder in a key leadership role.
Sara Couture
Osler
Associate at Osler, a legal firm that helps clients recognize, develop and realize innovative venture capital opportunities. Osler acts for more than 1,500 early, growth and late-stage ventures and venture investors across Canada, the United States and around the world.
Althea Wishloff
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners
General Partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, Canada's first Indigenous-led and -owned social finance intermediary.
Rossana Alfaro Roman
Centech
Conseillère - Propulsion Program at Centech, one of the largest concentrations of technology entrepreneurs in the start-up phase in Quebec and Canada.
Amadea Camozzi
CDL-Montreal
Director at Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based mentorship program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies.
Rachel Bartholomew
HyIvy
CEO & Founder of Hyivy, a partner for pelvic health journeys that offers holistic, patient-created, pelvic health rehabilitation for patients and clinicians.
Joumana Ghosn
Mila
Senior Director - Applied Machine Learning Research at Mila, a community of more than 1,000 researchers specializing in machine learning and dedicated to scientific excellence and innovation.
Inara Lalani
FemTherapeutics
Co-founder & CEO of FemTherapeutics, the world’s first customizable gynecological prosthetic tailored to your unique anatomy.
Charlotte Borgognoni
Inovia
Associate at Inovia, a venture capital firm that partners with founders to build impactful and enduring global companies. The team leverages an operator-led mindset to provide founders with multi-stage support, mentorship, and access to a worldwide network. Inovia manages over US$2.2B with operations in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Bay Area, and London.
Ziyi Shi
Real Ventures
VP Legal and D&I Lead at Real Ventures, an early-stage VC firm based in Montreal and Toronto. Since 2007, Real has played in influential role in shaping the Canadian startup ecosystem. Real has been a long-time proponent of women in tech and leadership positions. Its most recent FemTech investment was Eli Health, which came through the Real Ventures-Techstars AI partnership in 2019.
Annick-Isabelle Marcoux
LangLeven
Founder and Managing Partner at LangLeven, a private investment firm specializing in Seed and Series A Sports & Wellness Technologies, and Longevity companies. Some of LangLeven’s portfolio companies like PelviPower and Rya Health cater to Women and promote Women's health.
Parambir Bhangu
Organon
Executive Director, External Innovation & Emerging Science at Organon, a global healthcare company with a focus on women’s health and a portfolio of therapies and products in women’s health, biosimilars, and established brands, across a wide array of conditions and diseases. In Women’s Health, we are building a pipeline and portfolio of products focused on addressing unmet health needs, including in contraception, fertility, maternal and peripartum conditions, and conditions unique to or predominant in women.
Lyne Landry
AgeTech Capital
Partner at AgeTech Capital, a Canadian firm with a global mandate. We are a purpose-driven private market investment firm accelerating innovative & affordable technology solutions for the future of a healthier, wealthier & fulfilling aging.
Toronto
Ecosystem Partners
MaRS Discovery District in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs.
MaRS supports promising high-growth companies to scale their businesses globally, while tackling key societal challenges in areas such as Health, Cleantech, Finance, Transportation, AI, and others. In addition to helping start-ups launch, grow and scale, the MaRS community is dedicated to cross-disciplinary collaboration, commercialization of discoveries, and driving ideas to impact.
Spring is where founders and investors come together for impact. Our community is a global incubator, accelerator and advisory firm - and a place where you can find inspiration, support and true belonging. From personalized mentorship and funding opportunities to lively discussions and thought-provoking events, we're here to help you scale solutions for a better future.
Next AI is a world-class founder and venture development acceleration network for AI-enabled startups. Leveraging a renowned ecosystem of AI and business experts, Next AI provides support on both AI product development and market commercialization. Each year, Next AI identifies the top early-stage teams developing ambitious AI-powered solutions and provides them with the mentorship, education and network to have a global impact.
Guest Juries
Michelle McBane
StandUp Ventures
Partner at StandUp Ventures, a $55M seed-stage venture capital fund focused on investing in high-growth ventures with at least one female founder in a key leadership role.
Sarah Willson
Panache Ventures
Associate at Panache Ventures, Canada's most active pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm, currently investing out of our new $100M fund. Panache invests in Canada's most ambitious founders across all sectors.
Jordana Corber-Tovel
Osler
Associate at Osler, a legal firm that helps clients recognize, develop and realize innovative venture capital opportunities. Osler acts for more than 1,500 early, growth and late-stage ventures and venture investors across Canada, the United States and around the world.
Kristen Perry
Spring Investing Collective
Managing Director at Spring Investing Collective, which provides the deal flow, community, and resources investors need to start contributing towards entrepreneurial solutions and scale up their impact-focused investment portfolio.
Rachel Bartholomew
HyIvy
CEO & Founder of Hyivy, a partner for pelvic health journeys that offers holistic, patient-created, pelvic health rehabilitation for patients and clinicians.
Danielle Graham
The Firehood
Co-Founder of The Firehood, a movement focused on increasing the participation, leadership and prosperity of women in technology, and GP of Phoenix Fire, an angel fund investing in women entrepreneurs across Canada.
Gabi Paccininni
Inovia
Analyst at Inovia, a venture capital firm that partners with founders to build impactful and enduring global companies. The team leverages an operator-led mindset to provide founders with multi-stage support, mentorship, and access to a worldwide network. Inovia manages over US$2.2B with operations in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Bay Area, and London.
Jeremy Grushcow
Juniper Genomics