We are actively recruiting female investors to join the Women’s Equity Lab (“WEL) investment group in Manitoba, the first women-led investment group in the province!

What is Women’s Equity Lab (WEL)

WEL was created to address women’s chronic and systemic under-representation in early-stage investing. Currently, only 3% of investment dollars go to women-led businesses, despite over 40% of companies being women-owned. (Yes, you read that right: 3%.) Women also make up less than a quarter of Angel investors and are even less represented in venture capital markets. This is not only bad for women; it’s bad for business, the economy, and our society as a whole. Ultimately, we can all profit when women’s perspectives and insights are part of more investment decisions.

WEL offers a unique, collaborative pooled investment approach where women learn through pooling minimal risk capital and collaborating to source, qualify, evaluate, make investment decisions and monitor investments together. So we look not only for return on investment but also to learn about investment.

WEL was started with an investment group in Victoria in 2017 and will begin its fifth group soon. In addition, there are active investment groups in Vancouver (2), Okanagan, Toronto and Silicon Valley. As of May 2022, WEL is comprised of more than 150 women angel investors who have collectively invested in 26 companies. Of these, more than 65% were founded and/or led by females. Women in Manitoba now have an exciting opportunity to join this impactful network so we can make a historic difference in our province together!

WEL National fully supports our plans to establish a group in Manitoba and will provide full support with education and administration. WEL Manitoba is looking for a group of 30 – 40 women with a rich and diverse professional background to pool a relatively small amount of risk capital and make strong early-stage venture investments. WEL groups don’t have an investment committee; the group goes through the process together and makes the investment decision as a team.

Are you interested in investing in start-ups in our community? Are you unsure about where to start or don’t want to do it alone? This is your chance to get involved!

This group’s collective expertise, capital and insights will significantly impact Manitoba’s entrepreneurial landscape. By increasing the number of women shareholders, female advisors, and board members in emerging local companies, we will enhance the ecosystem and generate long-lasting effects. Women can have an impact on the availability of capital, the types of companies that get funded, the composition of boards and the executive teams of growing private companies. This only makes us stronger!

In short, each woman participates in the first fund by investing $5,500.

• $5,000 is for the investment fund
• $500 covers related administrative costs.

We aim to close our Manitoba fund by the end of September 2022. Please let us know if you’re interested in this amazing opportunity ASAP! We will send you an invitation to our information meeting in a separate email. This will be held in person:

• Location: 100 Innovation Drive (in the event centre on the 1st floor)
• Date/Time: Wednesday, September 7th (from 4 to 6 pm)

Irene Dorsman, CEO of Angel Forum Vancouver, Co-Founder of WEL Vancouver and Managing Partner for WEL National, will be in attendance to speak to the group and answer questions.

Notably, current security regulations limit early-stage investing and participation in WEL to accredited investors only. We have, however, received a special exemption from the Manitoba securities commission to change this for WEL Manitoba! Thus, non-accredited investors can also participate.

The following women will be taking on the General Partner role:

• Joelle Foster, CEO, North Forge Technology Exchange
• Sandra Foster, Managing Partner Capstone Ridge Group and CEO of Taggart Investments
• Rosalie Harms, Chair, Dept. Bus. & Admin. University of Winnipeg
• Jennifer Synder, President, Portfolio Manager at Doyenne Corporation

Feel free to invite a friend who would be interested in participating in our first group as well!

Lastly, this is a terrific way to expand your network of like-minded women across Manitoba. As part of the WEL Network, you will access other WEL members across North America and deal flow from other groups.

To RSVP for September 7th, please email jmcinnes@northforge.ca