Victoria-based W Venture launches a new program to scale women-led tech companies across B.C.

W Venture, an organization focused on supporting female entrepreneurs, has launched a new program to help more women-led tech companies in B.C. to scale in a rapid and sustainable way.

Named W Venture Growth, the one-year program begins this September and offers access to resources, mentorship, and a community of female entrepreneurs. Twenty startups will receive guidance from seasoned CEOs, partake in monthly accountability groups to keep their ventures on track, and learn from quarterly strategy sessions for key priorities and market strategies. 

The program is now accepting online applications and will host a virtual info session next week, on August 13. 

“W Venture Growth is a response to the underrepresentation of women in the tech sector and aims to change the landscape by providing tailored support to 20 high-potential, women-led ventures across B.C.,” wrote the organization in a press release. “Despite the increasing number of women starting businesses, only 19.6 per cent of small-to-medium enterprises are owned by women, and just one in five scale-ups are women-owned. W Venture Growth is committed to addressing this disparity.”

In 2020, the outfit launched a three-month accelerator program to advance entrepreneurial women in B.C. Thirty-one startups received personalized, hands-on support from curated mentors and subject-matter experts to address their unique business challenges. Among the alumni are notable companies like Victoria-based VoxCell, which creates 3D bioprinted imitations of natural soft tissue to help pharmaceutical companies test new drugs faster.

“W Venture’s guidance proved instrumental to VoxCell,” shared the biotech company’s founder and CEO, Dr. Karolina Valente. “Throughout the program, I benefited from tailored advice and resources specifically aligned with our business model. Additionally, the program featured exceptional mentors who demonstrated a deep understanding of the startup landscape. The customized mentorship and strategic support provided were precisely what we required to advance our business.”

W Venture’s managing partner team includes Shelley Voyer, who is also an entrepreneur-in-residence for non-profit VIATEC, and Joanna Buczkowska-McCumber, the CEO of B Corp sustainability agency Ideas for Impact. Since its founding, W Venture has supported over 40 women-led startups, and receives funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program.

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