TD invests in a one-of-a-kind Founder Lab for venture-ready women and gender-diverse start-ups in Canada
Movement51 (M51), the not-for-profit sister of the Canadian Financial Feminist platform, The51, has received $120,000 in funding from TD Bank to support M51’s Founder Lab, an entrepreneur-specific edition of the organization’s highly successful Financial Feminism Investing Lab. The Founder Lab is unlike any other offering available to women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs in Canada and is designed to help close the venture funding gap (women founders currently only receive 1.9% of venture capital investment). With a focus on financial capacity building, the Founder Lab teaches participants the ins and outs of investment readiness. The Lab is geared toward companies looking to raise a pre-seed ($25K - $1M CAD) investment round within six to eight months of applying to the program. Coming off a successful pilot in the fall of 2022, the Founder Lab will launch its first official cohort this spring.
“In teaming up with TD, we’re harnessing the Movement51 process to transform the way women-led and gender-diverse startups across Canada raise and access capital,” says M51’s Executive Director, Danielle Gifford. “This is a unique opportunity to impact the trajectory of Canadian startups and bring greater economic impacts across the country.”
In alignment with the Financial Security driver of the TD Ready Commitment, the Founder Lab builds entrepreneurial skills that lead to investment, which in turn enable participating companies to power revenue-generating activities, including job creation initiatives. The program is designed to create a ripple effect on impact across Canada’s start-up ecosystem.
“We’re so proud to support Movement51’s Founder Lab, which will empower female and gender-diverse entrepreneurs across the country,” says Robert Ghazal, Prairie Region Head, TD Bank Group. “Through our corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, our goal is to support community organizations that are focused on rethinking skills development to help nurture a more inclusive economy.”
Through virtual delivery, the Founder Lab is national in scope and is seeking applicants from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Applicants should be a founder or co-founder within an incorporated company that’s tracking strong product-market fit.
The Founder Lab is sector agnostics and champions applicants from a wide range of industries, including technology, consumer packaged goods, energy, agriculture and femtech to name a few.
M51’s Founder Lab is particularly suited to start-ups that have advanced beyond the concept stage and have initial market traction with customers. Participating founders will have an opportunity to develop their fundraising strategy with experienced entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry experts from across Canada.
Movement51 is accepting applications for its inaugural 2023 Founder Lab until Friday, March 31, 2023. Twenty entrepreneurs will be selected to participate in the program.