Tech’s future is female

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This article was published 29/03/2023 (1172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a good chance the next local startup will be led by a man.

Nearly nine in 10 founders launching businesses at North Forge Technology Exchange are male, according to the startup accelerator’s CEO.

The non-profit is looking to change the industry’s landscape. It will unveil its Women in Innovation Lab, a new project, Wednesday evening.

“I (want) to dispel the whole bro culture that is around technology,” said Joelle Foster, North Forge’s chief executive. “If you ask anybody, ‘Hey, what’s a tech founder?’ You think white male right away.”

Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey — these are the trailblazers that come to mind, said Foster.

Around 80 per cent of the men arriving at North Forge with tech business ideas don’t have a technology background. Women tend to hold back because of a dearth in experience, according to Foster.

However, entrepreneurs just need ideas and passion to begin, she said.

“We have to start looking at how we can address what women entrepreneurs need,” Foster said.

The women-focused lab will include a package of programs, webinars and classes, along with angel funding access.

The initiative covers financial literacy, fundraising, investment, leadership and cybersecurity, among other things.

Brooke Harley teaches fundraising for startups and angel investing through her business ClassRebel. She modified a course for the Women in Innovation Lab.

“We have a lot of work to do in terms of educating everybody, no matter your gender or colour, on how venture finance works,” she said.

She began ClassRebel after her own voyage into investing 10 years ago.

“When you teach founders how to navigate venture finance… you’re going to have an increased venture economy, which leads to more innovation, more jobs,” she said.

Gender-based bias in the industry needs to change, she added.

Just 2.2 per cent of global venture capital funding went to women founders in 2021, according to data from Crunchbase News.

Male-owned companies were four times more likely to report receiving venture capital than their female counterparts, a 2020 report from the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub highlighted.

“I don’t think that investors have gotten comfortable yet with women risking capital and managing capital and creating returns for investors,” Harley said.

Women account for roughly 23 per cent of science and technology workers in Canada, according to Statistics Canada data.

It’s necessary to have more founders navigating venture finance, regardless of gender, Harley said.

Foster hopes to draw more women to the industry by making the new lab free. North Forge is allocating $300,000 to the lab — mixing government and private investment — and has a separate budget for entrepreneurs wanting to secure intellectual property.

Someone partaking in all the lab’s offerings could get up to $25,000 worth of education and material, Foster said.

Courses will be held outside 9-to-5 working hours, and class sizes will likely be capped at 15 to 20 people, according to Foster.

She plans to continue the lab until there isn’t a need for it — when roughly 50 per cent of entrepreneurs visiting North Forge are female.

“I just don’t know how many years that’s going to take,” Foster said.

It’s more than just representation — women know what women need, which is why female inventors are crucial, she added.

Susan Kuz attended a North Forge event earlier in March. She’s developing an online learning hub for technology leaders through the Manitoba-based accelerator.

“We (entrepreneurs) come with a lot of ideas, a lot of energy,” she said. “We need to take the ideas forward, but we still need to have some of that capital… It’s a collective effort.”

Kuz had never developed an app before, nor was venture capital familiar to her.

“I think we have some really great resources here (at North Forge),” she said. “There’s a really good sense of community to help others and trying to assist each other to be successful.”

North Forge is holding a launch and networking event for the new lab Wednesday evening. Registration is free online.

A full list of the lab’s programs will be on North Forge’s website Thursday.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com