Jennifer Johnston, Founder of Elle, MD Biotechnologies, has won this year’s Fueling Female Founders Pitch Competition run by Fredericton-based New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

Johnston is a family physician and assistant professor at Dalhousie University School of Medicine. In 2022, she founded Elle, MD in New Minas, NS. The company focuses on enhancing reproductive autonomy by developing a safe, user-controlled contraceptive that’s free from pain, procedures, and hormones.

The contest was held at the Atlantic Venture Forum in Halifax and awards a prize package that includes:
➡️ The opportunity to enter due diligence with NBIF for a $100,000 equity investment;
➡️ A potential matching due diligence opportunity with Invest Nova Scotia;
➡️ Sponsorship from The Firehood Women in Tech Network;
➡️ And 10 hours of one-on-one coaching with Rivet sales agency.

The other contestants, all pre-seed, were:

Theranib Inc. – Paola Marcato is working on improving cancer care through precision ALDH1A3 therapies (Halifax)
Lab 4 Inc. – Nifemi Oguntase is working in critical minerals processing and engineering technology (Dartmouth) 
RustSense – İlknur Tekin Bayhan is using smart corrosion monitoring to prevent damage before it starts (Fredericton) 
Urai AI Corp. – Shanthi Shanmugam is developing a platform to make AI agent creation effortless for businesses and developers (Fredericton).

“We recognize that women still face barriers to accessing capital — and that the rise of femtech and female-led innovation isn't reaching all investors,” NBIF stated on LinkedIn.

“Even within our own portfolio, we know there’s more work to do … This pitch competition is a platform for female founders in Atlantic Canada to present their bold, innovative companies to the venture community."