The Volta startup house in Halifax has issued the following press release.

SheEO Comes to Atlantic Canada

Launch Event to be Held at Volta Labs

HALIFAX – Vicki Saunders is coming to Halifax to launch the Atlantic Canadian women entrepreneurs’ movement through SheEO. Volta Labs is hosting the launch event on Thursday August 20th at 6:00pm at their new location on Barrington Street.

Female entrepreneurs may have started two-thirds of the businesses in Canada last year but they are chronically under-financed, supported and celebrated. An Act of Radical Generosity is a grassroots campaign launched by SheEO that aims to change this by creating a new mindset and funding model aimed to transform how female entrepreneurs are supported.

The Radical Generosity campaign will bring together a network of 1,000 women activators who will each contribute $1,000 to create a pool of $1,000,000. The radically generous women will select 10 female-led ventures who will then collectively decide how to divide the million dollars. There are only two parameters: they can’t give all the money to one venture and they cannot divide it equally. The loan is zero percent interest for a five year term for each venture.

“Traditional funding models don’t work well for female entrepreneurs,” says Vicki Saunders, founder of SheEO. “Only four per cent of venture capital goes to women. We need to transform how we fund and support female entrepreneurs if we want to build a thriving economy.”

According to a study by Babson College, if women were financed to the same degree as male-led companies, there would be six million jobs created in North America over the next five years.

Radical Generosity has already attracted corporate supporters including BMO Financial Group and FreshBooks. The corporate partners are helping to cover administration costs so that 100 percent of contributions go directly to the ventures SheEO supports. 

“Supporting small and medium businesses is important for the Canadian economy and Radical Generosity allows us to provide support at a grassroots level,” says Julie Barker-Merz, President BMO InvestorLine. “Female-led companies are a large driver of the economy so helping them succeed has a positive impact across the country.”

Radical Generosity is not a charitable donation or a loan. The women activators are committing their money and time to help 10 women-led businesses so that they can succeed. Businesses chosen as part of the program will have access to world-class coaching, retreats and workshops during their year of funding courtesy of the women activators. The goal is to help foster the culture of women helping women.

“As a company that has exclusively focused on serving small business owners, we’ve witnessed the significant and positive impact having a strong support network can have on an entrepreneur’s business and life,” says Ritva Nosov, Senior Manager, Talent Development at FreshBooks. “Partnering on Radical Generosity is yet another way to help female entrepreneurs find that network, and for that, we couldn’t be more excited to take part.”

“Women get to profitability quickly with their businesses but don’t often grow them because of challenges accessing capital and networks,” explains Saunders. “Radical Generosity means female entrepreneurs can get support on their own terms which will build a stronger economy and stronger leaders.”

To register for the August 20th event:

Go to  http://ow.ly/QM3af

To get involved with SheEO Atlantic:

Contact Melody Pardoe or Chantal Brine at atlanticcanada@iamasheeo.com,

About SheEO:

SheEO supports, finances and celebrates creators, makers and entrepreneurs on their own terms. For more information or to see who is already supporting as an activator, please visit https://sheeo.world.