Invest Ottawa

Intellectual property is a powerful tool for business growth—but only if you know how to leverage it. 💡 Join us for Leveraging IP for Business Success, an #IWM2025 event designed to help you protect your tech innovations, drive business growth, and unlock new opportunities—featuring insights from leading entrepreneurs. This event, delivered by Invest Ottawa's IO Venture Path team, brings together entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and IP experts to discuss how protecting your ideas can drive long-term success. What to expect: 🟢 Fireside chat with Swati Matta, Head of Women's Health, Dialogue, Co-Founder Koble) moderated by 🍁 Rachel Bartholomew 🇨🇦, Founder & CEO of Hyivy Health, Founder and Lead Advisor of Femtech Canada 🟢 Panel discussion on IP across sectors, featuring leaders from Cura Therapeutics, SanEcoTec , and Vykon Inc. 🟢 Networking & trade show showcasing businesses that have successfully leveraged IP, including African Bronze Honey Company, Helina Baby Inc., Neuralign, Silver Swallow & more 📍March 25 | 8 AM – 11 AM | Cours Bayview Yards & Online Don’t miss this opportunity to gain practical IP insights and connect with industry experts! 🔗 Register now: https://bit.ly/41vfKzQ #IWM2025 #IntellectualProperty #BusinessGrowth #WomenWhoLead #Entrepreneurship #AccelerateAction

Speaker Spotlight ⭐ Our Founder and CEO Dallas Barnes is speaking at Leaders Creating a Sustainable World, hosted by Invest Ottawa, in honour of International Women’s Month. We are so proud to be part of this amazing group of female leaders driving sustainability, innovation, and social impact 🌱 If you will be at the conference, feel free to connect with Dallas Barnes #internationalwomensmonth #IWM #IWM2024 #investottawa #reyahealth #reya

Be Relentless: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs · Experience the CTV News Interview: https://lnkd.in/e3R2wifx This morning, I had the incredible opportunity to join my friend Rosey Edeh, OLY, Co-Anchor of CTV News Morning Live, to discuss something I’m deeply passionate about: women’s entrepreneurship. In a country of 44 million, we cannot afford to leave any talent on the table. Our economy, communities, and future depend on more entrepreneurs launching, growing, scaling, and building deep roots here—including women entrepreneurs. This is essential to build a thriving and prosperous Canada for all. And it's not simply an economic opportunity - its an economic imperative. According to McKinsey, we can generate $150B in GDP growth from advancing women’s economic participation. The entrepreneurial momentum in Canada's Capital is incredibly strong—and it includes current and aspiring women founders. Together with our community, Invest Ottawa (IO) is honoured to help build a robust pipeline of women-led and owned startups. And we are committed to helping enabling and accelerating their growth any way we can. I always love dropping into see the amazing team at CTV for great conversation. Today, we explored: · Why it can be challenging to make the leap into entrepreneurship · Some of the unique challenges facing women founders, particularly in the current economic climate, and how we are working to address them head-on · The value of inspirational role models and leading founders and owners: if you see her, you can be her · The power of every entrepreneurial journey, including the opportunity and learning in every step, stumble and pivot · The collaborative 'village' of amazing founders, organizations, networks and resources available to propel and support entrepreneur growth and success. Rosey challenged me to share three actionable insights for aspiring women founders, and what I would tell my younger self as an entrepreneur: "Feel the fear and do it anyway. Be relentless when pursuing your vision and goals. Take the risk to reap the reward. And there are so many in the entrepreneurial journey that far exceed commercial growth and success." Ottawa is a startup capital that thrives on this momentum. Here, founders help founders. It is one of our greatest hallmarks. I deeply admire the founders, business owners and companies we are honoured to serve at IO. Would you like to pursue your business dreams as part of a collaborative, enterprising community? Join us for free Int'l Women’s Month (#IWM) events, all at Cours Bayview Yards and Youtube Livestream: · March 20: Leaders Creating a Sustainable World | 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM · March 25: Leveraging IP for Business Success | 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM · March 31: Creating Mejuri: Noura Sakkijha’s Journey to Canadian Business Success | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM To learn more and register, visit: www.investottawa.ca/iwm We want you. We need you. Thank you to every single founder building here.

I’m honored (and excited) to be the Master of Ceremonies for this incredible Invest Ottawa #IWM2025 event: Leaders Creating a Sustainable World. These discussions on AI ethics, women’s health, food sustainability, and clean tech are more important than ever as we work toward a more sustainable, equitable future. Speakers and panelists include: 🟢 Dallas Barnes (Reya Health) on women’s health 🟢 Justine Hendricks (FCC / FAC) on the future of food sustainability 🟢 Christine Jackson, MBA, (SAS) on balancing innovation with responsibility in AI 🟢 Frances McRae (Deputy Minister, Women and Gender Equality and Youth, WAGE) on ethics & AI 🟢 Catherine McKenna (Climate and Nature Solutions) on the critical role of Clean Tech in climate action and Melissa McMahon leading this fireside chat Plus lots of inspiring leaders in the room! As MC, my job is to keep everything on time—and with so many incredible speakers, that might be the hardest challenge of the day! 😅 Come talk to our team about how you can get involved - whether it's joining our Invest Ottawa programs or coming out to more awesome community events like this. 📍 Cours Bayview Yards 🗓️ March 20, 11AM – 3:30 PM EST 🔗 Secure your spot today: https://lnkd.in/gNkBcz3C

Two weeks ago (yes, I know—I’ve been busy!!), I had the chance to attend Invest Ottawa’s F-Factor event at Cours Bayview Yards. The event kicked off International Women’s Month with a room full of incredible founders and leaders. And since it’s St. Patrick’s Day felt like the perfect time to talk about luck—not the magical kind, but the kind you create for yourself. ☘️ #SurfaceAreaForLuck #WomenEntrepreneurs #Leadership #IWM2025

Ottawa: The Startup Capital with Grit, Talent & Momentum Be a part of the wave! Join us at the IO Ignition Pitch Competition to be inspired and celebrate Ottawa’s unstoppable startup energy: · Thursday, March 20, 2025: 5:00 – 7:00 PM ET · Cours Bayview Yards, 7 Bayview Station Road · Register now for this free event: https://bit.ly/3F9j4Jp Entrepreneurial energy is surging in our city. Invest Ottawa’s IO Ignition program—our early-stage venture path program—is consistently oversubscribed 4 to 1. Why? Because Ottawa is a city where founders support founders, and innovation takes root and thrives. We are building the Ottawa, Ontario, and Canada we need—by fueling the next generation of entrepreneurs who will build, scale, and anchor here, and grow our economy and prosperity. And this Thursday, March 20, you can experience this very momentum in action at the IO Ignition Cohort 26 Pitch Finale: Spring Startup Surge! Join us at Bayview Yards to witness fearless founders pitch bold solutions in Cleantech, EdTech, Digital Health, SaaS, and more. These are the companies of tomorrow, shaping the future today. This is the power of Ottawa’s startup ecosystem. This is what happens when we invest in local talent. This is why we are the startup capital. IO Ignition is where it all begins—a ten-week bootcamp designed to help entrepreneurs validate their tech startup ideas, master customer discovery, lean startup methodology, sales and growth hacking, financial roadmaps, and more. This is how we build a robust pipeline of startups that fuel our economy. Sincere thanks to all participating IO Ignition founders taking our stage this Thursday, and building our economy always: · Djaoued Salim ALLAL, ADEXCLOUD Technology Inc. · Jonathan Dahan, Augwa · Chance Abemba, BLN Africa · Temitope Medunoye, Brillare Inc. · Sharie Woelke, CalmWave · Anthony Henley, DoYoBooks · Onyeka Dike, GenieHive · Ali Maleki, GreenVeil Packaging Inc – · Adeniyi Bello, HiveOps · Sean K., Igamii Studios · Theresa Patenaude, Super Secret Code · Sara Rykov, Senior Vice President at Spoke, Metcove · Thomas Ajayi, Movebot · Andrew Choumph, OneAirport Desk Rental · Chris Chamberlain, SkillSphere AI · Atilla Varga, Szimpla · Elio Maalouf, TapNTrack · Avein Porwal, TappyRewards Join us, fellow friends, family and fans to cheer these entrepreneurs on as they take the mic! Who will take home the Best Pitch Award and Crowd Favourite Award? With $5,000 in funding, mentorship, and office space at Studio7 on the line, the competition will be fierce! This is an entrepreneurship event not to be missed. · Register now for this free event: https://bit.ly/3F9j4Jp

Celebrating Yoobin Lee, #IWM 2025 Featured Leader: From Med School to Startup Founder Redefining What’s Possible Building a startup while navigating medical school is no small feat—but Yoobin Lee, Founder & CEO of Quip Medical, is proving that innovation knows no boundaries. She saw a critical gap in the healthcare system—physicians losing revenue due to outdated, complex billing systems—and took action. Rather than waiting for change, she built it. · From validating an idea with real physicians · To finding the right co-founder and landing her first client · To building Quip Medical into a company making real impact Yoobin is not just a brilliant entrepreneur—she is a role model for aspiring founders, proving that you don’t have to choose between medicine and entrepreneurship, innovation and impact. It is an honour for our Invest Ottawa team to collaborate with her as a 2025 International Women's Month (IWM) Featured Leader and entrepreneur. Yoobin, thank you for building here in Ottawa, Canada's Startup Capital. We are incredibly proud of your journey as a SheBoot graduate, an entrepreneur solving real-world problems, and a leader who inspires others to challenge the status quo. And heartfelt congratulations on winning the Crowd Favorite Award in the Tech Tuesday Pitch Competition by Wesley Clover in Ottawa's own Kanata North Tech Park, the largest of its kind in Canada. Your leadership, resilience, and commitment to making a difference set an incredible example for future founders. We can’t wait to see where you take Quip Medical next! Listen to her inspiring journey in the latest Power of Why podcast with the amazing Naomi Haile, M.S. here: https://lnkd.in/eWBDmweD

Beyond Talk: Actionable Leadership for a Sustainable Future Creating a sustainable world is not just a responsibility—it’s an imperative. The choices we make today in innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship will determine the health of our planet, economy, and society for generations to come. By advancing clean technologies, ethical AI, food sustainability, and equitable healthcare, we can drive real change and build a future that is prosperous, inclusive, and resilient for all. Join us as we address these imperatives: · Thurs. Mar. 20, 2024 · 11:00 AM-3:30 PM EDT · Cours Bayview Yards and YouTube Livestream online · Register for this free event: https://lnkd.in/eKSb4n7C · Sincere thanks to our generous sponsors: BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, our lead 2025 IWM sponsor; SAS and Calian Health This International Women’s Month (#IWM) event hosted by Invest Ottawa will spotlight incredible leaders who are driving sustainability, innovation, and impact across key industries—from AI and women’s health to food sustainability and cleantech. · Are you passionate about creating positive economic, social, or environmental change? · Do you want to learn from and connect with trailblazing leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors? · Are you ready to take action and accelerate impact in your organization, community, and beyond? This event is for you! Featuring accomplished speakers and dynamic discussions, this year’s event will focus on critical spheres of sustainability: · AI, the balance between innovation and ethics · Advancing advocacy and action in women’s health · Fireside Chats on food security and sustainability, and cleantech We are honoured to welcome the following leaders to our stage: · Justine Hendricks, President & CEO, FCC / FAC; Lead Sponsor of the Ottawa Smart Farm at Area X.O; 2025 IWM Featured Leader; Keynote Speaker · Catherine McKenna, Founder and CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions; Keynote Speaker · Dallas Barnes, Founder & CEO, Reya Health · Shereen Benzvy Miller, Commissioner, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada · Dania Burton, Pharmacist Team Leader, The Ottawa Hospital · Christine Jackson, MBA, ED, Canadian Public Sector, SAS · Deborah Lehmann, President & CEO, The Ottawa Cancer Foundation · Lianne Laing, President, The University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation · Melissa McMahon, CEC, Invest Ottawa · Frances McRae, DM, Women & Gender Equality and Youth, WAGE · Erin Seegmiller, Sr. Manager, Invest Ottawa · Vidya ShankarNarayan, Senior ADM, Treasury Board · Nancy White, VP of Sales, Calian Health We’re hosting an office wear clothing drive in support of Dress For Success—helping women and gender-diverse individuals build confidence and career success. Donate professional attire onsite to make an impact. Join us for tangible takeaways, success stories and insights from visionary changemakers who are fueling our economy, strengthening our community, and changing our world for the better. Register now!

For decades, Ottawa has been at the forefront of semiconductor R&D, shaping the future of AI, quantum computing, and next-gen technology. 🚀 With a world-class ecosystem of researchers, innovators, and global tech leaders, the city continues to drive advancements that power industries worldwide. 🎥 See why Ottawa is a semiconductor powerhouse: https://bit.ly/3FAslKN #Semiconductors #OttawaTech #QuantumComputing

A few weeks ago, we kicked off International Women’s Month with The “F” Factor: Fueling Women Founders—a powerful event that brought together trailblazing women, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to celebrate, challenge, and uplift one another. Now, as we gear up for more #IWM2025 events, we’re revisiting the insights, energy, and impact of that day. Read the blog for a recap of key moments, including: 🟢 How embracing fear fuels confidence and growth 🟢 The undeniable economic impact of empowering women 🟢 Why the "F" Factor—being fearless, fierce, and focused—is essential for success Check out the blog for more: https://bit.ly/4kVT9Fo