WEL Toronto

A round describes one investment cycle of a group. Each round starts with a new group of women (many women return for the next round) subscribing to the round and providing the investment capital of $5000-$6000 upfront. The group then meets over the course of about a year to learn how to invest and to invest the capital until all funds are committed. The portfolio for each round is different and specifically held by the women in a given round

You can be as involved as you want to be. Engaging with companies, attending meetings, talking to entrepreneurs, conducting research – these are all parts of the program that you can choose your level of engagement in. The more engaged you are in the group, the more you will get out of it.

You have the option to participate as a silent investor (invest alongside with the group but not actively participate in the investment selection process).

You can continue to invest with the group if you enjoy it! Some people will continue to make early stage investments through the Women’s Equity Lab, others will prefer to make investments on their own, by syndicating with a different group and/or investing through an angel fund.

Women are underrepresented as angel investors. We created this initiative to address this issue. Having more women involved in investing (Wanczyk, A, 2017) is beneficial because: 

• Women investors are more likely to fund women-led businesses and female entrepreneurs are more likely to achieve a successful exit if their investors include women 
• Adding women investors to the industry provides more cash to the start-up ecosystem and imparts the community with new skills, contacts, and experiences to help grow successful companies 
• More women involved in company ownership and on boards translates into more effective corporate decision-making and outcomes

Not necessarily, this depends on the specific group’s investment thesis. At the start of the round, each group develops its own investment thesis to direct how it would like to allocate its investment capital. This may or may not include a target investment allocation % in women-led and/or women-focused companies.

No, the group will co-invest through a single corporate entity so the investment adds only one investment entity to the invested company’s cap table. The group will appoint a representative for interfacing with the company and this individual will relay company info back to the group.

Women in the group can co-invest in any opportunity on their own alongside with the WEL entity. This happens frequently.