July 2024 — The Women’s Equity Lab Atlantic Investment Group (WEL Atlantic) is proud to announce the launch of its 2nd fund to continue its mission to support women-led businesses and build the community of female investors. With an impressive growth in Limited Partners (LPs) WEL Atlantic’s 2nd fund has 50 women investors.
WEL Atlantic has successfully raised $250,000 to invest in women-led businesses across the Atlantic provinces. This initiative underscores WEL’s commitment to creating opportunities for local companies while also cultivating a new generation of women investors.
The first WEL Atlantic fund was a resounding success, with 38 investors contributing to the growth of four women-led companies. The fund, created in 2023, invested a total of $190,000 in Uresta, Aurea, Hollo Medical and Myomar.
The Managing Partners (MPs) for fund 2, Kathryn Lockhart, Laurie McKeigan, Johanna Brown and Natasha Fletcher, are excited to work with the new group of LPs to invest in women entrepreneurs.
We learnt a lot throughout the first fund and are so excited to see so much interest from investors to grow our support for local entrepreneurs. We are also thrilled that nearly 60% of our LPs are continuing from fund 1.
The Atlantic Group’s launch is a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential for meaningful change when diverse voices are included in the investment landscape. By focusing on local companies, WEL Atlantic not only aims to drive regional economic development but also to inspire more women to take on investor roles, creating a more inclusive and dynamic business environment.
The group is now open to receiving applications from women-led businesses seeking to raise funds. The fund is sector-agnostic and focuses on tech-enabled businesses.
For more information about WEL Atlantic, investment opportunities, or how to get involved, please visit www.womensequitylab.com/locations/atlantic.
About Women’s Equity Lab (WEL):
The Women’s Equity Lab (WEL) investing model was created to address the chronic and systemic underrepresentation of women in early-stage investing. By reducing the barriers to entry that have typically kept women out – gender bias, lack of previous investing experience, capital needed to get involved – our Learning On InvestmentTM (LOI) approach is designed to facilitate entry into this investment class. Launched in 2017, WEL now has a growing and powerful community of 400+ women investors and 40+ investments across Canada and in Silicon Valley. Our mission of “more female investor representation now, equal representation someday” continues.