Women’s Equity Lab Celebrates International Women’s Day with National Hire, as new Toronto Investment Group takes off

Victoria, British Columbia March 8^th, 2022

Women’s Equity Lab (“WEL”) is pleased to announce that after an extensive search, Glynnis Vaughan has joined the organization as the new National Program Manager. Glynnis will focus on leveraging opportunities to manage the rapid expansion of WEL Investment Groups across North America. Glynnis’ position was funded by a federal government grant awarded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

In addition to the operational Investment Groups in Victoria, Vancouver and Okanagan, Toronto recently launched as well and is looking to make its first investment soon.

“WEL was created to address the chronic and systemic under-representation of women in early-stage investing,” says Jane Tucker, a GP with WEL Toronto. “And the reaction to our newly formed Toronto Investment Group (which now has a 50-person waiting list), has been very enthusiastic. We’re proud to celebrate the momentum behind WEL on International Women’s Day and can’t wait to see what happens when more and more women are helping to shape the future of our economy.”

With the addition of Toronto, more than 130 women are now active angel investors through WEL and are affecting change in the gender inequality in cap tables.

WEL expects new Investment Groups to open soon in Manitoba and Silicon Valley as well, the first US location.

This rapid growth could not have happened without our dedicated General Partners who lead each local Investment Group and the legal support of Osler, for which WEL is tremendously thankful.

About WEL

Our vision is a future with equal shareholder representation, because when women’s perspectives and insights inform more investment decisions, we all profit.

The first step is to facilitate the entry of women into the area of early-stage investing, as currently less than 24% of angel investors are female and are even less represented in venture capital markets. We offer a unique, collaborative pooled investment approach where women learn through pooling minimal risk capital and collaborating to source, qualify, evaluate, make investment decisions, and monitor investments together.

Today, WEL represents a powerful and growing network of over 130 women investors, with Investing Groups in Victoria, Vancouver, Okanagan, and Toronto and soon Manitoba and Silicon Valley. We have collectively invested in 18 different businesses so far, including personal health, agritech, e-commerce, green tech, SaaS, self-publishing and plant-based food products.

For more information on how to participate in WEL please refer to our website at www.womensequitylab.com or contact Glynnis Vaughan at 250-507-9067.