herstory
STORY-PITCH COMPETITION
JUNE 2, 2023
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Finalists, partners, sponsors, champions, community—we can’t thank everyone enough for making the 3rd annual HerStory a success.
Here's to the future of financial feminist investment!
Continue to learn more about HerStory.
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Calling all women* and gender-diverse founders/co-founders!
Are you a founder that has some market traction and are looking to accelerate with some additional funding? HerStory is a pitch competition that puts you in a room with potential investors to tell your story! You’ll run through your idea and why investing in you and your team will bring innovation, value, and impact.
Brought to you by The51 and Alberta Innovates
When?
Friday, June 2, 2023
9:15 am – 12 pm
Where?
Inventures
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre
136 – 8th Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2G 0P3
Why a story-pitch format?
Studies show what women entrepreneurs and investors have known for decades: traditional pitch competitions consistently fail women. (And, because the research on gender-diverse founders is basically non-existent, it’s safe to say this group is underserved as well.) HerStory is quite literally flipping the script. By leading with narrative and encouraging a relatable, honest and feminist approach to information, connection and business building, we’re challenging the traditional pitch model and spurring innovation. HerStory amplifies a diversity of voices and connects modern entrepreneurs with investors, increasing the likelihood of women accessing funding and growing their pathways to success.
Applications are now closed for HerStory 2023.
Add your name to our waitlist and get notified about the next HerStory competition.
Questions? Learn more from our FAQs, or please connect with us at herstory@the51.com.
Thank you to the HerStory Capital Champions and Ecosystem Sponsors.
We couldn’t do it without you!
HerStory 2023 Event Partners
HerStory 2023 Capital Champions
HerStory 2023 Ecosystem Sponsors
HerStory FAQs
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If you’re a startup founded or co-founded by a woman-identifying person and/or have women and gender-diverse individuals in equitable positions on the cap table, and your company is based/headquartered in Canada, we invite you to submit an application.
We believe in advancing women and gender-diverse people from different backgrounds in entrepreneurship in any industry, but here are a few sectors we’re particularly interested in:
The Future is Femtech
Innovating our Food Systems
Everything Enterprise
Direct to Consumer & Fintech
Digital CleanTech
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Ventures in the Pre-seed to Series A stages are invited to apply to HerStory. These types of companies may find themselves at stages such as:
Seed/Early Stage – The startup begins the transition of the company into a legal entity with steps toward product development, patent filing, and establishing customers.
Scaling/Growth Stage – The business is functioning in accordance with a well-defined business model and is looking to expand to address larger market opportunities.
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HerStory 2023 will consist of 30 founders sharing their stories in front of a panel of Capital Champions who will make an investment in the HerStory 2023 Venture Winners.
Each founder will have 4 minutes on stage to share their story-pitch. They may share their story in any way they choose—pitch deck or no pitch deck, props, no props, it’s up to you—just make sure it’s easy to set up/take down and doesn’t take away from your 4 minutes on stage! Once all 30 ventures have had the opportunity to share their stories, the Capital Champions will have time to deliberate before selecting the HerStory 2023 Venture Winners.
(Winners will be announced following the live event at the Inventures Calgary Luncheon)
Because this event is constrained to two and a half hours total, there will not be time available for questions and answers between the Capital Champions and participants; however, Capital Champions will have an opportunity to submit questions to the participants prior to the live event.
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Startups will be selected from the pool of applicants with consideration given to each applicant’s creativity, potential, traction and team/people. From all those who apply, a list of 30 entrepreneurs curated by The51 and our panel of Capital Champions will be selected to compete. Successful candidates will be notified via email no later than the second week of May 2023.
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HerStory 2023 Venture Winners receive an investment of up to $51,000 that is subject to due diligence. This investment is an equity-based investment where The51 is not the lead investor in the round.
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We love to hear that! However, due to constraints on time and capacity of the in-person event, we recommend that only one co-founder participates in the story-pitch competition in Calgary, Alberta on June 2, 2023.
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To ensure we can provide investment to as many diverse founders as possible, we ask that if you have previously received investment from The51, you do not apply to HerStory 2023.
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Yes. We ask that selected participants for HerStory 2023 be able to travel to Calgary, Alberta to participate in person for HerStory 2023 on June 2, 2023. Hotel accommodations for Friday night (June 2) will be provided and airline travel discounts are available for those who need them.
Questions?
Please connect with us at herstory@the51.com.
**A note on our event name, HerStory: At The51, our main audience is people who identify as women, which is why the name of many of our initiatives includes language that is aimed at women, like “HerStory;” however, financial feminism (like all forms of feminism) is about gender equality for all genders. This is why we are inclusive of all gender-diverse individuals and anyone who is underrepresented in this space and needs their voice amplified.
We are always learning and growing. If you have any questions or concerns about who is included in HerStory, please feel free to reach out to us at herstory@the51.com.
