The Firehood

The largest venture capital raise ever by a Black woman in Canada. A former CIO and Global Executive Officer, at BMO and TD. The Founder of Protexxa, a cybersecurity company securing contracts with governments and corporations around the world. These are not different people, this is Claudette M., this week's guest on The Venture Podcast. Her message in this clip from our interview is powerful enough to warrant a focused share, so we will be highlighting one key takeaway from her interview through this clip. If you would like to dive deeper into our conversation with Claudette, head to  the full episode links: YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gBTtRakq Spotify - https://lnkd.in/g3ZimqDz Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gcNwcS6e Unfortunately, James Moffat was unable to join this episode but we will be back together next week with an awesome interview profile on Matt Puchalski and Bucket Robotics - (YC S24)

Happy Startupfest Winner's Circle Wednesday!! This week's winner, Ora Medical, is transforming pediatric care through their device, Levity. Through Levity, Ora Medical allows children to access physical rehabilitation in the home. Sarah Lambert won the $100K Women in Tech Investment Prize championed by The Firehood in 2023 and returned in 2024 as a mentor. Find out more about Ora Medical's incredible work here: https://www.oramedical.ca/ Danielle Brewin Graham Claudette M.

Calling all female founders! 🎉 I have an extra ticket to SAAS NORTH Conference next week, and I want to give it to a female founder deep in the trenches of building her business. 💪 Back in 2022, Danielle Brewin Graham invited me to SaaS North to pitch at the The Firehood Camp. At that time, I hadn’t really put myself “out there” and was completely focused on building Blanka. That invitation and her unwavering support sparked a chain reaction for our business. The opportunity to attend SaaS North and share our story opened up so many doors. I met incredible founders, learned a great deal about the Canadian tech landscape, and most notably, I met with one of our investors, Neil Grunberg. This year, I want to pay it forward by giving a ticket to a founder who, just like I did, could use an extra boost. It’s going to be an amazing event, featuring some of my favorite women in the Canadian tech ecosystem: ✨ April Hicke ✨ Renae Farough ✨ Kelsey Hahn ✨ Janet Bannister ✨ Kate Grant ✨ Claudette M. Want the ticket? Or know someone who should have it? Comment below with your name and why you want to attend!!

Breaking BARRIERS and driving CHANGE 🌟 Our Women in Tech Breakfast was truly one for the books! We were thrilled to partner with Danielle Brewin Graham and Claudette M. from The Firehood, and to hear from Rashel Hariri and Monique Simair as part of the She's Interesting live podcast. With over 100 women in the room, the event was a powerful opportunity to learn, connect, and empower one another. This breakfast continues to be a standout event, leaving us inspired and excited for what’s next! 📷 : Darkstrand Visuals

The Firehood Co-Founders Claudette M. and Danielle Brewin Graham announced the winner of the Women Pitch Prize at Elevate! Cynthia E., co-founder and CEO of Nunafab, secured a $200,000 cash investment from The Firehood Angels and Capital M Ventures. Additional awards included Tamara Lockwood-Ortiz of Infinite Harvest, Inc with a $25,000 investment from Firehood Angels and Karine Bah Tahé (she/her) from Oasis Learning AI with up to $500,000 in Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits. Special thanks to The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Toronto Metropolitan University, Deloitte, NEXT Canada, and of course, Elevate, for enabling our founders to connect with the vibrant Toronto tech ecosystem, partners, sponsors, and each other as they continue their founder journey. Special shoutout to our angels who made investment announcements to further fuel these incredible ventures: Yasaman Soudagar, Anika F., Upasana Sharma, Megan Swan, Taheera Fidaali CPA, Aashni Shah 🎉 Samantha L. Susanne Alexandor, Missanabie Cree Business Corporation, Melissa Allen, Jasmine Sinden, and Helen Kontozopoulos. Thank you to our partners Deloitte, TD, Archangel Network of Funds - Phoenix Fire, Export Development Canada | Exportation et développement Canada, Protexxa, Elevate, Mastercard and the Government of Canada for making this program possible. Special thanks to Equivesto for supporting our founders throughout the Women program. After reviewing over 500 applications and running two months of programming, we’re thrilled to have reached an exciting conclusion to our journey. Thanks to the incredible women speakers, founders, and mentors, we have gone from 33 startups down to 11, with a deep dive session that culminated in an all-day grand finale yesterday. We couldn’t be more excited to announce the addition of three startups to The Firehood portfolio! #ElevateTechCA #WomenInTech #Founders #TheFirehood #TorontoTech #WomenInInvestment #AngelInvestors #Innovation

Exciting Updates from The Firehood and Pond-Deshpande Centre! Next week is Elevate, and we have invited our angels to join us to hear the Elevate Women founders and the Atlantic Showcase on October 1st in Toronto. Feel free to reach out directly if you’d like to be part of this private event! We're also thrilled to announce the inaugural cohort of firestarter—a program igniting support for women and non-binary founders. Developed in collaboration with the Pond-Deshpande Centre, this pilot program is dedicated to empowering women and non-binary founders with the skills needed to build and scale tech startups. A special thank you to our incredible leadership, speakers, and our partners: TD Deloitte Protexxa Missanabie Cree Business Corporation (MCBC) Export Development Canada | Exportation et développement Canada Plug and Play Tech Center Meet the Atlantic firestarters joining us at Elevate next week: Andrea King (Newfoundland) – Aucure Kara LeBlanc (New Brunswick) – MedReddie Kimberly Gilbert, PhD (Nova Scotia) – pHathom Technologies, Inc Dr. Christine Ward-Paige🦈🌊-Paige (Nova Scotia) – eOceans® Janessa Ferrell (PEI) – QuestRead Rashmi Prakash (Nova Scotia) – Aruna Revolution Stacey Goldberg, PhD (PEI) – PhyCo Technologies Inc. Shelley Montreuil (PEI) – trippl inc. Suzanne Iwankow (PEI) – CleanBands Mandy Woodland (Newfoundland) – AmpHealth Join the movement! Let’s create change together by supporting these incredible founders. Learn more about firestarter: https://lnkd.in/eFCBrPc6 Reach out to be part of what's next! https://firehood.net/ #Firehood #PondDeshpandeCentre #firestarter #WomenInTech #NonBinaryFounders #AtlanticCanada #TechInclusion #Builders #Operators #WINVC

Elevate holds such a special place in my heart! 💙💚♥️ It’s an honour to ‘reunite with world-class innovators to shine a global spotlight on Canada’s tech and innovation ecosystem’ One question… are you joining me?🙋🏽♀️ Lisa Zarzeczny Octavia N. Howell, CISSP, GSLC Danielle Brewin Graham Sabrina Geremia Ireen Birungi Erin Golding Jonathan Franze Ragulan Sinnarajah Andrea Stapley Farzia K, CISSP Asia Shahulhameed, LL.M, CISSP, CAMS Rami Wehbe Jènelle Ernest Andrew Ward Serena Nguyen Nathalie Gahimbare Karlyn Percil-Mercieca Dwayne Matthews O.C.T (he/him) Amoye Henry, MBA Christine Dewhurst Jodi Kovitz Erin Elofson Annette Verschuren Wanda Fong

The line between home and office has blurred, making cybersecurity more crucial than ever. With global cyber threats on the rise, how prepared are you to protect and defend your digital privacy? Join Claudette McGowan, CEO of Protexxa, on September 9th at 11:00 a.m. ET for an important conversation on navigating the shifting landscape of digital security. Together with Dr. Rumeet Billan, CEO of Women of Influence , Claudette will share essential insights and actionable steps to safeguard your data in today’s digital age. Claudette will discuss the essential practices of digital hygiene, the importance of a defence strategy, and how the shift to hybrid work environments has changed the game for cybersecurity.

How can two people have so much fun speaking about cybersecurity? Thanks Rumeet Billan, Ph.D. and Women of Influence for hosting me to discuss my passion… keeping every human safe in the digital world. 🌎 Amoye Henry, MBA Juliet Daniel Rick Huijbregts Stefan Palios Nathalie Gahimbare Fab Dolan Ryan D'Souza Chelsey Korman HXOUSE Karlyn Percil-Mercieca Steve Morgan Tara-Jane H. Farzia K, CISSP Andrea Stapley The Firehood Marilena Danelon, MA, GSEC, GCIH Katherine Isaac Rami Wehbe Danielle Brewin Graham Black Founders Network BKR Capital BlackNorth Initiative MaRS Discovery District Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR) Colleen Ward Nkechi Nwafor-Robinson Caroline Gayle, BSc, MBA Christine Dewhurst Asia Shahulhameed, LL.M, CISSP, CAMS Dahabo Ahmed-Omer Black Opportunity Fund Canadian Cybersecurity Network The Canadian Women's Foundation Tiffany Callender Achēv