International Women's Day 2026

International Women’s Day 2026: Women Funding Women Launches the Be Bold Challenge to Turn The Wealth Transfer into Economic Power

Toronto, ON — March 8, 2026

On International Women’s Day 2026, under the global theme

On International Women’s Day 2026, under the global theme Give to Gain, Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW) is pleased to announce the launch of The Be Bold Challenge, anchored by a strategic framework known as the Three Cs, designed to move Canadian women from wealth ownership to economic power.

Over the next decade, women in Canada will control close to $4 trillion in financial assets, nearly half the nation’s wealth. This is part of an estimated $124 trillion global wealth transfer underway. This historic shift presents a rare opportunity to reshape who builds, leads, and scales Canada’s innovation economy.

Yet a stark contradiction remains.

Despite women founding roughly one in five new businesses, women-led ventures continue to receive less than 4%, and often closer to 2%, of venture capital funding.

“Give to Gain captures the urgency of this moment,” said Dr. Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, CEO & Co-Founder of Women Funding Women. “When women invest capital, and expertise, and back women-led businesses, they shift economic power. The Three Cs are how we mobilize that shift.”

 

 

The Be Bold Challenge: Introducing the Three Cs

As part of International Women’s Day 2026, WFW is formally introducing the Three Cs as the strategic foundation of The Be Bold Challenge:

1. Changing the Paradigm

When women back women, we don’t just close the funding gap, we redefine who gets to build, lead, and scale the next generation of companies. This is a call for women to step forward as capital decision-makers and lead boldly at a moment when leadership matters.

 

2. Creation of Wealth

Women must move away from fear of risk and toward calculated risk-taking. Women may take more time to make investment decisions, but once committed, they are persistent and thoughtful, qualities that are financial strengths. Venture investing is a legitimate path to prosperity, and women must fully participate in the wealth creation men have benefited from for generations.

 

3. Collective Collaboration

Systemic change does not occur in isolation, it is built through deliberate, collective action. When we widen our networks, normalize women as both founders and funders, and create trusted spaces where women can pitch, invest, mentor, and champion one another, collaboration moves from conversation to capital deployment. In that environment, collective collaboration becomes not just supportive - but catalytic - driving change in the economy.

At the same time, durable transformation requires inclusive partnership. Engaging male allies and champions strengthens the ecosystem, expands access to capital and influence, and reinforces that closing the funding gap is not a women’s issue, it is an economic imperative.

 

“The wealth transfer is inevitable,” said Dr. Deborah Rosati, Co-founder of WFW . “The power transfer is within our grasp. The Three Cs are our blueprint for ensuring women are not just holders of wealth, but architects of the future economy.”

Founder Capital in Action

In keeping with the principles of the Three Cs, the three co-founders of WFW and their Advisory Council are publicly disclosing a selection of women-led Canadian ventures in which they are personally invested, demonstrating leadership by example and reinforcing that angel investing is a disciplined asset class, not a symbolic gesture.

“Disclosing where we invest is about credibility and accountability,” said Lara Zink, Co-Founder of WFW ” WFW co-founders and our Advisory Council members are leading by example and challenging women across Canada to be visible capital allocators and help shape the innovation economy in Canada.”

Women Funding Women Releases Co-Founder and Advisory Council Investment List

Canadian Women Angels Shifting Economic Power and Backing the Builders of Canada’s Innovation Economy

On International Women’s Day, Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW) is proud to release a powerful demonstration of capital in action: a list of women-led companies personally backed by our Co-Founders and members of our Advisory Council.

This is more than a list. It is evidence of a structural shift.

Across Canada, women are moving from participation to ownership, from influence to allocation. They are deploying capital into early-stage and growth ventures led by women founders who are building, scaling, and reshaping Canada’s innovation economy.

For decades, women-led companies have received a disproportionately small share of venture capital funding. Today, WFW’s Co-Founders and the Advisory Council are helping to change that narrative, not through rhetoric, but through direct investment.

The companies published here represent sectors spanning technology, health innovation, fintech, climate solutions, consumer products, and beyond. They reflect the breadth of Canadian entrepreneurship, and the growing conviction among women angels that capital is a lever for economic power.

These companies are women-led or include at least one woman within the founding team. The companies listed have been included without a third-party verification of ownership.

Shifting Economic Power

Canada is in the midst of an unprecedented wealth transfer. As women increasingly control more capital, the question is no longer whether women have economic influence, it is how that capital will be deployed.

The WFW Investment Impact Snapshot demonstrates a clear answer:

• Women are backing women.

• Women are expanding networks of access.

• Women are bridging the funding gap.

Women are defining who builds and scales in Canada.

When women invest, outcomes change. Boards diversify. Founders gain strategic mentorship. Ecosystems become more inclusive. Markets become more representative of the people they serve.

This is systemic change in motion.

Capital with Conviction

Each investment listed reflects personal conviction. WFW Co-Founders and the Advisory Council members have chosen to allocate their own capital to women-led ventures, signaling belief not only in individual founders, but in the broader thesis that inclusive innovation drives stronger economic performance.

Overlap among investments is not redundancy, it is momentum. It signals network density, trust, and coordinated support.

Together, this collective capital deployment sends a clear message:

Canadian women are not waiting for change.
They are funding it.

The Be Bold Challenge in Action

The release of this investment list forms part of WFW’s 2026 rallying cry: The Be Bold Challenge: Canadian women angels defining who builds, leads, and scales Canada’s innovation economy.

Boldness is not abstract. It is measurable.
It is capital deployed.
It is founders funded.
It is economic power in practice.

As women across Canada step forward as both founders and funders, the funding gap narrows, and the innovation economy becomes stronger, more competitive, and more reflective of the country it serves.

This is what shifting economic power looks like.

And this is only the beginning.

WFW Investment Impact Highlights

As of February 28, 2026, the WFW collective has made a significant impact in the realm of supporting women-led ventures. The WFW Co-founders and members of the Advisory Council have collectively invested in a diverse array of industries, championing female entrepreneurs and fostering innovation.

 

Breakdown of Investments by Industry

WFW focuses on investments that empower women-led ventures in Canada, driving both economic growth and social influence. By concentrating on women-led ventures across various sectors, WFW remains committed to bridging the funding gap for women entrepreneurs.

Investment Impact Snapshot 2026 List

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. Women Funding Women Inc. does not guarantee any investment outcome.