The Spotlight
Kathryn From
Angel Investor
As a successful consumer products entrepreneur turned impactful angel investor, Kathryn From is actively shaping Canada's entrepreneurial ecosystem by backing the next generation of women-led ventures. She is the founder of both Wonderment Ventures, which provides capital and expertise to a select group of startups across various consumer sectors, and The Wonder Collective, a group of female funders dedicated to supporting female founders.
About Kathryn From
After early careers in strategic consulting (Monitor Group) and international marketing communications (3M), including 5 years living and working in Paris and Milan, Kathryn became owner of Bravado Designs, a manufacturer of maternity and nursing lingerie. Over the span of 16 years, she built the company into the most recognized high end brand in its niche, with customers as diverse as Nordstrom, Target and Babies R Us, a slew of celebrity moms as devoted clients, and sales in over 30 countries. In 2011 she sold Bravado to Medela AG, the world’s leading breastfeeding company.
Kathryn is the Founder of Wonderment Ventures, a company that provides capital and expertise to a select group of start ups across a variety of consumer sectors. She is also the Founder of The Wonder Collective, a group of female funders supporting female founders. Wonderment Ventures has invested in notable companies such as Knix, Love Good Fats, Everist, Paume, Sahajan and Beachman.
Kathryn is a recipient of the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award, an 8 time W100 top 100 Women Entrepreneurs of the Year, and was a member of the Canadian government’s Small Business Export Advisory Board. She was also a long time member of the Toronto International Film Festival Group’s Marketing Advisory Board. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA from INSEAD.
Connect with Kathryn on LinkedIn
Investment & Impact Snapshot
Investment Focus: Consumer products with strong branding and clear exit strategies.
Investment Philosophy: Strategic capital and operational expertise for early-stage growth.
Unique Edge: Deep operational background, hands-on due diligence, and active mentorship.
Committed to: Empowering resilient, coachable women founders with a clear path to wealth creation.
The Spotlight: A Conversation with Kathryn From
Interviewed by Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, Co-founder, Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW).
Published October 5, 2025
Sherry Shannon Vanstone: We're thrilled to welcome Kathryn From as our inaugural featured founder for "The Spotlight," presented by Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW) in partnership with the Scotiabank Women's Initiative® (SWI).
Kathryn From: I'm so honoured to be here! Thank you for considering me. I didn't even know SWI was involved, so this is truly exciting.
From Founder to Funder: A Journey of Passion
Sherry: Kathryn, you've been both an entrepreneur and an angel investor. Can you tell us about your background and how you made that transition?
Kathryn: My journey to becoming a funder really started with my experience as an entrepreneur. It felt like a natural evolution. I worked in corporate for a number of years after getting my commerce degree and MBA, but I always had this driving motivation to own my own business.
I remember when I was in university, a marketing professor who was also the head of marketing at Johnson & Johnson told me something that I first took as an insult. He said, “If my team does their job right, you won't be offered the position.” I was shocked and asked him why. He told me I was a "free spirit" and needed to do my own thing. He said to succeed in a large company, you need tunnel vision, and that just wasn't me.
He was right! I started my career as a strategic consultant, and after my MBA in Europe, I worked at 3M for a few years. These were great opportunities, but they were just stepping stones. When I came back to Canada, companies didn't know where to place me. I was under 30 with international experience. So, I started my own consulting firm while I waited for the "right" opportunity.
One of my early clients was the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), where I ran an export training program. I had to recruit 10 companies, and Bravado Designs was one of them. I worked closely with them and loved the founders. It was a cool business, but they weren't optimizing their potential. I knew I could help. I came on as a third partner, and after the original partners had a falling out, I bought out one of them. Seven years later, I bought out the second partner.
When you morph into being a founder, it never feels like a job; you’re all in. For me, it was about the freedom and accountability. But the flip side is chronic insomnia, waking up at 3 a.m. to solve problems. After 16 years, I was completely drained and swore I’d never be operational again. Of course, you should never say never!
The Shift to Angel Investing
Sherry: Your journey is so inspiring. What sparked your interest in angel investing after that intense experience?
Kathryn: Angel investing was a really natural fit. I love the entrepreneurial community and wanted to stay connected. When you’ve spent 16 years building a company, you learn a few things and make a ton of mistakes. You feel like you have some wisdom to share.
Angel investing was a way to get involved with interesting early-stage companies without doing the heavy lifting. I’m not the person to run a $100 million company; I’d be moderately okay at it. My sweet spot is the $0 to $30 million companies. It’s a bit more “cowboy,” with rapid-fire decision-making and that adrenaline rush I love - and, yes, the insomnia that comes with it.
My youngest child is graduating high school, which will free up my time, but the shift began during my three-year earn-out period with Bravado. The thought of being operational again didn’t sit well with me. Angel investing was the next logical step.
I’d love to say it was purely to help other entrepreneurs, but it’s more selfish than that. I love everything about running a business, and I wanted to be part of that journey without all the hard work. Another big reason is that I'm a bit of a control freak. I’m a terrible investor in public stocks. With angel investing, I have a greater sense of control and can build a strong rapport with the entrepreneurs.
I truly believe angel investing is a wealth creator - for founders, investors, and employees. It's the engine of the economy. In Canada, it’s not easy to be an entrepreneur or raise funding. But for an individual, I don’t think there’s a better way to create wealth than through entrepreneurship or angel investing, unless you're becoming an investment banker.
The Rise of Wonderment Ventures and The Wonder Collective
Sherry: Did you start as an individual investor before founding Wonderment Ventures and The Wonder Collective?
Kathryn: Yes. Wonderment Ventures is my company, which I run with my business partner, Irene de Gooyer-Collins. Irene was my CFO at Bravado. I told her, “I won’t do this without you.” She has this incredible, rare combination of high-level strategy and practical know-how. She understands start-ups and has a broader vision beyond just the numbers. Wonderment Ventures is the vehicle we use for our angel investing.
In 2022, we created The Wonder Collective. The idea came from a great company we invested in that was raising a small round. We could write a six-figure check, but we couldn't fill the whole round. We tried to bring in some working women we knew, but it was like herding cats. No one knew much about angel investing, and they wanted us to make the decision for them. They literally said, “Just tell me what to invest in.” They wanted to piggyback on our investments.
Irene and I thought about raising a formal fund, but we quickly realized how much paperwork and administrative burden it would involve. We had zero interest in charging fees or dealing with the bureaucracy. So, we decided to create the Collective instead—a loose, no-fees, no-paperwork structure focused on investing in female-founded companies.
We started with 12 women and filled it immediately. We’re now at 18 members and are closed to new ones. The commitment is five investments over three years at $15,000 each. While each member is listed individually on the cap table, which isn't ideal for the companies, it's a great list of women, and the companies get really excited. If someone doesn't invest in a mandatory deal, they get kicked out. No one wants that!
With the Collective, we have the power of a small fund, able to deploy $350,000 to $400,000 as a group. We've done only two mandatory investments in three and a half years because we haven't seen many "Collective-worthy" opportunities. Our mandate is simple: funders funding founders, very similar to the mission of Women Funding Women.
The Investing Strategy: Consumer Brands and Niche Expertise
Sherry: Are your investments industry-agnostic?
Kathryn: Not at all! We focus exclusively on consumer products. We don't touch tech for a very simple reason: I don't understand it. I’m old-school; I understand tangible products, branding, and distribution, whether it’s e-commerce or retail. The beauty of not having a formal fund is the freedom it gives us. Freedom is extremely important to me - it's why I became an entrepreneur in the first place.
While we've dabbled with small checks in sectors like tech and healthcare, I'm just not comfortable with them. I don't understand how tech companies are valued, and healthcare's path to profitability can take years. A friend who invests in tech once told me I'd be a disaster, and he's right. It has to be something we can get passionate about - a branded product with a good story.
Our strategy goes against the grain of traditional angel investing. Most experts recommend writing many small checks across industries to mitigate risk. We, however, prefer fewer, larger investments. Yes, the risk goes up, but we feel it’s mitigated because a bigger check gives us more input and a stronger voice in the company. For example, when we invest $300,000 to $400,000 from the Collective, we insist on a board seat and regular meetings. We’ve found that we have more impact and are more effective when we are truly invested in the outcome, not just financially.
Our operational background is our unique value proposition. We’re not just financial investors. We love digging into the details - asking about manufacturing models, margins, and headcount. We've lived it.
We turn down about 95% of the companies we see, but we always meet with the founders and provide feedback. We often hear them say, “No one has ever asked me that question before.” Our knowledge comes from being in the trenches, and we love helping entrepreneurs think differently about their businesses.
Non-Negotiables for Investment
Sherry: What are your non-negotiables when you invest?
Kathryn: The number one thing is the entrepreneur, and I’m sure everyone says that. We want to invest in founders who would rather die than not pay us back. This goes back to my own experience. Even in the deepest valleys of trouble with my business, I was determined to make sure everyone got paid back.
We don’t exclusively invest in women, but in general, we find women are much more willing to stick it out and work super hard to make it work. They don't quickly say, “Oh, it didn't work out, I'm moving on.” That’s so important to us.
Entrepreneurs must be passionate and willing to work their asses off. We are not interested in providing a lifestyle or a good salary for a couple of years. We tell founders, "The money is for building the company, not for your salary." The big reward will come later. We are the first to give them a raise when the company can afford it, but not before.
Founders also have to be coachable. We are hardcore about having tough conversations. We’ll look at their numbers and say, “These are completely wrong. Where did they come from?” We want to see who gets defensive and who takes the feedback well. A recent founder we invested in, after a tough conversation about her business, said she was so grateful for our feedback. That’s the kind of person we want to invest in - someone who doesn't let their ego get in the way.
Finally, since we’re consumer-focused, it has to be a great brand that stands out. We love a niche, but not too niche. And there must be multiple paths to exit. My personal experience with my maternity and nursing lingerie company taught me this. There was only one possible exit, and I had to do whatever it took to make sure that company would acquire us. We are now very firm that a company must have multiple potential buyers.
The Importance of Due Diligence
Sherry: You mentioned you turn down 95% of the founders you see. How can we get more women to become angel investors?
Kathryn: There are a couple of reasons for that 95% number. Some companies are great but don’t fit our model. For instance, we passed on a company because the founder insisted on doing her own manufacturing. While the valuation was up for discussion, we felt she would cap out her capacity, and we aren't interested in investing in a $5 to $10 million business. We’re there to help them scale.
Founders also often completely overvalue their companies. You can't have a $10 million company with $150,000 in sales. The math doesn’t work. Founders need to get serious about their pitch, their numbers, and their valuation. They need to understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur. As an early investor in Knix, I remember the founder, Joanna, calling me and saying, "This is so much harder than I thought it would be." It’s not for the faint of heart.
As for getting more women to invest, they need to understand what they're getting into. Angel investing is a long-term commitment. You can't just sell your stake in three years. There's a huge knowledge gap, especially in due diligence.
This is where the Wonder Collective really shines. Irene and I take on the due diligence, spending 40 to 50 hours on each potential investment. We don't believe the numbers in the pitch deck; we look at the model behind the model. We've even found huge errors in spreadsheets founders have been using for their pitches. We are incredibly operational and dive into everything from headcount and pricing to margins. Our members trust us to do this work for them because they don't have the time or expertise.
We no longer work with traditional angel groups because their due diligence process takes forever. Companies lose interest, and investors lose interest. Our process is way more than just hearing a pitch. We look at the market, the product, the competition, and even go to the stores to see the product on the shelves. We try the product. You have to do the due diligence yourself or have someone do it for you. There are no shortcuts with your hard-earned money. You owe it to yourself to take it seriously.
Final Thoughts
Sherry: Kathryn, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your experience. You've given us a lot to think about, especially regarding the due diligence process.
Kathryn: It's been absolutely awesome. I'm so happy to be the featured founder for this inaugural “The Spotlight.” Thank you!
Key Learnings & Advice from Kathryn From
On strategic angel investing
"Angel investing is a powerful wealth creator, but it requires deep understanding, due diligence, and a focus on long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs, not just quick exits."
On the importance of due diligence
"Thorough due diligence is non-negotiable. Go beyond the pitch, scrutinize the business model, and understand the path to exit before investing your hard-earned capital."
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