Debbie Rosati

When Jodi Fedor signed up for her first Springboard conference last month in

Ottawa, she didn't really expect much to come out of the event. What she did discover was that she's not crazy or alone.

"I was actually quite surprised, because I went in thinking that it would be a place where people would just meet and mingle, but it was phenomenal," said Ms Fedor, president of Exuberance Organic Body Therapies.

"As an entrepreneur, you're alone much of the time and it can be a very isolating journey, so to find others who are going through the same thing and being able to talk to them is quite a validating experience."

Springboard Enterprises is a Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit organization that helps showcase women-led businesses to investors. The organization targets women leading companies with high-growth potential.

While she's self-funding her enterprise and growing it slowly, Ms Fedor said she went away with valuable information that will come in handy when the time comes to pitch investors.

One of the biggest lessons she learned was how to speak the language of business, something she hadn't thought about before attending the Springboard event.

"There's a language within the business world and, as a new entrepreneur, you're not really linked into it. Getting out there and hearing people talk is almost like going to school, but it's not something that is taught in a classroom," she said.

"I hadn't really had a chance to talk to someone who was listening for specific things and, across the board, whether I'm looking for money or just trying to express myself to people who want to purchase my products, it's hugely useful to be able to consolidate it into a three-minute pitch."

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) partnered with Springboard Enterprises last year after the U.S. group began looking for ways to expand its reach into Canada. CATA jumped at the chance to develop a women's enterprise network in Canada that would help connect women entrepreneurs to existing resources and foster cross-border partnerships.

"We were able to build on their platform and, instead of creating it from scratch, we got a headstart by linking with an organization that has been working in this area for years," said CATA president John Reid. "I have a group now that's looking into how to extend this in Canada and try to make it more of a 365-days-a-year project, we've been working with entrepreneurs and gathering insight into the barriers and challenges that women face.

"We have to create this type of ongoing forum and resource, particularly for the technology community."

More than 3,000 entrepreneurs in the U.S. have attended Springboard's 14 conferences since 2000. Springboard members across the U.S. have raised more than US$2 billion in investment using the group's network of investors, service providers and industry experts.

Since they joined forces in Canada, CATA and Springboard have held two annual events, with an inaugural Growth Capital Workshop in Toronto last fall and a second in Ottawa last month.

"The objective is really to facilitate networking, provide tools and resources to help women access capital and think about the issues and concerns they have about growing their company and to inspire them with successful women who have gone through it," said Ottawa "venture catalyst" Debi Rosati, who was a panellist at the 2003 conference.

"I attend a lot of different events, but very few women-only ones and it really is a very collaborative, supportive atmosphere; it's almost like a sisterhood."

Ms Fedor remains in contact with a number of entrepreneurs she met at the conference and continues to use the connections to further her two-year-old business.

While she meets regularly with her newfound allies to discuss issues, it also gives her a welcome excuse to get out of the office and interact with other entrepreneurs.

While the everyday issues women face as chief executives are similar to those of any other business, such as hiring the right team, finding capital and choosing financing structures, there are particular difficulties women encounter that often do not arise in male-led outfits.

A 2004 report co-authored by Los Angeles venture capital research firm Growthink Research and Chicago's re:invention Inc. found women-led companies receive a small portion of the total venture capital doled out by investors.

Venture Funding for Women Entrepreneurs revealed that only 84 businesses with women at the helm received US$783.8 million, or 4.2 per cent, of more than US$19 billion in venture capital poured into 1,860 U.S. operations in 2003.

Earlier this year, another report funded by the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation pointed to the male-dominated venture capital industry as another hurdle for female entrepreneurs. With few women decision-makers and limited network connections available to female entrepreneurs, the Kauffman report concluded the industry would need to address this inequity to help close the female entrepreneur funding gap. The research was based on data from 1995 to 2000.

At the Ottawa event, a number of investors were invited to give workshops to the delegates, helping them polish their elevator pitches and learn techniques to get noticed by the venture capital community.

"I think as more role models and success are out there in the market, it will only inspire women and to have these types of events to foster women to take the challenge is very important," Ms Rosati said.

"I, fortunately, had the opportunity of picking the investors for the event and I tried to think of like-minded, supportive ones. I also reached into the community to get women investors linked up with women entrepreneurs."

To help push the initiative in Canada, CATA recently hired industry veteran Joanne Stanley.

Ms Stanley's expertise is in building strategic partnerships and developing brand strategies for new products, companies and alliances.

While having an annual event remains on the top of the list, the long-term goal for CATA is to build a sustainable, national program to help advance women in technology and other high-growth industries.

Ms Stanley established a CATA working group following the conference in Ottawa, which brings together women with an ongoing interest in expanding the program to more cities across the country. It hopes to have a conference in Western Canada in the next two years.

"We are looking at what other organizations and programs offer and we don't want to duplicate them, so we are trying to find the gaps as it relates to women in technology and high-growth industries. Our next step is to do some research to get feedback on what women are looking for," Ms Stanley said.

"Another role we saw for this is to create linkages with the local and regional organizations, like the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, because they are doing a great job at that level."

By Jeff Pappone

special to the Ottawa Business Journal