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This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the women redefining entrepreneurship in Canada. Despite receiving only about 2.3% of traditional venture capital (Crunchbase), women-led companies often outperform their male-led peers—generating $0.78 in revenue for every dollar invested, compared to $0.31 for men (BCG Global).
At FrontFundr, female founders don’t wait for a seat at the table—they create it, raising capital on their own terms and inviting investors who share their vision, often drawing from the communities that know and love their products.
While women-led companies represent 19% of our successfully funded campaigns, there’s still more work to do to close the funding gap. These founders’ stories already show that women-led businesses can thrive through impact, innovation, and community.
This International Women’s Day, we’re proud to showcase some of the inspiring female founders who raised with FrontFundr in 2025, highlighting the creativity, leadership, and community they bring to Canada’s entrepreneurial landscape.
These founders are rewriting the rules of their industries—identifying gaps, challenging assumptions, and creating products that didn’t exist until they made them.
VEGAIN – Melissa L’Heureux-Haché
Melissa co-founded VEGAIN, a Canadian plant-based sports nutrition brand, to fill a gap she experienced in vegan performance products. Through FrontFundr, VEGAIN raised $275K CAD from 78 investors as part of a larger funding round, helping Melissa build both a product and a community she believes in. SURGE™ Clear Protein, VEGAIN’s flagship innovation, was awarded Gold – Product of the Year at the BC Food & Beverage Awards, and the brand is expanding into major Canadian retailers while preparing for entry into the U.S. market.
“Our customers have been asking to be a part of this since day one…to have the opportunity to get those people involved is just an incredible feeling.”
Hettas – Lindsay Housman
Lindsay founded Hettas, a performance running shoe brand designed exclusively for women, after realizing athletic footwear largely ignores female anatomy. Partnering with researchers studying female biomechanics, she created shoes that prioritize comfort, fit, and performance. Hettas raised $140K from 92 investors on FrontFundr, allowing Lindsay to bring her community directly into the company’s ownership.
“Community is one of our mission pillars…this felt like the right type of capital to raise and the right opportunity to invite our community into the ownership group.”
Origin Bakery – Tara Black
Tara founded Origin Bakery to make high-quality gluten-free products more accessible, addressing a long-overlooked gap in the market. With more than 25 years of hospitality leadership experience, she has trained dozens of chefs while building Canada’s first gluten-free bakery franchise. Origin is currently raising capital on FrontFundr to expand its product reach and bring more investors into its growing community.
By harnessing technology and creative business models, these founders are turning ideas into platforms that reach thousands and solve real problems at scale.
Blossom Social – Annika Ng
Annika co-founded Blossom Social, a Vancouver-based fintech platform that allows retail investors to share verified portfolios, trades, and investment ideas. Designed to make investing transparent and community-driven, the platform has grown to over 400,000 users and was named one of Apple’s Top 25 Apps of 2025. Through two record-breaking FrontFundr campaigns in 2024 and 2025, Blossom raised over $3.27M from more than 1,600 investors, helping expand features and grow its user base across Canada and the U.S.
Gander Social – Jennifer Mitchell
Jen co-founded Gander Social, a Canadian-built social media platform focused on privacy, digital sovereignty, and user trust. With over 15 years of experience scaling AI-driven teams, she has created a platform where users control their data. Gander’s equity crowdfunding campaign raised $500K in the first 24 hours and ultimately over $2M from 2,517 investors, giving supporters a chance to co-own a platform designed to put users first.
Valley of Mother of God Gin – Shelly Perry
Shelly co-founded Foxglove Spirits, the team behind Valley of Mother of God Gin, with a vision to craft spirits that reflect the Canadian landscape using local botanicals. Leveraging an innovative farm‑to‑bottle approach and artisanal production techniques, the brand is scaling both domestically and internationally. Through FrontFundr, Foxglove raised $222K from 68 investors, accelerating production, expanding into Japan, and preparing for entry into the U.S. and Abu Dhabi markets.
Mission-driven and impact-focused, these founders are proving that profitable businesses can also make the world better, combining sustainability, ethics, and creativity in everything they do.
Triarchy – Ania Taubenfligel
Ania co-founded Triarchy, a sustainable denim brand, and leads its marketing and creative strategy. From Vancouver to Los Angeles, Triarchy blends fashion, sustainability, and storytelling, building a global brand rooted in responsible production. The company is currently raising capital on FrontFundr to support its next phase of international growth.
KIIMA – Jenny Essiambre
Jenny co-founded KIIMA, a refillable zero-waste skincare brand focused on environmental sustainability and conscious beauty. Through FrontFundr, KIIMA raised $85K from 87 investors, supporting product development and growth while building a community aligned with its mission to reduce waste in the beauty industry.
Sheringham Distillery – Alayne MacIsaac
Alayne co-founded Sheringham Distillery to craft approachable, chef-driven spirits while prioritizing sustainability and quality ingredients. Through FrontFundr, Sheringham raised $1.2M from 79 investors, bringing community members into ownership as the brand continues to grow.
“We’ve had multiple times over the years where people had reached out saying they’d like to invest. We really love our community so we thought why not [raise capital] this way where somebody can invest $500 or $50,000 and truly own a piece of Sheringham.”
These women aren’t just raising capital—they’re building communities, scaling innovations, and redefining what success looks like for women-led companies. Their stories show that when women lead, industries evolve, customers engage more deeply, and businesses generate meaningful returns.
Despite evidence that women-led companies often outperform their male-led peers, they still receive only 2.3% of traditional venture capital funding. The founders featured here prove that when women are given the opportunity—and the support of investors who believe in their vision—they can scale, innovate, and create impact.
Closing the funding gap for female founders is a complex challenge that requires support across the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem. Across Canada, organizations like The Forum, the BDC Capital Women in Technology Venture Fund, the Thrive Venture Fund, and The51 are helping expand access to capital and resources, and we’re inspired by their work.
At FrontFundr, we’re proud to play a role by giving female founders the ability to invite their supporters, raise on their own terms, and scale their impact. This International Women’s Day, we celebrate these founders—and the many women-led businesses shaping Canada’s entrepreneurial future.
Explore women-led campaigns and support the next wave of Canadian innovators on FrontFundr today.
