Welcome to this week’s Midweek Memo. In this issue, read about Women’s Equity Lab’s partnership with BDC, new federal investments in Victoria, BestHuman’s new partnership, and a rising living wage for Greater Victoria.

Now, onto today’s briefing. It’s 759 words, a three-minute read.

Women’s Equity Lab partners with BDC’s $100M Thrive Lab

Last week, BDC announced 25 partners across Canada with which it will co-invest up to $35 million in businesses at the earliest stages of development: the area in which they face the most challenges in fundraising.

Among those partners is Women’s Equity Lab (WEL), a group founded in Victoria in 2017 that is now comprised of over 150 female investors from around the world.

WEL’s investing model was created to address the chronic and systemic underrepresentation of women in early-stage investing. With funds operating across Canada and Silicon Valley, WEL has completed more than 35 investments over the last five years.

Each WEL group has its own investment thesis and connects closely with the businesses in their region. WEL’s portfolio companies not only receive capital, but gain access to a network of women advisors, connectors, and champions.

WEL’s Victoria portfolio companies include Shift, Blume, VitaminLab, Joni, and more.

For BDC’s part, investments will be made through its Thrive Lab, a $100-million project intended to provide equity and equity-like investments, plus training and support, for at least 100 women-led businesses tackling social issues.

“Working together, our goal is to ensure each [portfolio] company is surrounded by a strong syndicate of partners,” said Sévrine Labelle, managing director of Thrive Lab. “Partners who are fully committed to ensuring each company has the capital and resources required to succeed financially and deliver the positive social impact they intended. Ultimately, the Thrive Lab will build a pipeline of future female leaders who will redefine what good investing and entrepreneurship looks like.”

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📰 More Victoria innovation news

🏠 Don’t turn off the lights: The federal government announced investments in innovation to advance energy efficiency in buildings, with two Victoria organizations set to benefit:

• The University of Victoria will receive $750,000 to develop, deploy, and test an online platform to optimize design solutions for net-zero-energy–ready and high-performance buildings.

• Meanwhile, the Greater Victoria Housing Society will receive $139,250 to undertake a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study to identify cost-effective retrofit solutions for a senior’s residential building.

🤝 It takes two: Global communications tech company Zetron partnered with Victoria’s BestHuman (formerly Locelle) to launch an internal leadership program.

💸 Busy earnin’: Victoria’s Community Social Planning Council released its annual Greater Victoria Living Wage Report. According to the report, Victoria’s living wage has risen by 4.6 percent to $25.40 per hour.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Software Developer at Suntracker Technologies

• Technical Project Lead at Vivid Solutions

• Infrastructure Administrator at City of Victoria

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

⭐ Nov 30 | Victoria Tech Morning Coffee, presented by VicTJ, Ink LLP and Metrics:

You’re invited to join Ink LLP, Metrics and Victoria Tech Journal at Fort Tectoria to connect with the Victoria tech community in an informal atmosphere. ​Check out the space, discover a new career, find your next co-founder, or learn something new — you can do it all at our upcoming coffee meetup.

Dec 11 | iWIST Holiday Party and Annual General Meeting:

Save the date with some of the most spirited and festive women in science and technology. Toast to the communities' accomplishments over the past year and provide input on official iWIST business.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

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