Local entrepreneur and co-founder of the Growcer, Alida Burke is celebrating her first place win at this year’s SheBoot Pitch Competition.
Nabbing the $150,000 grand prize, Burke was one of 10 female business founders to take part in this year’s pitchfest vying for the investment led by the Capital Angel Network.
In preparation for the event (held during the annual AccelerateOTT event at Bayview yards), participants were paired with a seasoned business mentor, taking part in a six-week bootcamp aimed at helping women-led enterprises scale up and attract investment. Burke was partnered with Stratford’s Colleen Kelley, president of Stratford Management Consulting.
Of her mentor, Burke describes Kelley as a “role model to look up to.”
Co-founded in 2016 with Corey Ellis, the Ottawa area small business sells specially designed weatherproof containers that grow leafy greens and herbs hydroponically using light, carbon dioxide and nutrient-rich water. The company has been incubated out of the Invest Ottawa accelerator and has customers across the country, including food-services provider Chartwells.
A client as well, Stratford’s Intellectual Property also worked with the company in 2019 and 2020 on projects relating to IP.
Congratulations Alida! We can’t wait to see what great things you do next.
Read the full OBJ article here.
Joining Colleen as a SheBoot mentor during the boot camp was fellow Stratford colleague Kim Butler. Both women joined this mentorship initiative, volunteering their expertise to help scalable technology and technology-enabled women-led businesses tackle tough challenges.
SheBoot is designed and delivered by leading women from across our ecosystem: a collective of seasoned entrepreneurs, angel investors, and all-around success experts.