Great Ideas Start with People. So Do Great Companies.
What Canaccord Genuity’s Advisory Program for Women Entrepreneurs reveals about innovation, networks and growth
Pictured above: David Kassie, Kyla Fox, Julia Becker, Dr. Aisling Lanigan, Liz Priestman, Genevieve Eccleston
Last week, IDG had the privilege of participating in Canaccord Genuity’s 46th Annual Growth Conference in Boston, where our Liz Priestman chaired presentations from this year’s participants in the Canaccord Genuity Advisory Program for Women Entrepreneurs.
More than 450 companies presented over three days, alongside thousands of one-on-one meetings bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and industry leaders. Within this environment, the Advisory Program offers an interesting example of what can happen when promising entrepreneurs gain access to experienced people, broader networks and greater investor visibility.
Now in its sixth year, the program was founded by Canaccord Genuity Chairman Emeritus David Kassie and is led today by Genevieve Eccleston. Through mentorship, strategic advice and professional networking, it has developed into a growing community designed to help women entrepreneurs navigate the opportunities and challenges involved in building a business.
Innovation Starts with Understanding
There was a compelling connection between the three companies presenting as part of this year’s program. All three are working in healthcare, and all three are addressing problems people have too often learned to live with.
Menstrual discomfort is routinely managed as an unavoidable part of life. Eating disorders affect not only individuals, but also parents and families navigating an extraordinarily complex path to recovery. Women’s healthcare remains fragmented, with fertility, reproductive health and menopause often treated as separate episodes rather than parts of a continuum.
These are significant healthcare challenges, but they are also deeply human ones. We tend to associate innovation with new technologies, scientific breakthroughs or entirely new markets. Some of the most compelling businesses, however, begin with someone understanding a familiar problem well enough to question why the status quo should continue.
This common thread was evident among this year’s presenters.
Kyla Fox founded The Centre, which is rethinking eating-disorder recovery through a model of care supporting individuals, parents and families. Dr. Aisling Lanigan is building Flourish around a more connected model of women’s healthcare, supporting women across different stages of life from fertility through menopause. Julia Becker leads capital markets for Livia, whose clinically proven, FDA-cleared technology offers women a drug-free alternative for managing menstrual discomfort.
Their businesses and journeys are different, yet each began by recognizing a problem through the experience of the people living with it. Technology can make a solution possible and innovation can make it scalable, but understanding people can reveal an opportunity others might overlook.
From Insight to Progress
Recognizing a problem worth solving is only the beginning. Building a successful company requires entrepreneurs to test assumptions, make difficult decisions and continually adapt as their businesses develop. Experienced advisors, fellow entrepreneurs, industry relationships and investors can all provide valuable perspective along the way.
The progress of previous participants offers tangible evidence. It was particularly rewarding to welcome Laura Caba, Co-founder and President of Vesica Health, back to Boston in person this year. Laura participated in last year’s program and returned following Vesica Health’s acquisition by Photocure in a transaction valued at more than US$30 million. Another member of last year’s cohort, Ally Mamalider, Founder and CEO of Organic Traditions, recently completed a $10.5 million Series A financing to support the company’s continued growth.
These are two examples of the success emerging from the program. They also illustrate why the value of an entrepreneurial network cannot be measured by a single meeting, introduction or event. Relationships develop over time, knowledge is shared and connections can lead in directions no one necessarily anticipated when they were first made.
The Value of a Strong Network
At IDG, we have spent years bringing growth companies together with the broader capital markets community. Throughout this work, the importance of meaningful relationships has remained constant.
Capital is essential, but it is rarely the only ingredient required to move a company forward. An experienced advisor can challenge a strategy. Another entrepreneur can share a lesson learned. An investor can ask a question which changes how a founder thinks about their business. The right introduction can create an opportunity neither party anticipated.
This is part of what makes initiatives such as the Canaccord Genuity Advisory Program for Women Entrepreneurs so valuable. Beyond supporting individual participants, the program is building a community where experience is shared, relationships develop and opportunities can grow from one cohort to the next.
The companies presented in Boston this year began with entrepreneurs recognizing human problems worth solving. Turning those insights into enduring businesses will require execution, innovation and capital, along with strong people around them.
Great ideas may begin with an entrepreneur. Great companies are built with people.
