CapCons Series

Community dialogues to explore funding solutions together

• Kick-off (In-person): July 2025

• Virtual Sessions: Fall 2025

• For Women Founders

• Kick-off (In-person): July 2025 • Virtual Sessions: Fall 2025 • For Women Founders

What is the Capital Conversations Series?

A space for founders, funders, investors, and other ecosystem actors to engage in candid community dialogue about the challenges and solutions for women and gender-diverse founders building strategic funding pathways in BC.

  • Interactive gatherings to foster meaningful conversations

    • Summer Session: In person, Vancouver

    • Fall Sessions: Virtual

  • Founder Funding Stories —both successes and challenges—because we learn from the full journey

  • Expert insights from ecosystem thought leaders

  • Active knowledge sharing where everyone contributes resources, insights, and tools

  • Collaborative, facilitated problem-solving where everyone brainstorms and contributes to solutions

  • Inclusive space designed for candid dialogues and connection

Why This Matters

Research from WEOC shows that women entrepreneurs typically access only two funding sources—predominantly high-risk options. Meanwhile, our 2024 Ecosystem Analysis revealed that ecosystem fragmentation and lack of specialized expertise are major challenges for organizations supporting entrepreneurs, particularly those focused on women founders.

So here’s the challenge…

A fragmented system where valuable knowledge stays siloed and founders struggle to navigate complex funding landscapes alone

And here’s our approach…

What if we stopped working in silos and started solving this together? CapCons bring together the ecosystem—founders AND those who support them—to share insights, explore creative solutions, and build the pathways we all need

And What Makes This Different

Who Should Join

CapCons Series is part of the broader Capital Connect Program, which serves BC-based tech and tech-enabled ventures. We prioritize participation from women and equity-deserving groups to ensure diverse voices shape these conversations. Please, read the full program criteria here.

Founders & Entrepreneurs

Whether you're just starting to think about funding strategies, actively preparing for investment, or further along and have successfully navigated funding gaps, we want to hear and learn from you!

Ecosystem Builders

Accelerators, incubators, investors, funders, government representatives, academia, and support organizations—anyone working to strengthen the innovation ecosystem. Your expertise and perspectives are essential to building better solutions together.

What We Will Explore

  • Funding Pathways Roundtable: Collective Wisdom

    Tuesday, July 15, 3:30 - 6:00 PM (Downtown Vancouver)

    Uncovering stories, learnings, and collaborative solutions together, to improve BC's funding pathways for women and gender-diverse founders.

    Co-presented with: Startup Canada

    Register HERE

  • Beyond Bootstrap: Building Support for Self-Funded Growth

    How can founders balance self-funding with strategic non-dilutive options.

    Express your Interest

  • Community-Centered Capital

    How can funding vehicles evolve to prioritize community benefit and long-term sustainability.

    Express your Interest

  • Building Strategic Funding Mixes: Blended Finance Models

    Creating hybrid funding strategies that work.

    Express your Interest

  • Global Perspectives in Capital Structures

    Exploring International and emerging funding models.

    Express your Interest

  • Future of Funding: How AI is Changing the Game

    How technological innovation is changing access to capital.

    Express your Interest

• Get notified

• Join the Conversation

• Get notified • Join the Conversation

Melanie is a strategic advisor and researcher, with deep expertise in entrepreneurship and ecosystem building. As Managing Partner at Volition and Lead Researcher at Women in Tech World, she has spent nearly a decade building inclusive innovation ecosystems across Canada and beyond.

Her work has included mobilizing investment capital for climate tech ventures, designing founder-friendly programming for 20+ partners, and collaborating with government agencies to develop inclusivity action plans. Through her research and hands-on work with founders, Melanie brings unique insights into the challenges and opportunities facing innovators today.

Core Facilitators

Our core facilitators anchor each dialogue while bringing in specialized guests—thought leaders, founders, and ecosystem actors—who share insights tailored to each topic.

Melanie Ewan
Volition

Nicole Troster
Coeurage Labs

Nicole is the go-to expert for women entrepreneurs in service-based businesses who are ready to break through revenue plateaus and scale to $500K and beyond. With 7+ years of experience helping business owners overcome growth challenges, she knows that scaling isn’t just about working harder — it’s about working smarter.

She is a certified business coach and the founder of YSpace ELLA, an award-winning accelerator that has supported over 450 women-led ventures. Her approach blends deep subject matter expertise with systems thinking and stakeholder-centered design.

Featured Voices

  • Isabel Nolan

    Startup Canada

  • Melanie Rupp

    WeBC

  • Nicole Troster

    Coeurage Labs

  • Chelsea Sang

    Export Navigator

  • Candace Lauren

    BEBC

  • Alisa Stephenson

    Futurpreneur

  • Keith Ippel

    Spring

  • Kristi Fairholm

    Thrive Impact Fund

  • Julie Bogle

    BLG LLP

  • Charlene SanJenko

    The Fireweed Institutes here

Big thanks to a Key Partner!

“We're deeply grateful to Nicole from Coeurage Labs for her vision, expertise, and generous collaboration in bringing the Capital Conversations series to life. Her strategic insights and extensive knowledge have been instrumental in co-designing these conversations.

We're honoured to partner with someone who shares our vision for building a stronger, more connected innovation ecosystem.”

Building Something Together

Building Something Together

Here's what makes this series special—we're not just talking, we're building something valuable for everyone.

Throughout the series, we'll capture insights, resources, best practices, tools, and creative solutions shared by our community. All of this will be compiled into a public Funding Pathways Knowledge Hub—a comprehensive resource library available to founders and ecosystem organizations across BC and beyond.

Our Sponsors

Ecosystem Contributors

Interested in partnering with us?

  • Support the series through sponsorships

  • Co-host sessions aligned with expertise

  • Share specialized resources

  • Provide speakers or subject matter experts

  • Cross-promote to extend community reach

Reach out at melanie@VolitionAdvisors.com to discuss any of these opportunities

The Discovery Foundation is a registered charity whose mandate is to promote and facilitate commercial innovation and the development, growth, and sustainability of the science and technology sector in British Columbia. The Foundation, through the Technology Education Program (TEP), provides funds to qualified Agents to deliver high-impact educational programs and training across British Columbia.

In Partnership with

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