BVZ Women Who Build: Founder–Funder Connect
About the Event
Tired of sitting through panels? At BVZ Women Who Build: Founder–Funder Connect, we’re flipping the script. This event is about real conversations that inspire, empower, and equip women in tech to pitch, scale, and thrive.
In just two hours, you’ll gain access to women funders, ecosystem leaders, and experienced founders who are opening doors, sharing hard-earned lessons, and helping you grow & build with confidence.
What to Expect
Kick off the evening with an inspiring woman leader who will challenge you to be confident and be bold!
Meet the Women Leaders in Funding & Community Building
Meet female leaders across companies like OCI (Feiran Zhou), Deloitte (Sudha Correia), Brampton Angels (Shahira Bhimani), Tree Frog Accelerator (Sushmitha Thirumalaivasan), Maman Biomedical (Latchmi Raghunanan), Fibra (Parnian Majd), Brampton Venture Zone (Arleana Rajkumar) and the Economic Development team from the City of Brampton (Jennifer Vivian & Erica Henry-Jackman) on how they support founders like you.
Founder–Funder Circles
Join roundtable discussions led by funders, mentors, and founders. Each table covers practical topics like funding & grants, scaling & team building, legal & finance readiness, and navigating bias. Small-group formats keep it personal and actionable.
Open Networking
Wrap up the evening the old-fashioned way: connect, exchange contacts, and build relationships that last beyond the event.
Who Should Attend
Women founders and aspiring entrepreneurs in tech and innovation
Women professionals curious about funding, scaling, and pitching
Investors, mentors, and ecosystem partners looking to champion women in tech
Why Join?
This is more than networking—it’s a movement to build bold, together. Walk away with:
New funding pathways and insider tips
Confidence and clarity in your founder journey
Meaningful connections across Peel and Brampton's startup ecosystem
Reserve your spot today and join a night of bold conversations and bigger possibilities.
About The Organizers
Brampton Venture Zone by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is a purpose-driven, non-equity incubator built to help you transform bold ideas into market-ready startups.
Backed by TMU’s Zone Learning, powered by the Brampton Innovation District & rooted in the City of Brampton, BVZ gives you the mentorship, funding, and ecosystem support to grow
faster. Here, startups are more than just a vanity metric - they are key players in our ecosystem. By working alongside industry, community, and public partners, you can solve real problems and create lasting social and economic impact.
Meet The Female Circle Leaders
Feiran Zhou
Feiran Zhou is the Director of Commercialization at the Ontario Centre of Innovation, where she leads efforts to accelerate the commercialization and market adoption of innovative technologies across Ontario’s key industries. With more than 12 years of experience in Ontario’s innovation ecosystem, Feiran has supported founders in commercialization, fundraising, industry–academic collaborations, and the adoption of emerging technologies.
Sudha Correia
With over 20 years of experience as both a practitioner and entrepreneur in innovation funding consulting, Sudha specializes in helping companies access non-dilutive funding to drive their growth. At Deloitte, she leads a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, and finance professionals, supporting organizations of all sizes—from startups to multinationals—in developing strategies for success in Canada and internationally.
Shahira Bhimani
Shahira Bhimani is a health innovation consultant and strategist with a track record for leading high impact transformational change. As a serial executive, seasoned entrepreneur and clinician, Shahira brings a unique patient and clinical perspective as well as sound business acumen and out of the box perspectives in medical technology development, commercialization and health system adoption. Shahira is also an Angel Investor and a part of Brampton Angels.
Dr. Latchmi Raghunanan
Dr. Latchmi Raghunanan is the Founder and CEO of Maman Biomedical, a Canadian startup developing microneedle-based drug delivery technologies for needle-free hormonal drug administration. With over two decades of experience in materials science and medical devices, she’s an award-winning innovator and advocate for women in STEM, recognized nationally for her leadership in FemTech innovation.
Sushmitha Thirumalaivasan
As a Manager of Accelerator Programs at Treefrog Accelerator, Sushmitha manages a portfolio of programs designed to help startups and small businesses grow, scale, and access investment. In her role, she takes a strategic approach to program design and delivery, building systems that create sustainable pathways for underrepresented founders, especially women and immigrant entrepreneurs, to secure funding and new market opportunities.
Parnian Majd
Parnian Majd is the Founder and CEO of Fibra Inc., a Toronto-based femtech company developing patent-pending smart underwear that monitors key reproductive health biomarkers in real time—non-invasively and passively. With Fibra, Parnian is pioneering the world’s first continuous reproductive health insight platform, combining textile-based biosensors and AI-powered analytics to transform everyday wear into a data-driven health tool.
Jennifer Vivian
Jennifer didn't just study entrepreneurship – she inherited it. Coming from generations of small business owners, she knows the late nights, the cash flow anxiety, and the resilience it takes to build something from nothing. She's spent her career in economic development building ecosystems where women founders don't just survive, they thrive. Her philosophy: Every woman entrepreneur deserves someone in their corner who actually gets it.
Erica Henry-Jackman
Erica Henry-Jackman is the Manager of Investment Attraction and International Relations at the City of Brampton’s Economic Development Office. With over 20 years of experience in international relations, investment promotion, and government relations, she leads global partnership initiatives and inclusive economic development efforts. She previously established Canada’s first municipal Africa Caribbean Economic Desk, served as Senior Advisor for Anti-Black Racism, and was Director of Tourism for the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in Canada. Erica holds a Master’s in Public Policy, Administration, and Law (MPPAL) and serves on the York University Alumni Board.
Arleana Rajkumar
Arleana Rajkumar is a current Program Specialist on the Venture Programs team at the Brampton Venture Zone. She is both a Health Science and Master of Management of Innovation graduate. Working in the Canadian innovation and startup ecosystem, Arleana has over 7 years of experience managing early stage technology startups encouraging them to utilize available resources, assess their go-to-market strategies and lead them to market readiness.