Unscripted: How Bias Shapes Investor Decisions — and How We Change It (Panel discussion)
Women and Gender-Diverse founders are asked different questions — and it costs them millions in lost investment.
Join the Canadian Women's Chamber of Commerce for an unfiltered and deeply needed conversation during Toronto Tech Week as we bring together investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders to examine one of the most persistent barriers in entrepreneurship: bias in investment decision‑making.
Despite the innovation, resilience, and economic impact of women and gender‑diverse founders, funding gaps remain staggering. This panel goes beyond the statistics to explore the real dynamics at play — the assumptions, narratives, and unconscious biases that shape who gets funded, who gets overlooked, and what we can collectively do to change the system.
Unscripted means exactly that: an honest, unapologetic dialogue about the structural and cultural forces that influence investor behaviour. Our panelists will share their lived experiences navigating the investment landscape, from pitching to gatekeepers to challenging outdated norms about what a “successful entrepreneur” looks like. Investors will also speak candidly about the pressures, blind spots, and decision‑making patterns that shape their choices — and how the industry can evolve toward more equitable, evidence‑based practices.
Together, we’ll explore:
How bias shows up in pitch rooms, due diligence, and portfolio strategy
The myths and stereotypes that continue to shape investor perceptions
What founders can do — and shouldn’t have to do — to navigate biased systems
How investors can adopt more inclusive frameworks and accountability measures
What collective action across the ecosystem could look like
Designed for founders, investors, ecosystem partners, and anyone committed to building a more equitable and inclusive entrepreneurial economy, the conversation will be bold, practical, and grounded in real‑world experience, with space for meaningful connection, reflection, and action.
This event is part of Canadian Women's Chamber of Commerce’s Flip the Script Investment Readiness Program a self‑paced online learning experience that helps women‑identified and non‑binary entrepreneurs master a communication style proven to secure up to 60% more funding from investors through a licensed CanWCC AI‑powered training simulation.
For more visit : www.canwcc.ca /ttps://fts.canwcc.ca/
Moderator: Nancy Wilson , CPA, CGA, CEO & FOUNDER at CANWCC
Nancy is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over a decade of accounting and finance experience in the private sector working with start-ups, small businesses, and multinational corporations. Nancy launched the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce in January 2018. She has been working ever since to build a powerful national network and drive the policy changes needed to create lasting gender and economic equity in Canada. Nancy is also a monthly columnist withrabble.ca, where she writes about feminism, economic justice, and public policy
MEET OUR PANELISTS
Diane Wolfenden, General Partner with Phoenix Fire https://www.archangelnetwork.ca/
Diane Wolfenden is an active angel investor. Since 2009, she’s been a charter member of the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN) and has twice been on its board. In 2016, she received GTAN’s David Borges Community Builder of the Year Award. Formerly an investor advisor with RBC Dominion Securities, she also gives back as a community volunteer. She sits on the board of Stratford Summer Music, and chairs the Community Aid Fund for the Kitchener Conestoga Rotary Club. She’s a former chair of Equation Angels, the board of Governors of the Grand River Hospital Foundation and the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.
Laura Venier, Founder & CEO of Arche Biotechnologies www.archebiotech.ca (2026 Winter Cohort FTS Participant)
Laura Venier holds an Honours Bachelor of Health Science and a Master of Biomedical Innovation from McMaster University. She is Founder & CEO of Arche Biotechnologies, a medical device startup focused on improving clinical monitoring in acute care, where she has raised over $250k in dilutive investment and won over $100k in nondilutive grants. She is an author on multiple peer-reviewed publications and patents, including multiple filings where she is the sole inventor. Laura has successfully pitched at several competitive venues, including the McMaster Student Seed Fund, the American Urological Association Innovation Nexus Bootcamp, and the OBIO Investment Summit, and brings experience at the intersection of clinical research, technology development, early-stage venture creation, and fundraising.
Faith Oloruntoba, Founder/CEO, Cotriply (2026 Winter Cohort FTS Participant)
Faith Oloruntoba is a serial entrepreneur and travel industry expert with a global background spanning multiple markets. She is the Founder of Cotriply, an AI-powered platform transforming how organizations plan and coordinate group travel. Built from her experience managing complex group trips globally, Cotriply replaces the fragmented process of emails, spreadsheets, and manual coordination with a single AI system that brings structure, visibility, and efficiency to every stage of the group travel experience.
Janice Byrne, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Ivey Business School.
Janice is an educator, a researcher and scholar-activist. She has studied gender & entrepreneurship for the last 20 years – in a variety of different geographical locations (France, New Zealand, Canada) and contexts (family business; incubators and accelerators, the media).
Her work has been published in numerous international, peer reviewed journals. Her recent work has focused on gender dynamics in the entrepreneurial finance space – with a specific focus on women investors and investor support for women-led firms. She is bi-lingual (English and French) and an ardent feminist. Janice is the current holder of the Corus Entertainment Chair in Women in Management at Ivey Business School
Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 25–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com