The Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) is hosting a get-together for Canadian-based female tech investors and founders at Notman House tonight in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary.

The event is an extension of an already successful monthly networking event that Toronto-based women-in-tech have been participating in over the last year. Informally named “WIT Wednesday”, it brings together many female tech investors and high-growth female entrepreneurs in Toronto on the first Wednesday of every month. The location changes monthly and attendees each bring a bottle of wine or a light snack for a few hours of informal and casual networking.

In the spirit of Canada Day and Canada’s sesquicentennial, the core group of women-in-tech involved in the original WIT Wednesday event series are striving to bring together 150 female investors, entrepreneurs and industry stakeholders across the country to celebrate the growth and success of Canada’s innovation economy; notably the strong and skilled female investors and founders and the growing number of females working in the ecosystem.

“I had a conversation with Whitney Rockley, a partner at McRock Capital and new chair of the CVCA (Canadian Venture Capital Association) during the latest CVCA summit a couple of weeks ago, about Canadian initiatives around women in tech and in investment,” Sarah Pisonero, an investment associate at Teralys Capital told MTLinTECH. “She told me that Nicole Leblanc (BDC) and herself where organizing monthly events in Toronto to gather women from both the tech and the investment industries. After our conversation, she came back to me with the idea of having a cross-Canadian celebration on the same day, and suggested I could be the host for Montreal. As Teralys Capital offices are very small, Emma Williams (Notman House Director) offered to use the Notman House as the venue for the Montreal event.”

The theme of the event is about recognizing the importance gender diversity plays in the innovation economy. Jerôme Nycz (Executive Vice President of the BDC) will give a short speech.

“I am very proud to live in a country where the girls education and the professional advancement of women is such an important cause. There are a growing number of initiatives across the country: Canada’s feminist international assistance policy recently released by the government, Prime Minister Trudeau open support to feminism, $50M BDC’s strategic women in tech investment fund led by Michelle Scarborough to name a few. The appointment of Whitney Rockley as CVCA’s new chair also sends a strong signal and opens the way to future initiatives aiming to have more women in tech and in investment.”

The event will gather more than 350 people across several locations in Canada, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax. The Montreal event is already shaping up to be the second largest after Toronto, with over 80 people already registered.

The Montreal event will be hosted at the Notman House (51 Sherbrooke st. West) on July 5^th from 5PM to 7PM. Click here to register for the event.

Please, feel free to bring your own snacks and soft drinks (the Notman House alcohol license does NOT permit to bring alcohol but you can grab a glass of wine or a beer at the Notman House “Osmo café”)