MARCH 9, 2026 – OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Today, Invest Ottawa officially launched its 2026 International Women’s Month (IWM) celebrations, releasing new impact data highlighting the growing influence of women founders and executives across the region’s innovation economy.  

The released figures from Invest Ottawa’s Women Founders & Owners strategy showed strong impact and continued momentum across startup, scale-stage and entrepreneurship programming at Invest Ottawa: 

• 87 percent of winning companies in 2025 IO Ignition Pitch Competitions had at least one woman founder or co-founder. 
• Of 443 companies supported through IO Ignition since 2019, 37 percent have included at least one woman founder, co-founder or senior executive. 
• In IO ScaleUp, supporting high-growth companies targeting significant revenue expansion, 73 percent of participating firms have at least one woman in a C-suite or VP role. 
• Starter Company Plus, supporting non-tech entrepreneurs, reported that 60% of participants self identifed as women.  

 Together, these figures reflect progress in strengthening the pipeline of women-led companies from startup through to scaling enterprises, as reflected in Invest Ottawa’s programming.  

 2026 Featured Women Leaders Series 

In partnership with the Power of Why Podcast, founded by Naomi Haile, Invest Ottawa’s month-long Featured Women Leaders Series, as part of IWM, spotlights accomplished executives, founders and changemakers whose leadership is shaping Canada’s innovation economy. 

New podcast episodes will be released throughout March, featuring conversations with leaders across space, technology, entrepreneurship, SaaS, cybersecurity, community leadership and business advocacy 

The line-up of Featured Leaders for IWM 2026 includes: 

• Amy MacLeod, Vice President, Corporate Communications, MDA Space 
• Ashley Clark, Founder, Bougie Birch 
• Diane Watson, Technology Executive and Community Advocate 
• Megan Paterson, Chief Operating Officer, Kinaxis 
• Sueling Ching, President and CEO, Ottawa Board of Trade 

Collectively, these leaders represent global technology firms, scaling Canadian companies and influential business organizations. They lead with purpose, champion inclusion, and actively mentor and support the next generation of founders and executives. 

• New episodes will be published regularly, and will be featured on the Invest Ottawa blog  
• A full breakdown of program participation data and impact highlights from Invest Ottawa’s Women Founders & Owners Strategy is available here.  
• Today’s The “F” Factor event marks the beginning of a month-long series of workshops, panels, networking sessions, and community impact initiatives taking place throughout March. A full calendar of International Women’s Month events is available at investottawa.ca/iwm-events. 

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Media are invited to connect with Invest Ottawa to arrange interviews with Invest Ottawa leadership and Featured Leaders throughout International Women’s Month. 

Media Contact: 

Randy Gaudreau
Manager, Communications and Public Relations,
Invest Ottawa
[613]266-3635
[email protected]