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20th June 2012

Bringing Together Canadian-U.S. Common Interests for Start-ups

CATAThe CATAAlliance has announced the expansion of its National Diversity initiative with Springboard Enterprises, the premier venture capital catalyst for women-led businesses in the U.S. The U.S.-Canadian partnership aims to highlight the common interests between Canada and the U.S. regarding new models and opportunities for venture capital funding and mentorship for tech start-ups, with a focus on women-led companies.

According to CATAAlliance CEO John Reid and President of Springboard Enterprises, Amy Millman, “one of the goals of the Springboard/CATA partnership is to create a U.S.- Canada peer network for women entrepreneurs in order to share best practices, provide mentorship opportunities and engage in North American advocacy. We will then work together to extend this network to other high potential markets. Springboard already has a significant presence in Australia, Israel and India. CATA has an important China and South American hub. Our vision is global.”

Springboard Enterprises will co-host a Mentorship Teleforum Series and National workshops with CATAAlliance in mid-July to provide advice and guidance to high growth companies (open to both women and men) seeking capital. This exciting series is an extension of CATA’s exclusive “Business Guidance and Mentorship” teleforum session with its National Spokesperson, Sir Terence Matthews, which takes place on June 27th.

CATA’s commitment to increase women senior executive leadership in Canada with the creation of Canadian Women in Technology (CanWIT, a Division of CATAAlliance) in 2005 was initially formed through a CATA-Springboard inspired partnership. “We hope to continue our history of successful diversity-based forums that centre on core business issues confronting Canadian entrepreneurs,” says John Reid, CEO, CATAAlliance.

“CATA and Springboard both understand that entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of both the U.S. and Canada. It’s our goal to ensure that both American and Canadian dreams alike can become realities. To do so, we really need to support the next generation of companies with new and evolving funding models,” says Amy Millman, Founder and President, Springboard Enterprises.

“In North America we must ensure that we are continuously fostering a business environment of success for small start-ups. Together, CATA and Springboard endeavor to spur community engagement that will lead to cutting-edge innovation.”

This new program will include cross-border discourse surrounding various forms of capital and strategies used to start or expand growth for technology companies. Participants will learn how to position themselves for development and how to attract the right investment sources, including Crowdfunding. Aligning with Springboard’s incredibly successful Dolphin Tank approach to business improvement, approved program participants will have the opportunity during the teleforum series to provide a two-minute elevator pitch to a panel of both Canadian and American experts. Stay tuned to the CATA website for the confirmed date and time of this exciting series!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 at 7:43 am and is filed under Associations, Business News, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  1. Tami Quiring (@VillageGamer)
    12:44 am on June 20th, 2012

    via @CATAAlliance – Bringing Together Canadian-U.S. Common Interests for Start-ups http://t.co/5OWK2Jv3

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