Announcing the Third Cohort of FRV’s Women Founders’ Project
Meet the founders of the 2021 Cohort.
Written by Michaela Deneva, Founder Support @ FRV.
The Women Founders’ Project (WFP) by Front Row Ventures is a 6-week pre-accelerator program aimed at supporting female-identifying founders in their paths to entrepreneurship. During the months of June and July, the program consists of a series of virtual workshops on the foundations of founderhood, individual coaching and one-on-one mentorship to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and provide networks of support and collaboration among first-time and experienced women entrepreneurs in the growing tech space.
📌 For more information on this year’s programming and schedule, check out this blog post announcing the third iteration of the Women Founders’ Project.
With the first workshop on Business Planning & Design Thinking less than a month away, we want to officially announce and introduce the third cohort of the Women Founders’ Project, and share the unique stories of each of our motivated founders (*presented in alphabetical order). We asked them to tell us more about who they are and the ‘why’ behind their startup ideas.
Amanda Boatswain Jacques
After doing her bachelor and master’s in Bioresource engineering, Amanda became fascinated with the field of precision agriculture. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Université du Québec à Montréal in computer science, and learning about how artificial intelligence and data science can be applied to agriculture to modernize farming while preserving the environment. She is currently a co-founder of a startup designed to help farmers maximize their profits by accurately estimating their specialty crop yields in real time using AI and computer vision. She is hoping to use her programming and designing skills to develop devices and/or software that will continue benefit both the agricultural and environmental sectors.
Co-founders: Anca Lita, Anna Cuciureanu, Masoud Hassani
Industry: AgriTech, Social innovation
Anahita Mohapatra
Hi! I’m Anahita and I study Computer Science at McGill University. I’m excited about Gen Z’s redefining of luxury and the future of slow fashion. My interest in technology, sustainability, and fashion has led me to be a co-founder at Recess, a startup building a social curated multi-vendor marketplace for small fashion businesses. We believe the future closet will include a mix of handmade, made-to-order, secondhand, and small-batch clothing and our mission is to make shopping small accessible to everyone.
Industry: E-commerce, RetailTech, Social innovation
Ariane Te
Ariane is an Economics student at McGill University, interested in entrepreneurship, design, and sustainability. She has worked as a UX/UI designer and is currently bringing her user-centered frameworks and knack for visual design to Recess. With her two co-founders, she is working to create a curated shopping experience for the next wave of luxury shoppers — focusing on connecting socially conscious consumers to the independent brands they want to see. She’s excited to be a part of this year’s WFP cohort, learn from other entrepreneurs, and continue to explore the world of fashion and e-commerce through a more sustainable lens.
Industry: E-commerce, RetailTech, Social innovation
Ashley Azouri
Hi, my name is Ashley Azouri and I am a recent graduate of McGill University where I studied finance and strategic management. I am starting an app that allows anybody to invest as little as $10 into startups in exchange for equity. That way, we can all have a say in what the future will look like while enabling startups to build a community of supporters early into their journey. I am currently a solo-founder and am looking to build a team over this summer to bring my idea to life. I am excited to meet this year’s FRV cohort and can’t wait to learn with everyone.
Industry: FinTech
Helen Kulka
Hi! My name is Helen, and I graduated this May from McGill University where I studied Computer Science and Math. My four years in Montreal have exposed me to the exciting world of independent fashion brands and vintage retailers. Recess, an online marketplace for independent fashion brands lives at the intersection of my two biggest passions — technology and fashion. We believe the future of fashion lies in the hands of independent fashion brands that are taking over a large market share from fast fashion giants. Our mission is to connect shoppers with the brands that make them feel unique while supporting small, ethical brands.
Industry: E-commerce, RetailTech, Social innovation
Irene Wu
Irene is a Master’s of Accounting student with a background in Accounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo. She has worked in valuations, audit, investment banking, and management consulting. Irene is passionate about projects that create lasting social impact. She founded the UWaterloo Women in Finance initiative with the goal to bridge the gender gap in the finance industry. Currently, Irene is working on a start-up called Hers to Explore, with the mission to empower solo female travelers by creating the most trusted social platform that allows them to connect, engage, and create meaningful memories. She is thrilled to be part of the 2021 WFP cohort and she hopes to meet like-minded females and learn from each other.
Industry: ConsumerTech
Jacqueline Chung
Hi, I’m Jacqueline Chung from Ryerson University studying Business Technology Management. I’m one of the co-founders of International Hub, an online community and database that contains sourced opportunities. We aim to empower Canadian and international students and early-career professionals with professional development resources to achieve their dream careers. Through my work and academic experiences, I worked in a wide breadth of roles such as sustainability, marketing, analytics, product, and more. This has allowed me to become successful in the social innovation space. I’m excited about joining this new cohort of inspiring ladies, in sessions like storytelling & pitching, fundraising sessions, and more.
Industry: EdTech
Lauren Carson
Hi, I’m Lauren Carson, a recent Physics grad and Education student at Queen’s University. I’m excited about promoting sustainable consumer habits and supporting local ecosystems. I am currently founding Centsi — a startup which will allow individuals to search for local businesses near them and encourage these businesses to connect with new customers via a non-saturated marketing platform. I believe Centsi will support local ecosystems by fostering the habit of looking local first. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of WFP 2021 to learn from, and with an amazing collection of female founders.
Industry: E-commerce, FinTech, Social innovation
Massy Mahamli
Hi! My name is Massy and I just completed my bachelor’s of software engineering from McGill University. I’ve also been a filmmaker for years and it’s my work in animation that got me to pursue my own venture Buzzle. Buzzle aims to make the creation of animated videos more accessible to all, especially small businesses. We are doing so by introducing an IpadOS platform that uses the Apple Pencil to abstract some of the more difficult part of animation editing. We are also using AI to automate some of the more time-consuming portions of the editing process.
Industry: CreativeTech
Mylene Tu
Mylene is a social impact driven student entrepreneur studying Management Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Currently, she is the CEO of Lumaki Labs — an EdTech startup on a mission to fill the gaps of education through impactful internships. Prior to Lumaki Labs she ran an organization geared towards empowering young women in STEM and has been recognized as a Woman of Inspiration by the Universal Women’s Network. Outside of school and work, Mylene enjoys running, painting for her Etsy shop, and playing the ukulele.
Industry: EdTech
