“Dionne seized an untapped market during a time when healthy, organic snacks were hard to come by,” says Tiki Cheung, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Canada Program Director. “Like the products, her story is simple, but inspiring. Grown out of the kitchen experimenting with her kids, Dionne used her PhD in maternal-fetal toxicology to turn fun into reality and create DeeBee’s Organics. We’re excited to welcome her to our ecosystem of entrepreneurs.”
This year’s class of high-growth, women-led companies span a variety of industries. More than one-third of the companies are technology-driven, with offerings ranging from innovative, money-saving payment solutions for SMEs to patented textile technology designed to cool the wearer in minutes. Other sectors include clean energy financing, nutrition-driven food production and innovative health and wellness products. Two-thirds of the Class of 2019 are financed by angels, venture funds, private equity or a combination of them – a big uptick from prior years.
“Access to capital is one of the biggest barriers for women entrepreneurs looking to grow and scale their business — a challenge that Dionne has faced firsthand,” says Cheung. “There needs to be more equality in funding, both those giving and receiving. Having women in the rights seats will open new, accessible avenues to capital. And that’s really what this program aims to do: provide the access, advisors and resources needed to grow their companies to their full potential as market-leading innovators.”
The Class of 2019 were officially recognized during the Strategic Growth Forum® US, November 13-17 in Palm Springs, California. Dionne will later be honoured at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2019 Canada gala on November 28 in Toronto.
Members of the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women North America Class of 2019:
- Jessica Bailey, Greenworks Lending
- Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli
- Chris-Tia Donaldson, Thank God It’s Natural
- Breezy Griffith and Val Griffith, Skinny Dipped
- Kathrin Hamm, Bearaby
- Mary-Cathryn Kolb, brrr°
- Dionne Laslo-Baker, PhD, DeeBee’s Organics
- Diana Lee, Constellation Agency
- Suneera Madhani, Fattmerchant
- Allie Magyar, Hubb
- Lara O’Connor Hodgson, NOW Corp.
- Socorro Vazquez, Toro Construction Corp.
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About EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program
As the leading advisors to entrepreneurs worldwide, EY knows that access to successful role models and business-building networks is critical for entrepreneurs to accelerate growth. With the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program, we channel our resources and convening power to help women entrepreneurs realize their vision. The program identifies and celebrates high-potential female entrepreneurs and provides them with personalized, one-on-one business insights and advice as well as insider access to strategic networks of established entrepreneurs, executives, advisors and investors. Unlike many programs, which are focused on helping women start a business, EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women program supports women with existing enterprises to grow their business and become market leaders.
About EY
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