In the startup ecosystem, women founders are less likely to receive financing than men, says Google, which is the reasoning behind its Accelerator for Women Founders.
There are 12 startups comprising the 2022 cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders, now in its third run.
The dozen women-led fledglings hail from across North America, including three from Canada—emotional intelligence analytics provider Emaww in Montreal, digital healthcare platform MedEssist in Toronto, and Vancouver-based financial technology startup Blossom.
Blossom is aiming to build Canada’s first “social brokerage,” which combines mobile-first stock trading with a social community for investors.
“On Blossom, users can see the portfolios and trades of friends and top investors and discover new investment ideas and insights—empowering people to not only make trades but learn from and discuss investments with the community,” an official description of the startup reads.
Three months after closing a pre-see investment round, Vancouver fintech startup Blossom launched on the App Store. The social network for retail investors received investment round from Pareto Holdings, a venture fund co-founded by Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer.
“Investing is inherently social,” believes Maxwell Nicholson, a Blossom co-founder. “The new generation of investors learn about stocks from group chats, Reddit, and Discord. Blossom aims to displace these channels by creating a platform built specifically for investors.”
Nicholson left his job at consulting firm McKinsey & Company to start Blossom during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Co-founders Annika Ng and Kartik Bhutani joined full-time soon after.
“I’m so proud of everything the team has accomplished in the last year and am excited to share what we’ve built with the world,” Nicholson stated in May.
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