Invested in our New Reality

Founder Gym is the first online training program designed specifically to help underrepresented tech start-up founders raise money to scale their start-ups. Founder, Mandela SH Dixon is paving the way for underrepresented business owners to find a path to success through advisement and expertise. In this episode we find out how Mandela has created a community where ALL entrepreneurs can thrive.

Naomi Haile, intrapreneur, QuakeLab consultant, and host of ‘The Power of Why’ podcast talks about what she has learned about impact and intention and how they play into a sense of fulfillment and a path to success.

Roger Eacock, CEO of Spartan Bioscience talks about Spartan's remarkable hand-held COVID-19 rapid testing technology. Spartan recently received authorization from Health Canada for their made-in-Canada solution but the journey wasn't always easy. Eacock takes us through their story and walks us through the ins and outs of rapid testing.

The pandemic has impacted all of us but for racialized and marginalized communities the adverse effects of COVID-19 have been disproportionate. As a result, there has been an increased focus on championing and supporting diverse businesses and entrepreneurs. Kevin Bourne, Chief Executive Officer at SHIFTER Magazine and well-known PR and marketing whiz, seeks to bridge the business barriers that ma...

Focal Ottawa is a student-led initiative dedicated to promoting and supporting local Ottawa businesses. By now we all know too well how COVID-19 has adversely impacted small businesses throughout the Ottawa community. While Ottawans across the city are working diligently to support the businesses they love most, a group of students took it upon themselves to create awareness about local businesses...

Mark Kaluski, Chair of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA), talks about the challenges small businesses have faced since the pandemic began, and how critical the shift to digital is for survival. He explains why some government programs are too complicated for business owners to consider, and others are met with skepticism. Digital Main Street, he explains, is the real deal...

Breaking into the food and beverage industry is difficult during the best of times. With the added challenges of COVID-19, it can prove to be exceptionally more difficult. Despite these challenges, Marie Pierre Faye has adapted her beverage business, Faye Beverage, swiftly to successfully continue serving customers the exotic flavours of hibiscus flowers and fresh fruits from West Africa. Thanks t...

Since the pandemic, home improvements and renovations have been booming. In this episode of Invested Pod, host Shavonne Hasfal-McIntosh speaks to Justin Assaly of PerfectPRO Painters about how the Digital Main Street program helped enhance their online presence and streamline their digital assets to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic and beyond.

As a relatively new entrepreneur, Good Eats Cafe owner Karen Marcotte has learned a few things in a short amount of time. Leaving a stable career in mechanical engineering to take a chance on a café, she knows all about risks. Having faced many challenges which forced her to shift her business model before the pandemic, she's now navigating her business through COVID-19, Karen’s story is one of re...

If there’s one thing entrepreneur Resa Soloman-St. Lewis has taken away from 2020, it’s that nothing is guaranteed and you have to be ready to adapt to change. Learn more about how she pivoted her popular Ottawa restaurants Baccanalle and Capital Fare Café over the course of this pandemic and why she became a Digital Main Street Ambassador

Season 3 of Invested in Our New Reality will focus on Digital Main Street, a new program to help businesses reach new customers, build or improve their website, create a marketing campaign, and find innovative ways to boost revenue - all at no cost to the business owner. It's Invest Ottawa as well as the provincial and federal governments' ways to help businesses make it through these difficult ti...

Invest Ottawa President & CEO, Michael Tremblay, joins Shavonne Hasfal-McIntosh to talk about Area X.O, Ottawa's futureplex of innovation and collaboration. Find out how the facility will help Canadian SME's and attract multinationals to our region as well as drive the development of future tech.

She's an interviewer, impact investor, and resilience educator. In this episode, Komal Minhas talks about how she has grown in the face of adversity caused by the pandemic, lessons learned through the people she interviews, and offers concrete advice for women looking to start their own business.

With so many workers shifting to a work from home model, digital transformation during COVID-19 put networks to the test. Gigamon, a worldwide leader in network visibility, analytics, threat detection and response, is helping companies and organizations respond. President and COO, Shane Buckley, talks to Shavonne Hasfal-McIntosh about how COVID-19 has affected Gigamon's business and explains why t...

Jeff Baxter, President & CEO of VBI Vaccines talks about research being done in Ottawa toward the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, and how companies and governments around the world are working together in unprecedented ways as the world anxiously waits.

Ellie Ardakani, accomplished geoscience advisor and award-wining energy-tech entrepreneur, talks about disruption. How her company is disrupting the way the oil and gas sector uses data, how the pandemic disrupted the company's path, and how she is tackling the realities of being a woman in a male-dominated field, and an immigrant facing systemic bias.

Erin Kelly, CEO of Advanced Symbolics Inc., talks about how market research changed during the pandemic, how her company is disrupting the way it's done, and how entrepreneurs can use the insights they have to decide when to stay the course and when to pivot.

The Royal Canadian Navy has existed for over 100 years, but technology and innovation remain integral to its survival – and to the safety and security of the people who serve in it. In this episode, Shav is joined by Lieutenant Commander John Faurbo to discuss collaboration and modernization in one of Canada’s most venerable institutions.

Ashleigh Kennedy, founder and CEO of Neurovine talks about concussions and how her technology aims to empower concussion patients by measuring brain health and optimizing their recovery process.

Howie Kahn is a best-selling author, journalist and successful podcaster focussed on the food industry. He talks restaurant re-invention & re-opening on the latest episode of Invest Ottawa’s popular new podcast Investing In Our New Reality.”

sweatcrew CEO Russell Coltess talks about adapting his business model through COVID-19, his experiences as a black business leader, and what has to happen to truly move the needle on racial bias and diversity in the workplace

Cynthia Labelle, Vice President Of Engineering at Syntronic R&D Canada talks about the challenges of doing R&D during a pandemic, and the key to successful communications during a crisis.

Andrea Winter, VP, People at Martello Technologies talks about the critical role of HR departments during a crisis such as COVID-19 and how organizations can put the "human" back in Human Resources.

Sheena Brady, Founder and CEO of Tease Tea talks about her business journey, how COVID-19 affects women entrepreneurs, and what companies should focus on now to ensure they can thrive post-pandemic.