In episode 149 of Views from the Market, I welcome Sévrine Labelle, Managing Director of BDC’s Thrive Lab and Thrive Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Fund, which focus on women entrepreneurs. As Sévrine notes, only 4% of investment in Canada supports women-founded businesses. Our conversation centres on the newly launched $50 million Thrive ETA Fund, which helps women become entrepreneurs through acquisition – whether via search funds, self-funded deals, or management buyouts. The fund provides equity for women to acquire mid-sized businesses. Sévrine emphasizes the sector-agnostic fund’s flexibility in investment models and cheque sizes (typically $1 - 2 million) and its reliance on co-investment rather than majority ownership. Listen and subscribe here: redacted