​Rotman Commerce Venture Capital and Inovia Capital are hosting Women in Venture Capital and Private Equity. This event is designed to connect students at the University of Toronto with female professionals in the Venture Capital and Private Equity space. The event features a panel of female Venture Capital and Private Equity leaders and a networking session.

​​Event Structure

​5:45 PM - Registration & Opening
6:00 PM - Presentation by Inovia Capital
6:15 PM - Women in Venture & Private Equity Panel
7:00 PM - Food & Networking
8:00 PM - Event Ends

​Speakers

​Eva Lau (Co-Founder, GP of Two Small Fish Ventures) - Eva Lau is a respected entrepreneur-turned-investor and one of the few women leading a venture fund in Canada. She leverages her background in engineering and deep expertise in network effects, AI and semiconductors to help startups scale exponentially. Eva was a founding team member of Wattpad where she grew the product from tens of users to millions. She is a respected and sought-after mentor for early-stage startups.

​Eli Scott (Associate of Wittington Ventures) - Eli is an Associate at Wittington Ventures, supporting WV’s commerce stream focusing on consumer tech, supply chain, and web3. Prior to joining Wittington Ventures, Eli was a research analyst at Georgian, exploring emerging technologies including generative AI and web3. Eli holds a degree in Cognitive Science from the University of Toronto. Outside of the office, Eli enjoys making art, traveling, gardening and philosophy.

​Katherine Hovdestad (Venture Investor of Inovia) - Katherine joined Inovia Capital’s Venture Team in June 2024. Prior to Inovia, Katherine was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Toronto, where she focused on growth strategy and commercial excellence topics. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto, and graduated with high distinction and honours for community involvement.  

​Laura Fetter (Director, Private Equity of Northleaf) - Laura participates in the origination, evaluation and monitoring of Northleaf's private equity investments. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2017, Laura was an Associate at Hermes GPE where she sourced, evaluated and negotiated private equity fund investment and co-investment opportunities across a range of industries and geographies. Previously, she was an Investment Banking Associate at RBC Capital Markets and an Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse.

​Sophia Maizel (Principal of HarbourVest) - Sophia Maizel joined HarbourVest in 2015. She focuses on direct co-investments and fund investments including sourcing, evaluating and monitoring, and is involved in building the Firm’s presence in Canada. She is a board observer at ThoughtExchange, SamDesk and Flexpay. She has served on several committees of the Canadian Venture Capital Association and is a mentor with Canadian Women in Private Equity (CWPE).

​​​​​​Registration

​​​The event is open only to University of Toronto students, faculty, alumni, and affiliates.

​​​Rotman Commerce (RC) students can register through the RC Portal or Luma, and UofT students can register via Luma. You'll receive the event confirmation and details before the event.