Founder Lab

Successfully Raising Capital Isn’t Just For The Few

Build your fundraising strategy, demystify the financing process, and create your own personalized playbook — the M51 Founder Lab takes the guesswork out of navigating investors.

Live and virtual sessions, culminating in an in-person demo day in front of Canada’s top angels and venture capitalists.

Applications are closed for the cohort starting April 2024.

Who is this course for?

The M51 Founder Lab is for women and gender-diverse people who are leading or co-founding companies headquartered in Canada, ideally, those planning to raise a pre-seed ($25k - $1.5M CAD) round within 6-8 months of applying.

 Early-Stage Startups

For business models that are highly innovative, digital and/or scalable

Diverse Teams

For companies with at least one female founding member with equal shares

MVP

For startups with an existing MVP, ideally have initial traction and a business model

Ready to Raise

For teams focusing on demystifying the fundraising process and getting ready to take on all different types of investors

Want to Learn More?
Get an overview of what you can expect by watching the recording of our recent information session.

Get the Toolkit You Need to Raise
Your First Cheque

Everything you need to build your financing strategy from pre-seed to series A.

The M51 Founder Lab supports early-stage women and gender-diverse founders become venture ready

The Founder Lab is an intensive, 10-week, hybrid program that helps talented and motivated founders to learn how to fundraise with confidence.

What’s the importance of a data room, a five-year forecast, and investment-ready pitch deck? From mock investment scenarios to calculating your pro-forma cap tables, we’re here to demystify the entire fundraising journey.

After completing the m51 Founder Lab, you will walk away with a tailored playbook for your business that includes… 

A financing strategy roadmap

A data room and due diligence checklist

Tactics to evaluate and negotiate financing terms as a Founder

A 5-year forecast on your business and unit economics

A pitch deck that can raise capital

A roadmap to develop your governance board of advisors or directors 

Not the Accelerator Programs you Remember 

Our immersive and welcoming courses are the only learning programs of their kind. All classes are led by accomplished founders, angels and venture capitalists, and combine traditional lectures with hands-on learning to help you build your playbook. 

Apply your new knowledge immediately

The program runs over a ten-week period with 60 - 90 minute virtual sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, culminating in a demo day. 

Module 1
The Capital Landscape & Building your Financing Strategy

Module 2
Pitching to Different Audiences

Module 3
Fine-Tuning Your Pitch — Investor Pitch Deck Fundamentals

Module 4
Modern Governance to Build Infrastructure to Scale

Module 5
Human Capital — “Who’s On Your Team?”

Module 6
Jumping Through Hoops — Navigating the Due Diligence Process

Module 7
Getting Down to Business to Scale Up

Module 8
Fundraising Vehicles, Venture Math, & Valuations

Module 9
Let's Make a Deal — Economics of the Term Sheet & Capitalization Tables

Module 10
Negotiating as a Founder

Module 11
Unlock Your Government Funding

And Last But Not Least—
Demo Day

Startups will present in person to an invite-only audience of Canadian angels and venture capitalists

Answers to the Questions You Didn't Know You Had

  • Our Founder Lab is completely free to founders. No cost or equity involved! Our goal is to support more women and gender-diverse people who are early in their founder journey.

  • We understand the power of in-person so we have made this program hybrid. All sessions will take place virtually except for the first session and wrap-up event. The first session and wrap-ups event will take place in person in Calgary, Alberta.

  • All applications close on March 22, 2024 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time.

  • Pre-seed to seed early-stage founders are invited to apply, and invited participants will be grouped into cohorts of 20 people. All who apply (even those not selected for this year's cohort) will be invited to attend the wrap-up event at the end of the cohort, which features industry experts, Alumni, VCs and angel investors.

  • To participate in the Founder Lab you can be at the “idea stage” all the way up to the seed stage. That said, founders who get the most value out of the program typically have a team, have begun developing a product(s), and may have already received capital from friends and family.

  • Co-founders from the same team are welcome to attend together. Each team only needs to submit one application. We will ask for co-founder details in the application.

  • Complete all questions with as much detail as possible, avoid jargon and buzzwords, and use plain language. Thoroughly explain why you’re passionate about solving the problem you aim to solve. Make sure to review the course topics and ensure that what you’re looking to achieve aligns with what is being offered. That said, if there are additional topics you would like to cover please include them and we’ll see what we can do about adding them in. And, finally, be honest! We want to get to know you and your company.

  • We understand that things are always changing for startups, but once you have submitted you won't be able to edit any of your responses. However, if you advance in the application process, we’ll also ask for any updates and changes.

  • All founders must submit an application through the application portal on the Movement51 website. Founders will be informed that they have been shortlisted for the interview stage on a rolling basis as applications are reviewed by the team.

    Once they have been informed, shortlisted candidates will be called in for an interview (conducted remotely). The Movement51 team makes admission decisions after the interview.

  • As a founder in the lab, you’ll have access to the following:

    • A mentor who can help answer questions and make connections

    • An accountability buddy, who can help bounce ideas off of and work through exercises with

    • The Movement51 and The51 teams and community

The Founder Lab wouldn’t be possible without our champions:

Be the first to know about the next cohort — join the mailing list for the Founder Lab!