Upcoming Events

Premier Events for
Practical Growth.

The StrikeUP Signature Series brings women entrepreneurs across Canada together for free virtual mini-conferences featuring expert-led learning, real founder conversations and meaningful networking.

Register Free

What Is the StrikeUP Signature Series?

The Signature Series is StrikeUP’s year-round approach to supporting women entrepreneurs with focused learning, practical conversations and meaningful connection.

 

Each event is built around a specific stage or challenge in business, from getting visible to growing strategically to scaling with intention. You will hear from experts, founders and ecosystem leaders who bring real experience, useful insight and honest conversation to the table.


It is designed to help you leave with ideas you can actually use and connections that feel worth making.

 

Trusted by more than 25,000 women entrepreneurs across Canada and beyond, StrikeUP has become one of the country’s most respected free digital platforms for women in business — founded and powered by Nventure.

BUILT FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE:

  • Launching a business or turning an idea into action
  • Growing an existing business with more strategy and support
  • Looking for funding, mentorship, visibility and stronger networks
  • Preparing to scale with more confidence and intention

The StrikeUP Signature Series is presented by

Why Women Entrepreneurs Choose StrikeUP

Connect Across Canada

Build real relationships with women founders, investors and ecosystem leaders from across the country.

Learn from Real Experience

Gain practical insight from experienced entrepreneurs, business leaders and experts through keynotes, panels and conversations built for action.

Practical Tools for Growth

Leave with clear strategies, useful resources and ideas you can use to move your business forward.

Free and Easy to Access

Registration is free for every Signature Series event. Join online from wherever you are, with no membership, travel or added costs required.

Trusted by Women Entrepreneurs Across Canada

Women entrepreneurs need more than inspiration. They need useful insight, meaningful connections and access to support that meets them where they are. That is what the StrikeUP Signature Series is designed to offer.

Janet K.

MELFORT, SASKATCHEWAN

Women Entrepreneurs
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Free to Attend
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Upcoming Signature Series Sessions

Make Your Mark

  • September 24, 2026
  • 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Live Virtual Event

Your brand is your most powerful business tool and you do not need a big budget to use it well. Join us for this StrikeUP Signature Series event where women entrepreneurs share how they built visibility, crafted authentic stories and turned connections into clients.

 

Come ready to learn from those who have lived it, connect with others in your shoes and leave with strategies you can use right away.

VIEW full DETAILS

Click to expand & explore the agenda, speakers, session content & networking

From Survival to Strategy

  • February 25, 2027
  • 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Live Virtual Event

You’ve built something real. Now it’s time to run it with intention. This event is for women entrepreneurs who are ready to move from reactive to strategic — covering growth tactics, financial confidence and the leadership skills that take you further.

Join us for real conversation, practical insight and connection with women who get it.

COMING SOON

Build for What's Next

  • June 17, 2027
  • 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Live Virtual Event

The next stage of your business demands a different kind of thinking. This event brings together growth-stage women entrepreneurs to explore AI integration, international market entry, and what investment readiness really looks like. 

Join us for bold conversation and practical insight designed for entrepreneurs who are ready to go further.

COMING SOON

About This Session

Your brand is your most powerful business tool, and you do not need a big budget to use it well.

Join us for this StrikeUP Signature Series event ‘Make Your Mark‘ where women entrepreneurs share how they built visibility, crafted authentic stories, and turned connections into clients.

Come ready to learn, connect, and leave with strategies you can use right away.

Day Schedule

1:00 PM

Welcome
Heather Cannings
StrikeUP Program Lead (Event Emcee)

1:05 PM

Keynote
Build Your Brand Without Breaking the Bank:
The Bootstrap Marketing Playbook
with Vivian Kaye

1:45 PM

Panel
What Made the Difference: The Relationships,
Risks and Realities Behind Early Growth

2:20 PM

Live Networking Breakouts

2:50 PM

Closing Remarks

Meet the Speakers

Vivian Kaye

Keynote Speaker

Founder, KinkyCurlyYaki

READ FULL BIO

Ina Maria Toncescu

Panel Moderator

Founder & CEO, noLMIT Marketing

READ FULL BIO

Domenique Mastronardi

Panelist

President, Beck’s Broth

READ FULL BIO

Chantal Lavergne

Panelist

Founder, Oh Color Me

READ FULL BIO

Géraldine Jippé

Panelist

Founder, Bloossoming House/Co-Founder at AssetsWaves

READ FULL BIO

What’s Inside the Session

Two focused conversations designed to give you real, practical strategies you can apply the very next day.

Keynote Address

Build Your Brand Without Breaking the Bank: The Bootstrap Marketing Playbook

Vivian Kaye

Founder, KinkyCurlyYaki

In this session, Vivian will share the practical playbook she used to scale KinkyCurlyYaki to 7-figures without paid ads and how you can apply these same strategies to build your brand from scratch.

You’ll walk away with

  • How to position your brand in a crowded market (niche strategy that actually works)
  • Concrete tactics for building visibility without a marketing budget (content, community, partnerships)
  • Real examples of what worked, what flopped, and why authenticity is your biggest asset
  • Practical frameworks you can implement immediately in your own business
  • Direct Q&A time to ask about YOUR specific brand challenges

This isn’t theory; it’s a founder who’s been there, done that and has the receipts!

Featured Conversation

What Made the Difference: The relationships, risks and realities behind early growth

Ina Maria Toncescu, Chantal Lavergne, Dom Mastronardi & Géraldine Jippé

Before the momentum, there was a lot of figuring it out. In this candid conversation, four women entrepreneurs share the honest story behind early growth — the risks, the relationships, and the choices that made the difference.

You’ll walk away with

  • The real story behind how these founders got noticed when no one knew who they were yet
  • What early relationships actually look like and how to find the people who will help move you forward
  • How to build trust with customers, partners, and your community before you have proof points
  • Honest lessons about what flopped, what worked, and why showing up authentically matters more than a big budget
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the pivots, risks, and decisions that turned early ideas into growing businesses

This is not a highlight reel. This is the conversation behind it.

Networking Breakouts

After the keynote and panel, attendees self-select into one of four themed Zoom breakout rooms for 30 minutes of structured peer conversation.

Rooms are attendee-led with prompts broadcast throughout.

Come ready to connect and leave with real relationships.

Room 1

Brand voice & visibility

Talk about how you show up, what you say and how you get noticed. Share what is working and what you are still figuring out.

Room 2

First sales & early clients

Share where you are at with clients right now and what is actually working to bring them in. Every stage welcome.

Room 3

Tools & Resource Share

Exchange the apps, programs, funding sources and hidden gems that are making your business easier to run and grow.

Room 4

Open networking

No agenda, just connection. Meet people, share your LinkedIn and see what happens. Every conversation is a good one.

Speak at a StrikeUP Event

apply to speak

Have practical insights, real-world experience or a fresh perspective to share with women entrepreneurs across Canada?

StrikeUP welcomes applications from engaging speakers for keynotes, panels and webinars.

Premier Events for Practical Growth.

The StrikeUP Signature Series brings women entrepreneurs across Canada together for free virtual mini-conferences featuring expert-led learning, real founder conversations and meaningful networking.

Register for Event
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Vivian Kaye

Keynote Speaker

Founder, KinkyCurlyYaki

Vivian Kaye is a serial entrepreneur and business educator who bootstrapped KinkyCurlyYaki, a beauty product-based e-commerce brand, to seven figures without outside funding. With over 15 years of experience in operations, inventory management, and digital commerce, she has mentored 1300+ entrepreneurs through programs with Amazon, Shopify, Toronto Public Library, and Humber College’s Longo School of Business.

Featured in The New York Times, Toronto Star, and on CityTV’s Cityline, Vivian has partnered with brands including American Express Canada. Porsche Canada and Desjardins Bank. She brings practical, founder-to-founder insights on building sustainable businesses, scaling without massive budgets, and staying authentic while growing. Her direct, no-nonsense approach cuts through the noise and focuses on what actually works.

Ina Maria Toncescu

Panel Moderator

Founder & CEO, noLMIT Marketing

Ina Maria Toncescu is a marketing strategist with over 17 years of experience helping businesses grow with focus, purpose, and measurable results. Across small business, non-profit, and government sectors, she’s led transformative marketing strategies, built systems that last, and landed multi-million-dollar deals using the same frameworks she teaches today. As the founder of noLMIT Marketing, Ina works with clients through corporate marketing training, digital strategy building, website development, search and AI engine optimization, email marketing, and more.

 

Her philosophy is simple: in a world obsessed with AI and flashy branding, the businesses that win are the ones that get the foundations right, storytelling, strategic systems, and genuine connection with the people they serve.

Domenique Mastronardi

PANELIST

President, Beck’s Broth

Domenique Mastronardi is the President of Beck’s Broth, an innovative collection of bone-broth-based drinks including hot chocolate and coffee. Her specialty is developing and commercializing sustainable foods that are healthy, delicious, and profitable. She heads up Finance and Operations at Beck’s Broth, and just closed their $500K seed round!

Chantal Lavergne

PANELIST

Founder, Oh Colour Me

Chantal Lavergne is the founder of Oh Color Me, a Canadian company creating simple and bold coloring books designed to make creativity more accessible and less overwhelming. Inspired by her family’s experiences with ADHD and autism, she developed a collection of mini coloring books that encourage people of all ages to unplug, slow down, and enjoy moments of calm.

Drawing on more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience, Chantal has grown Oh Color Me into a brand carried by over 300+ retailers across Canada and the United States in less than 2 years. Passionate about creativity, innovation, and building businesses with purpose, she enjoys sharing her journey as a founder and advocating for products that support well-being and connection.

Géraldine Jippé

PANELIST

Founder, Bloossoming House/Co-Founder at AssetsWaves

Géraldine Jippé is the founder of Bloossoming House, a curated ecosystem empowering female founders to thrive and access capital, the creator and host of the Female Founders Networking Breakfast, and the co-founder of AssetsWaves, a blockchain-based platform designed to facilitate digital asset investments.