Novacap announces the creation of the Women in Finance Bursary

Leading private equity firm is committing 200,000$ as well as providing opportunities to participate in paid internship programs and access to mentoring to advance gender parity

MONTREAL, March 8, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - As we usher in Women's History Month, and in honor of International Women's Day, Novacap is extremely proud to announce the launch of its Women in Finance bursary. This initiative represents a commitment of 200,000$ over five years to create scholarships for women pursuing undergraduate programs in finance.

''Today, we are launching our first initiative in a positive chain of influence aimed at making our industry more equitable and inclusive. Novacap is proud to take a leadership position in addressing the underrepresentation of women in the private equity industry,'' said Pascal Tremblay, President and CEO, Managing Partner at Novacap. ''These investments are representative of our focus on advancing our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion priorities at every stage of a candidate's career path.''

Novacap will offer recipients the opportunity to attend paid internship programs and access to mentoring as they progress through the program.

Five-thousand-dollar scholarships will be granted to students across several Canadian universities, including Université de Sherbrooke, Concordia University, McGill University and HEC Montréal. Additional universities across Canada are expected to join the program later this year.

Overall, the recipients will be students who have demonstrated a commitment to education, an interest in finance, and in particular an interest in pursuing a career in private equity.

"As I reflect on the current landscape, I am not only concerned about the lack of representation of women in private equity but also about the sense of marginalization that has been expressed and documented by women in our field," said Jacques Foisy, Chairman of the Board & Managing Partner at Novacap. "It is a priority for all of us at Novacap to work on concrete, actionable approaches that pave the way for women to enter, compete and succeed in our industry.''

''The CVCA's 2021 State of Diversity and Inclusion report revealed that work remains to be done to make the venture capital and private equity industries truly inclusive and equitable," said Kim Furlong, CEO of the CVCA. ''I am extremely pleased with Novacap's initiative and hope that it will encourage others to think about the role we all have to play in empowering women, building diverse teams, and creating inclusive environments.''

''I am proud to lead this initiative at Novacap. It has been shown time and time again that organizations with diverse talent perform better than their non-diverse counterparts, especially in areas such as innovation, profitability and employee retention," said Heather Shantora, Principal at Novacap. ''Beyond the financial aid, I will work with my colleagues to ensure that women receive the mentorship and guidance that will inspire them to pursue a career in private equity. This is an important first step to changing the industry.''

About Novacap

Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading North American private equity firm with over C$8B of AUM that has invested in more than 100 platform companies and completed more than 150 add-on acquisitions. Applying its sector-focused approach since 2007 in Industries, TMT, Financial Services, and Digital Infrastructure Novacap's deep domain expertise can accelerate company growth and create long-term value. With experienced, dedicated investment and operations teams as well as substantial capital, Novacap has the resources and knowledge that help build world-class businesses. Novacap has offices in Brossard, Québec and Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca.

About the CVCA

Our vision

A thriving Canadian economy driven by private capital

Our Mission

CVCA's mission is to help our members fuel the economy of the future by growing the businesses of today. We do this by supporting and connecting a vibrant private capital industry with advocacy, research, and education. CVCA is also the nation's ultimate resource for data on Canadian private capital investments. Please visit: http://www.cvca.ca.

SOURCE Novacap Management Inc.