Canada's Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs Awarded at The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale 2024

The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale 2024 prize recipients. Pictured left to right: Chloe Beaudoin, co-founder & COO of Apricotton; Bronwyn Bridges, co-founder & CEO of PragmaClin; Sara Jónsdóttir, founder & CEO, Revol Cares. Photo credit: Jamie-Lee Fuoco

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Forum, a Canadian charity that mentors, educates and empowers women entrepreneurs, announces the three finalists of this year's The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale. As Canada's leading pitch program for women entrepreneurs, each finalist receives a $46,500 grand prize package to fast-track their business goals and growth.

The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Program 2024 finalists are:

• Chloe Beaudoin & Jessica Miao, co-founders, Apricotton, the best fitting bras for teens worldwide
• Bronwyn Bridges, co-founder & CEO, PragmaClin, digital technology supporting neurological disorders
• Sara Jónsdóttir, founder & CEO, Revol Cares, intentionally designed reusable period undies for all flows
  

"We applaud the recipients and all participants of this year's The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch program," said Kirsten Koppang Telford, CEO, The Forum. "The program's distinct format underscores our mission to empower women entrepreneurs by providing them with the financial, social, and wisdom capitals essential for growth and success, alongside real-world pitching experience and a supportive community."

To celebrate this year's finalists, The Forum hosted its annual The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale event on April 25, 2024 at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver. All three finalists presented their business visions to a sold out crowd of entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and The Forum community, as well as a virtual audience worldwide. The event also featured live audience voting which selected PragmaClin to receive an additional prize of $15,000 thanks to the generosity of Wheaton Precious Metals.

Annual Event Raises $1 Million for Women Entrepreneurs

The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale is The Forum's largest and most impactful fundraiser. The evening not only recognizes and spotlights the finalists, but it's also an opportunity to raise critical funds to ensure women entrepreneurs across the country and from diverse backgrounds can access The Forum's programming. This year, the event raised over $1,000,000 dollars CAD for the first time in The Forum's history.

What the finalists are saying:

"Being named a finalist in The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale and participating in this year's program has been transformative for Apricotton's business," said Chloe Beaudoin, COO and co-founder of Apricotton. "Having access to multiple forms of capital, including guidance from our program mentor, Crystal Lo, Investment Associate at InBC Investment Corp., will help us further unlock our potential and scale our impactful teen bra business so girls feel confident and prepared to go through puberty."

"At PragmaClin, we're committed to being a global leader in supporting neurological disorders and improving quality of life through digital technology," said Bronwyn Bridges, CEO and co-founder of PragmaClin. "The resources, community and support we've received as a finalist in The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale and from our program mentor, Sarah Willson, Associate at Panache Ventures, has been pivotal in fuelling innovation and market reach."

"As a finalist in this year's The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale, we've not only acquired capital to help accelerate our growth, but we've also had the opportunity to amplify and build momentum for the Revol Cares brand mission and vision," said Sara Jónsdóttir, founder and CEO of Revol Cares. "We are so grateful to our program mentor, Nagar Rahmani, for their invaluable guidance and encouragement, and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead."

The Forum thanks long-time supporter and Title Sponsor, Odlum Brown Limited and long-time Pitch Capital Sponsor Wheaton Precious Metals. The Forum also thanks Reception Sponsor Fort Capital, Dinner Sponsor Fasken and Wine Sponsor Victoria Gold Corp. The program is also made possible by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch is a national program that addresses the barrier of access to capital and helps self-identified women entrepreneurs navigate and fast track their funding journey. Since launching in 2016, The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch has received over 2,100 applications. More information about The Forum and The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch program can be found at theforum.ca and theforumpitch.ca

About the Forum
The Forum is a national, registered Canadian charity whose purpose is to deliver impactful community, education and mentorship programs that are designed to elevate self-identifying women, trans-femme and non-binary entrepreneurs in their unique journeys. As The Forum marks its 22nd year, the organization continues to see a rise in the need for programming across the country as more women turn towards building businesses. In the last year, The Forum supported 1,700+ program participants, across 12 provinces and territories in Canada, and reached 56,000+ people with education, resources and inspiration across 219 unique communities. To date, the charity has supported over 15,000 women entrepreneurs across Canada through its programs and events including The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch program, The Forum Mentor Program, The Forum E-Series program and more. Visit theforum.ca for more.

For press information or interviews contact: Monique Camenzuli, The Edit PR: [email protected] / 416.809.9918

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fb725dee-657e-4ea9-98ac-a34e580351a9