Smart & Biggar accompanies local Ottawa entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley

From February 27 to March 1, 2020, Ottawa senior associate Jamie-Lynn Kraft joined two founders from the Ottawa region — Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau of Welbi, Sarah Abood of Thawrih (both former Bootstrap Award winners) in Silicon Valley for the SoGal Global Pitch Competition Finals. Jamie-Lynn accompanied the SoGal delegation as an advisor and representative of Smart & Biggar, an official sponsor of the SoGal Ottawa team.

Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau and Sarah Abood were among 150 women and diverse founders sourced from over 1,700 global applications and 25 regional round pitch competitions who gathered in Silicon Valley to participate in the pitch competition finals. In addition to competing in the pitch finals, which is the largest global pitch competition for underrepresented entrepreneurs, Elizabeth and Sarah also participated in a 3-day immersive start-up bootcamp.

Welbi founder and 2019 Bootstrap Award founder of the year, Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, made a successful pitch that awarded her $25,000 in funding for Welbi.

Smart & Biggar is proud to support the diverse community of entrepreneurs in our local communities.

Smart & Biggar is Canada’s leading Intellectual Property law firm. We work with international and Canadian companies to develop IP protection strategies that maximize the commercial value of IP and increase return on innovation. In the Ottawa region, Smart & Biggar is committed to supporting emerging technology and innovation, and the work of start-up entrepreneurs and inventors.