
Elaine Kunda is the founder and managing partner of Disruption Ventures, Canadaâs first private venture fund focused solely on women entrepreneurs. It has been a long â and strategically planned â journey for Elaine; hereâs how (and why) she did it.
By Sarah Kelsey
If you were to ask most entrepreneurs about how they got to where they are, youâd likely be greeted with a list of similar answers: hard work, perseverance, luck, some helping hands. But ask the same question while catching a few moments with the incredibly empowering Elaine Kunda, and youâll be greeted with a different response: planning.
âEverything Iâve done has always been highly strategic. Iâve mapped this out very purposefully and specifically,â Elaine says of her role founding and managing Disruption Ventures, a first-of-its-kind in Canada, made-for-women, private venture fund. âEvery connection Iâve made has always been done with a plan in mind.â
Take, for example, the babysitting job she took in university; it was for a woman who was the president of a company. âI thought, I want that to be me one day,â says Elaine. So she babysat the womanâs son and eventually asked her for a summer job so she could learn more about management.
Then there was a stint working as a salesperson at a furniture supply company. The role didnât inspire passion, but she knew sheâd learn the skills she needed to attain a top job. âIt was a stepping stone. It was a very conscious and clear decision.â
Every job sheâs held has prepared her, in some way, for doing her own thing: business development manager at Grey Interactive, managing director at Toronto.com, president and CEO at ZipLocal, president and CEO of b5media.
Elaine first conceived of her current business, Disruption Ventures, in 2012 after speaking with several women entrepreneurs about the challenges they faced financing their businesses. The idea was initially ill-received.
âIf you presented to investors and said, âI have an undervalued, underutilized, high-performing asset class,â would you want to invest in it? The answer would be unequivocally âyes,ââ she says. âBut as soon as you add gender into the mix, the audience is lost. Why wouldnât you create a fund to invest in women? Itâs a missed opportunity.â
âPeople are comfortable acknowledging that supporting women entrepreneurs is an issue, but itâs still very hard for people to put their money where their mouths are.â
Part of the problem, she notes, is that the audience is largely made up of men. According to the 2019 “Women in Venture” Report from Highline Beta and Female Funders, just over 15% of partners at Canadian VC firms are women. âThere was a disconnect between the men who did the investing,â explains Elaine, âand the women who were coming up with ideas for businesses.â
The result can be measured in real dollars: a little over two per cent of venture capital funding goes to women-led businesses, and research shows they not only typically receive less than men, but also less than they ask for.
With a focus on early-stage capital, Disruption Ventures aims to be the starting point for women founders. Anchored by a milestone investment from Scotiabank, the organizations have a broader partnership â including marketing assistance and educational content for entrepreneurs â tied to the Scotiabank Women Initiative. It lines up well with Elaineâs broader goal of advocating for women in business.
âPeople are comfortable acknowledging that supporting women entrepreneurs is an issue, but itâs still very hard for people to put their money where their mouths are,â she says, noting that the slow pace of change has always worried her. âEvery story has a life cycle; if change doesnât happen soon, then people will say, âwell, women had their chance.ââ
So what advice does Elaine have for women entrepreneurs? Itâs the same for any woman trying to reach the top.
Passion is key. âYou have to want to get up in the morning and do what youâre doing. I donât think people close to me have any clue how much I work. They see the fun part of the travel I do on social media â and not the stuff like conference calls or early wake-ups to secure funds. The only way to keep that pace is passion.â
Women also need to develop the confidence to own their successes and manage negative feedback.
âThe negative fuels me. The people who are assholes are actually fuelling my passion. When somebody inaccurately puts me in a place I dig deeper,â she says. âOnce someone called for a reference on me and my referer said âyouâd rather have her on your team than have to play against her.â Thatâs because success is the only option.â
Lastly, each woman has to do whatâs right by them.
âThere are some things I know I need in my life to be happy. Itâs a marathon not a sprint. Iâm creative and adaptable. I donât need order or structure or quiet or peace. I need things to be opposite; put me in an office every day, I wonât perform. Iâm overly productive so why should I follow someone elseâs structure that makes me less productive?â she notes, adding: âEvery step of the way you have to believe in yourself and trust yourself, because if you donât, no one else will.â