Prime Highlights
- Award backed by 40 Canadian women-owned businesses in a first-of-its-kind founder-led collaboration.
- Initiative designed to expand access to strategic connections, capital and acquisition opportunities.
Key Facts
- The Elleiance Network launches $100,000 Capital Elle Business Impact Award for women entrepreneurs.
- Applications run from September 2 to October 28, 2026, with winners announced this fall.
Background
The Elleiance Network has launched the 2026 Capital Elle Business Impact Award, a $100,000 national business growth award designed to help ambitious Canadian women entrepreneurs build stronger, more valuable businesses.
Applications open on September 2, 2026, inviting women entrepreneurs from across Canada to compete for a share of the funding and a range of business growth opportunities.
The award focuses on expanding access to strategic connections, growth capital and acquisition opportunities, rather than recognizing past achievements. Organizers said the initiative aims to invest directly in a founder’s future by closing gaps that often limit business growth.
What sets the award apart is how it came together. Instead of relying on a single corporation, venture capital firm or government program, 40 Canadian women-owned businesses pooled their support to create a founder-backed business award, marking a first-of-its-kind collaboration among women entrepreneurs.
Erin Sisko, founder and CEO of The Elleiance Network, said Canadian women entrepreneurs face an access gap rather than a knowledge gap, and that the award was built to create intentional access to relationships, capital and opportunities that can shift a business’s trajectory.
She added that seeing 40 women-owned businesses unite to support other entrepreneurs reflects the strength of collective action.
Applications are open to Canadian women entrepreneurs across all industries who are focused on building sustainable, profitable businesses with long-term impact. The application window runs from September 2 to October 28, 2026, with award recipients set to be announced during a celebration later this fall.
