At YSpace, women entrepreneurs hit the accelerator for success

In 2019, YSpace – York’s pan-university entrepreneur and innovation hub – decided to change that with the launch of ELLA, Ontario’s first accelerator program focused on supporting women-led product and service-based businesses.

Now, with $3 million in support from the federal government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy program, ELLA is going nationwide, setting up localized hubs and opening its programs to participants across the country.

“What I think York has done, really uniquely, is increased access,” says David Kwok, associate director, entrepreneurship. He notes that while there are other women-focused accelerator programs, ELLA is unique in a few different ways. 

“More traditional incubator accelerator programs are often very student-focused or very tech-focused. Our differentiator is that we do support students, but we also support the external community, so anyone can join,” says Kwok. “And we’re not only doing tech. We’re going into sectors that typically other organizations are not really as focused on.”

ELLA includes three programs: 

• Express, self-paced
  Early entrepreneurs needing foundational skills to grow
• Ascend, four-month
  Early-stage businesses setting the stage for growth
• Altitude, four-month
  Businesses preparing to scale up nationally or internationally.

Participants in Ascend and Altitude gain access to one-on-one mentorship, a team to help them develop their strategic plans for growth, and a cohort of peers with whom they can create a trusting, supportive community. 

“I think it is a really unique model that’s open and accessible and encourages women to jump in, stay in, and continue to grow,” says Jennifer MacLean, vice-president of innovation and research partnerships. “There are no barriers that were put in place. The team just provides validation and encouragement regardless of where you are. I think that’s really a magical thing.”

Ascend spoke with three YSpace alumni about their experiences and their startups.

Garima Gupta, Artha Learning, Inc.
Toronto, ON

A former software engineer with a passion for education, Garima Gupta put her career on hold when her kids were little. But after a few years, she realized it was time to show her two children, and herself, what she could accomplish. 

In 2017, she dove into an online masters in adult education, at the same time launching her business, Artha Learning—an eLearning strategy, design and development firm. 

Two years later, Gupta successfully applied to ELLA’s Ascend program, and went on to join the Altitude program as well. “I’m a rather resourceful kind of person, but the problem with running a business is that you don’t know what you don’t know,” she explains. “Going in, my attitude was wanting to expose myself to other people’s challenges, and to understand what things I should think about while trying to scale.” 

With the mentorship she received from the faculty and the support of her cohort, Gupta gained the skills and confidence to take Artha Learning to the next level. “The biggest change was a shift in my mindset from being a solopreneur,” she shares. “I went from wondering whether or not I could build something bigger to actually building it, and realizing at the same time I can do more. That allowed me to attract more opportunities. You have to believe in yourself before somebody else can.”

Today, Artha Learning employs 12 full-time staff, and counts corporations, governments, NGOs and universities (including York) among its clients.
It has also racked up numerous awards—including Canadian Small Business Of The Year in 2021. Even so, Gupta remains connected to ELLA, keeping in touch with her mentors and dropping in to speak with current participants. 

“With programs like ELLA, you never really graduate,” she says. “This journey just continues.”

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Jannine Rane, Zing Pantry Shortcuts
Toronto, ON

At home during the pandemic, Jannine Rane and her partner, Anush Sachdeva, found themselves craving some variety. 

“A lot of people, ourselves included, were stuck at home eating the same chicken breast recipe two or three times a week. We asked ourselves,
how do restaurants do it? How can people shake it up and do things differently at home?” Rane recalls.

Realizing they weren’t the only ones experiencing culinary ennui, Rane and Sachdeva turned to their friend and future business partner, chef Kiran Singh. Together, the trio launched a website for Zing Pantry Shortcuts in September 2020, developing “pantry shortcuts” that elevate home cooking with flavourful blends of ingredients.  

“It started as a side hustle, to help us find some productivity and joy in the mundaneness of the pandemic,” says Rane, a marketing and branding professional. 

The endeavour quickly snowballed into something much bigger. 

“We had a lot of excitement from early customers, food critics and media who blew up our brand very quickly,” she says. “It turned from this fun little project into a full-blown CPG (consumer packaged goods) company.”

In 2021, Rane and her partners joined the five-month Food Accelerator at YSpace, gaining the skills to meet the growing demand for their products. 

“When we started at YSpace, we knew nothing—we didn’t even understand bar coding and distribution,” says Rane. 

At the time, Zing was mainly a direct-to-consumer enterprise, with a handful of independent grocers in Toronto carrying their products. Now it’s on track to be in 400 stores across the country, including Whole Foods and Fortinos, by the summer.

“The program was instrumental in helping us,” Rane says. “We were able to avoid a lot of potential mistakes and mishaps in a safe space where we could ask questions. We also learned very tangible pieces of business and how things work in the industry—which we would have had to learn the hard way.”

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Julie Klukas, Shy Wolf Candles
Grey Highlands, ON

When volunteer firefighter Julie Klukas quietly started creating and selling custom-scented candles online in the fall of 2019, her male colleagues at the fire hall didn’t fully grasp the scale of her operation. 

“The guys kind of thought, ‘She’s making candles, that’s cute,’” Klukas shares. “They didn’t see it as a business until we had passed a million in revenue. All of sudden they were like, ‘Oh, you’re not just playing hobby wife in the kitchen!’”

That sort of reaction was part of why Klukas joined the Ascend and Altitude programs at ELLA. “It was really nice to be surrounded by other women who understand the challenges of being a female entrepreneur—whether that’s not being taken seriously or just going to business events and being one of only few women,” she says, adding that she appreciated being able to join a larger entrepreneurial community while living and working in a small rural town. 

Through the program, Klukas was able to gain the skills and confidence to grow Shy Wolf from a one-woman operation run out of her home into a company with its own studio and a staff of seven. The brand has cultivated a devoted following for its unique proprietary blends of scents inspired by 70’s rock’n’roll, tarot cards and new-age spirituality, and has sold around 75,000 candles, distributing them online and in 500 stores worldwide. 

“ELLA’s leadership training really helped me,” says Klukas. “When you start by pouring candles in your kitchen, you never imagine that you’re going to be a team leader for all these different staff. It’s a very different skill set.” 

“It really helped me with my leadership skills and with just feeling more confident in myself—not just as an entrepreneur, but as somebody who is now hiring and bringing people together.”

In addition to ELLA, YSpace also offers one of the few accelerator programs for food and beverage start-ups, and is a co-creator of the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance in partnership with the Black Creek Community Health Centre, TD Community Engagement Centre, and Schulich Executive Education Centre.