Poptronic is excited to announce that their business has been recognized and accepted into two pitch competitions that will help launch their growth and connect them with valuable mentors in the female and Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems.
On August 4, 2022, Invest Ottawa and the Capital Angel Network announced the third cohort of SheBoot, a bootcamp that prepares women entrepreneurs to secure investment. Kelly Bergeron, Co-Founder and CEO of Poptronic, is one of the 15 founders from across the country selected to participate.
Poptronic, founded by Kelly Bergeron and Chatnie Herne, is a tech rental business that’s helping close the digital divide in our community (and across Canada) by allowing individuals to borrow devices like cameras, computers, drones, and virtual reality at an affordable price. Customers can choose to buy devices they’re renting – and 100% of their payments go towards the purchase price.
This new business also contributes to the ‘circular economy’ by keeping electronic waste out of landfills.
“I got into virtual reality during the pandemic and wanted so many people to try it. Working out and meditation were a big gamechanger for me and I wanted to be able to give others the opportunity to try out the Oculus,” said co-founder Kelly Bergeron, “We started this venture very quietly last year but kicked into a higher gear this year, using feedback we’ve been collecting.”
Bergeron is set to attend SheBoot’s six-week bootcamp based in Ottawa, Ontario in the fall.
“We are planning on getting investment ready with SheBoot. They have all the tools we need to get to a strong standing for investors to write us a cheque,” explained Bergeron, “Our first investment will go towards building our first storefront experience so customers can check out rentals onsite, hiring staff, and purchasing new and exciting tech! We can win up to $250,000 so it would have a major impact and be able to take us to the next level of investment-readiness. Fingers crossed!”
Despite a banner year in investment, women founders received less than two percent of VC funding in 2021. This is the lowest percentage in five years. SheBoot aims to move this critical dial, and help every participating founder acquire the investment required to accelerate growth and success. Designed by women investors and entrepreneurs for women founders, SheBoot aims to address the long-standing systemic challenges facing women entrepreneurs in the investment landscape. As of July 2022, previous SheBoot graduates have raised or acquired more than CDN $11 million.
Chatnie recently participated in Pow Wow Pitch, an Indigenous pitch competition that connects Indigenous entrepreneurs with mentors and cash prizes of between $500 and $25,000. Her incredible pitch clearly stood out to the judges as Poptronic was accepted into the semi-finals, just one of 124 pitches to do so out of 2,500 entrants.
“If Poptronic wins the 25K prize we would use the money to purchase tech devices, raise our brand awareness and move into a storefront,” says Chatnie.
Winners of Pow Wow Pitch will be announced on October 19.
