• MaRS Discovery District Centre (map)
  • 101 College Street
  • Toronto, ON, M5G 1L7
  • Canada

 

Watch the livestream here: https://youtu.be/rrQYV6PVzV8

We Are Wearables and Electric Runway have teamed up to host “Women and Wearables” a night of celebration, conversation, and activism empowering women in wearable tech. 

This special edition of WWTO will touch on the opportunities & challenges for women in hardware, the need for diversity in tech teams, and the journey of the female founder.

Beverages & food will be provided courtesy of Herscu & Goldsilver and Meta.


Our Goal

The goal of this event is to raise awareness, drive conversation and elicit action on the need for diversity in tech in the Toronto wearable and hardware space.

Celebrating Female Founders & Female-Focused Products

In addition to an all-female cast on stage, we are also hosting female-founded or female-focused startups and organizations in our demo area.

Canadian Female Founders Hardware Cup

We are excited to announce that We Are Wearables has joined forces with ideaBOOST to host the Canadian Female Founders Hardware Cup - a showcase and celebration of Canadian female founders of growth-oriented startups building hardware and wearable products for the Canadian media and entertainment industry. Six female founder semi-finalists will be invited to pitch and demo at this event with one Canadian finalist chosen by a jury of judges to pitch and attend the International Hardware Cup on April 19 - 20, 2017 (Pittsburgh). 

THIS JUST IN: We are pleased to announce our 6 semi-finalists:

Read more about the semi-finalists on BetaKit.com here.

Participating Companies

Meta, InteraXon (Muse), Linkitz, eSight, Bellabeat, VX360, Daily Goods Design LABS, No Campfire Required, Muzik, OCADu’s Social Body Lab, Netatmo, CFC ideaBOOST, Little Robot Friends, Ripple, SportsFitz, Daniel Christian Tang, Ladies Learning Code and Women of Wearables


Agenda

6:00-6:45: Registration & Networking (Expo open)

6:45-6:55: Opening Remarks - Paula Kwan, Co-Organizer of We Are Wearables

6:55-7:00: Welcome by City of Toronto Councillor Michelle Holland

7:00-7:10: “The Future is Female: Emotional Tech & the Feminine in Design Thinking” - Amanda Cosco, Founder of Electric Runway

7:10-7:25: "Women & Wearables: Seizing Opportunities" - Karen Kwan, VP of Finance & Operations, Meta

7:25-7:40: Keynote – Ana Serrano, Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Film Centre

7:40-8:10: Panel: Diversity and Design - Women in Wearables

  • Kate Hartman – Director of the Social Body Lab, OCAD University
  • Ariel Garten – Co-Founder of InteraXon, makers of Muse
  • Sky Gillespie, Director of Digital Communications, Ripple 
  • Yvonne Felix – Partnerships at eSight, smart glasses for the nearly blind
  • Lyssa Neel – CEO & Founder of Linkitz, wearable toys for girls
  • Ann Poochareon - Co-founder & COO, Little Robot Friends
  • Moderated by Amanda Cosco, Founder of Electric Runway

8:10-9:00: IDEABOOST & WE ARE WEARABLES present the Canadian Female Founders Hardware Cup with judges:

  • Casie Stewart - tech and lifestyle blogger, "This Is My Life"
  • Ana Serrano, Chief Digital Officer, CFC
  • Kate Hartman, Director, Social Body Lab at OCAD
  • Karen Kwan, VP of Operations and Finance, Meta
  • Tom Emrich, Partner, Super Ventures

9:00-10:00: Networking and expo area featuring


Our Speakers


Our Sponsors

A huge thank you to MaRS Discovery District Centre, IDEABOOST, City of Toronto, Meta, Proto3000, Herscu & Goldsilver, BetaKit and Super Ventures for your continued support and commitment to the We Are Wearables community.

MaRS Discovery District Centre in Toronto is one of the world's largest urban innovation hubs. MaRS cultivates high-impact ventures and equips innovators to drive economic and societal prosperity. Learn more at www.marsdd.com.

IDEABOOST is a business accelerator with a difference -- a bootcamp for companies that want to navigate an entertainment ecosystem that has been radically disrupted by new technologies and demanding audience expectations. If you want to launch a business that produces either digital content or technology for the entertainment industry, check out ideaBOOST’s criteria, and apply now at http://www.ideaboost.ca.

City of Toronto: More than 2.8 million residents call Toronto home, making it the largest city and sixth largest government in Canada, and the fourth largest city in North America. Learn more at http://www1.toronto.ca/ 

Proto3000 provides professional 3D Printing Services, Rapid Prototyping Services, Stratasys 3D Printers, 3D Laser Scanning services, and 3D Laser Scanners. Learn more at www.proto3000.com.

Meta: Born in NYC and raised in Silicon Valley, Meta has been defining the field of augmented reality (AR) since the company’s inception in 2012. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Meta was selected by Y Combinator for seed funding. Meta entered the marketplace with the first see-through headset that allowed wearers to move and manipulate 3D content intuitively, using their hands. With the introduction of the groundbreaking Meta 2. Learn more at www.metavision.com.

Herscu & Goldsilver is a boutique Toronto-based public relations agency focused on driving awareness around technology, lifestyle and crowdfunding products and services. Learn more at www.herscugoldsilver.com.

BetaKit is Canada's leading site for Canadian startup news and tech innovation. Learn more at www.betakit.com.

Super Ventures is the first fund and incubator dedicated to technologies giving people superpowers: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality & Wearable. Learn more at www.superventures.com.


Our Supporters

Women of Wearables (WoW) is world’s first organization that inspires, supports and connects women in wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT and VR/AR. WoW has a global community of female founders, product and UX designers, developers, smart textile designers, executives and managers, as well as startups, industry partners, universities, accelerators and incubators. Please sign up here if you would like to be notified about our activities or if you would like to be involved. You can also connect with us via Twitter @Women_Wearables. Looking forward to meeting all our WoW women!

Ladies Learning Code is a not-for-profit organization with the mission to be the leading resource for women and youth to become passionate builders - not just consumers - of technology by learning technical skills in a hands-on, social, and collaborative way. Learn more at http://ladieslearningcode.com.

Third Wave Fashion was founded to help smart people like you to manage the breakneck speed with which fashion and technology are converging. We do things like provide guidance to giant tech companies about how to enter the wearable tech market, teach luxury fashion brands how to successfully partner with the new breed of fashion tech startups, and oh yeah: we publish a beautiful magazine about fashion tech + wearables. Learn more at http://thirdwavefashion.com


The Organizers

We Are Wearables is on a mission to foster adoption and facilitate innovation in wearable tech. We believe that wearable technology is augmenting the human experience making us better at everything we do in work, life and play. We act as a platform to showcase both local and global entrepreneurs, startups, organizations and thought leaders making this happen. We Are Wearables is the largest wearable tech community of its kind in the world. We currently have a total digital reach of over 120,000. Join the Wearable Revolution at www.wearewearables.com.

Electric Runway is a future fashion event and content series with a mission to share stories, expertise, and inspiration from the front lines of fashion tech. The company was founded by journalist and entrepreneur Amanda Cosco in July of 2015 and has since grown into a global brand synonymous with the future of fashion. Lean more at www.electricrunway.com.


Interested in sponsoring, speaking, demoing or volunteering at this or other WWTO events this year, contact Tom at tom@wearewearables.com.