LocAlley
Founder: Michelle Fedorowich
Website: https://localley.ca/ (external link)
Founder Michelle Fedorowich met Zariah Walker at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Legal Innovation Zone (external link, opens in new window) bootcamp, where they partnered and won the final pitch competition in March 2020. The women reconnected with a shared interest in helping small business owners through the hardships of the pandemic.
In June of that same year, we were accepted into the Social Ventures Zone. One major highlight of this experience was working with the Wes Hall Social Entrepreneurs Award (opens in new window) winner, intern Angelle Spencer in Winter 2021. As of August 2021, LocAlley has worked with 30 interdisciplinary team members, predominantly university students.
Through successful partnership development, LocAlley works with the University of Toronto’s software engineering department (external link, opens in new window) , and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Ted Rogers School of Management (opens in new window) (TRSM). Moreover, Michelle’s involvement with the Marketing Department in TRSM has connected small businesses with FREE marketing support!
Our business development is grounded by the entrepreneurship program 100 Steps to Startup (external link, opens in new window) . We have seen our customer base grow through both discovery and validation interviews, as well as social media. One of our most significant partnerships to date is with Clearco (external link, opens in new window) , enabling us to extend low-barrier access to funding for our customers.
As Clearco Venture Scouts (June 2021), we are now working with co-founders Michele Romanow of Dragon’s Den and Andrew D’Souza, and their entire network of VC’s! We are thrilled to be able to extend the financial support of Clearco to our founders and business owners, including colleagues in Zone Learning (opens in new window) at Toronto Metropolitan University!
Follow us on social media to stay updated about this next phase of the journey.