Active

The51

Investor type

VC

Founded

2019

AUM

$30 M

Location

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Investment Ticket

$1-5 m

Investment Stage

Pre-seed Seed Series A

Region of investment

North America

ESG Focus

Women
Investor profile last updated: 02 March, 2025

Profile

The51 is a venture fund and financial platform where current and aspiring investors and entrepreneurs come together to democratize access to capital for women.

Founded in Calgary, we are building a new movement to create value, tapping into Canada’s underutilized female wealth and investing it in talented female entrepreneurs and venture funds.

Women make up 51 per cent of the population… and women control 30 per cent of the world’s wealth.

Forty per cent of us out-earn our male partners and statistically, companies founded by us outperform our male counterparts by 63 per cent. Despite all of this, we make up less than 25 per cent of directors on Canadian boards. Only 15.2 per cent of partners at Canadian venture capital firms are women. As a result, only 10 per cent of Canadian VC investment deals since 2014 went to companies founded by women.

How can Canada’s economy reach its true potential if 51 per cent of the population isn’t fully participating?

By uniting Canada’s untapped female wealth, we can create a new critical mass of female investors that will drive the next economic wave and make Canada the centre for female-powered capital.

With 30 per cent of Alberta’s tech start-ups founded or co-founded by women, our province is well on its way to achieving that critical mass, but our vision is bigger than just Alberta.

Female-founded start-ups: By 2030 we want to see the rest of Canada increase the percentage of female-founded start-ups from 13 per cent to Alberta’s 30 per cent.

Financing: We want to see Canada increase financing for female-founded start-ups by 30 per cent, year over year.

Industry

Education Edtech Fashion/Beauty Fintech Healthcare Services Marketing and Advertising Real Estate Software Energy LegalTech HRTech Agriculture Food and Beverage Foodtech

The51 Funds

Name Type
Questionare
Industry
Questionare
Stage
Questionare
Region
Size AUM Launch date
The51 Food and AgTech Fund
Venture Capital (VC)
Agriculture
Food and Beverage
Foodtech
Pre-seed
Europe
$5-10 m
$30 M
April 2023

Contacts

Name
Title
Email
avatar
Shelley Kuipers Co-Founder, Co-CEO
Co-Founder, Co-CEO
s•••@•••
avatar
Yuan Shi Co-Founder and Principal
Co-Founder and Principal
y•••@•••
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Investment-team contacts for The51 — including verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — are available to Private Equity List subscribers.
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FAQs about The51

The51 is a venture capital firm. It backs companies at Pre-seed, Seed and Series A, writing tickets of $1-5 m.
The51 is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The51 was founded in 2019.
The51 invests in companies and startups in Education, Edtech, Fashion/Beauty, Fintech, Healthcare Services, Marketing and Advertising, Real Estate, Software, Energy, LegalTech, HRTech, Agriculture, Food and Beverage, Foodtech.
The51 invests in companies and startups in North America.
The51 invests in companies and startups at Pre-seed, Seed, Series A.
The51 usually invests $1-5 m on average.
The51 has around $30m assets under management.
The51 last fund was created/launched in 2023-04-28
The51 invests and supports Women startups and founders.
The51 can be reached through its website the51.com, its LinkedIn page and its X account. Its general enquiries address is hello@the51.com. Cold-mailing a general inbox rarely reaches a partner, so Private Equity List also lists the investment-team contacts for The51 — names, roles, verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — available on a Pro plan from $129/month (see pricing). Contacts are sourced from the firm's website and LinkedIn and re-verified on a rolling cycle. Spot a stale contact, or none at all? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.
Yes. Every field on this page — profile, funds, investment criteria, portfolio and investment-team contacts — is available programmatically through the Private Equity List REST API and MCP server, so AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT can query The51 directly instead of scraping this page. One subscription covers both the web app and machine access — see API & MCP.
Private Equity List re-verifies investor profiles on a rolling cycle, pulling from the firm's own website and LinkedIn rather than a one-off import. This profile was last updated on 02 March, 2025. Something out of date here? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.