ELLA - Ascend - YSpace

ELLA Ascend

ELLA Ascend is an intensive 4‑month accelerator tailored for women‑led ventures driving innovation in products and services. The program equips founders with the strategic clarity, operational strength, and financial readiness needed to scale with confidence.

Join the Waitlist

What to expect

Immersive Learning – Four months of structured workshops designed to strengthen marketing, sales, operations, and finance.
Impact Driven Strategy – Practical frameworks that help founders futureproof their businesses and unlock scalable growth.
Mentorship Access – Tailored guidance from experienced mentors aligned with your stage, sector, and strategic needs.
Exclusive Benefits – Access to $60K+ in startup resources, plus the chance to compete for curated business advisory support worth $10K.
Fractional Executive Support – 50% matching (up to $5K) toward senior level expertise, making executive guidance more affordable (eligibility and conditions apply)

2025 cohort profiles

Community

ELLA gives you access to an inclusive community of women entrepreneurs who span across many backgrounds, industries, and specializations.

Entrepreneurship Education

Set yourself up for success through curated workshops and goal-focused support from experts to help you build a solid foundation for growth.

Growth frameworks

Develop the sales, marketing, finance and operations tactics needed to build traction and reach more customers.

Milestone driven

Learn how to define growth goals and milestones for you and your business. Receive expert advice during the program to work towards making these goals a reality.

Timeline

Applications open:

December 1, 2025

Applications close:

March 23, 2026

Candidates notified:

Rolling Basis

Program starts:

April 13, 2026

Program ends:

August 13, 2026

Application process

Step: One

Applications are now open.

If you have any questions, email yspace@yorku.ca.

Apply Now

Step: Two

Short-listed candidates invited to interview.

Step: Three

Candidates finalized and notified.

Program eligibility

Woman entrepreneur with at least 50% ownership of a registered business, nonprofit, or social enterprise
Driven, coachable, and collaborative founder with a growth mindset
Working fulltime on your venture
Minimum annual revenue of $100,000 with paying customers between January – December 2025 (consideration may be given to high innovation, high growth companies)
Business is based in Canada
Open to change, willing to push beyond your comfort zone, and committed to giving back to the ELLA Community with your own strengths and insights
Able to fully commit to the accelerator requirements, including mandatory participation in all programming elements and completion of assignments (average 5–7 hours per week)

Frequently asked

Please note that attendance for all programming is mandatory. Founders who miss more than three programming elements may become ineligible to compete for the final prize of $10K worth of business advisory services. Under extenuating circumstances if you are not able to make it to a session, please email us at yspace@yorku.ca to let us in advance.

Some of the programming elements like workshops and pitch presentations have a fixed date, while check-in and mentoring will be flexible. The program schedule will be shared in advance for you to review before you accept the final offer.

For any questions related to our programs, please email yspace@yorku.ca.

Ofﬁcial ELLA programming is designed for the participants and are facilitated in such a way that creates a safe space for the participants who were accepted into the program; therefore, only ofﬁcially accepted participants can attend ELLA programming. For any external related events hosted by ELLA and community partners, external guests may attend.

Applications are now open

Applications are now open. If you have any questions, email yspace@yorku.ca.

Apply Now

OUR PARTNERS AND FUNDERS

Newsletter signup

YSpace is committed to working with emerging technology, agrifood, products and services. Get in touch today to find out how you can become a part of our community.

Contact us

For more information, please contact us at
yspace@yorku.ca
416-736-2100 ext. 44940