The former global manager of eBay subsidiary Kijiji is the first woman to lead one of Canada’s biggest early-stage venture capital firms. Bannister had been a general partner at Real since 2014. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Bannister is one of few women in Canada with authority on how venture capital dollars should be spent. In an analysis last year, The Logic found that nearly 90 per cent of all venture capital deals from the previous five years had gone to companies founded exclusively by men. That record was reflected in the low number of women executives at VC firms. Despite Bannister championing women entrepreneurs in Canada, just 12.3 per cent of the firm’s publicly disclosed deals involved a woman founder, as of March 2019. That dynamic has led to more women breaking off and launching their own venture funds specifically for women: Elaine Kunda launched Disruption Ventures in 2018, and Vicki Saunders has been raising money for women-led companies through her initiative SheEO since 2015.