PEI Business Women’s Association (PEIBWA)

What PEI Business Women’s Association (PEIBWA) does

PEI Business Women's Association (PEIBWA) is a member-based not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1993 and headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is the only women's business association with an Island-wide mandate in PEI and serves approximately 540 women entrepreneurs and business professionals across the province. PEIBWA's mandate is to educate, empower, and inspire PEI women to succeed in their business endeavors through a portfolio of programs, events, advisory services, and community resources.

PEIBWA's product and service portfolio spans structured programs (Accelerate HER PEI, a 12-week accelerator; Activate HER PEI, a 6-week startup program; the Strategic Leadership Program "Setting Sail for Success"; Mentorship; Promoting Women Online; Business Development Support), funding initiatives (Micro-Grants of $1,000 to women entrepreneurs), facilities (a Charlottetown headquarters, a Rural Women's Business Centre in Central Bedeque with co-working and incubator space, and a member lending library), and events (the flagship annual PEIBWA Symposium, networking mixers, workshops, and member showcases). The underlying technology is a Wild Apricot membership management and CRM platform supporting five annual membership tiers ranging from $25 (Student/Retired) to $500 (Corporate Partner).

PEIBWA's revenue model combines recurring annual membership dues (subscription_recurring), event ticket sales (including tiered Symposium pricing with member discounts), and program delivery funded through grants and partnerships with the PEI Government's Interministerial Women's Secretariat, the Atlantic Canadian Women in Growth Partnership, and the federal Women Entrepreneurship Strategy / WEOC National Loan Program. Go-to-market is community-led, event-driven, and direct-to-consumer, with acquisition heavily reliant on peer referrals, networking events, and partnerships with academic and government institutions across PEI and Atlantic Canada.

Name

PEI Business Women’s Association (PEIBWA)

Legal name

PEI Business Women's Association

Website

https://peibwa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Membership Association

NAICS

Business Associations (81391)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF)

Keywords

• Women entrepreneur association
• Business membership organization
• Women business networking
• Small business accelerator
• Entrepreneurship training programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlottetown

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees across five tiers (Student/Retired $25, Individual/Small Business $78.75, Business $157.50, Patron $262.50, Corporate Partner $500) provide recurring annual revenue. Membership bundles allow multiple individuals per organization tier, with auto-renewal enabled.
2. Event Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from paid events including the annual Symposium ($35-$400 tiered pricing), workshops, and networking events. Early-bird and member discounts incentivize advance purchase and membership retention.
3. Program Fees: Programs such as Accelerate HER PEI are offered free to selected participants (funded via Atlantic Canadian Women in Growth Partnership). Micro-grants provide non-repayable funding to women entrepreneurs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PEIBWA is a member-based not-for-profit association that supports women entrepreneurs and business professionals in Prince Edward Island through tiered annual memberships, accelerator and startup programs, mentorship, micro-grants, advisory services, networking events, co-working space, and a flagship annual Symposium. Its mandate is to educate, empower, and inspire PEI women across all stages of business — from ideation through growth and exit planning.

Product overview

PEIBWA operates as a member-based not-for-profit organization offering a portfolio of programs and services for women entrepreneurs and business professionals across Prince Edward Island. The core offerings include accelerator programs (Accelerate HER PEI, Activate HER PEI), mentorship programs, micro grants, workshops, and networking events. The organization maintains a Rural Women's Business Centre in Central Bedeque providing dedicated workspace for program participants, along with shared workspace access for members. Signature events include the annual PEIBWA Symposium, networking mixers, and member showcases. PEIBWA also provides business development support, advisory services, and access to member benefits including shipping discounts and health benefits. The portfolio is structured as a suite of support services rather than a unified software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accelerate HER PEI A 12-week accelerator program for high-potential women business owners in the early-growth phase, combining accelerator programming with one-on-one mentorship support, weekly group meetings, peer support, and expert presentations to help participants grow their businesses.
• Activate HER PEI A six-week facilitated program for women across Prince Edward Island wanting to start a new business. Takes participants through creating a solid business plan while providing resources to help take a concept from ideation to implementation.
• Micro Grants Program Non-repayable grants designed to help new, growing, and established women entrepreneurs through a grant and business skills support program; recent cohorts have provided $1,000 awards to multiple recipients.
• Promoting Women Online A 12-week program providing knowledge, training, and confidence to understand and take control of online presence. Covers branding and marketing, search engine marketing, analytics, social media strategy and tools, content, and web development.
• Business Development Support One-on-one business development support for PEIBWA members looking to start a new business, grow an existing one, or plan an exit strategy.
• PEIBWA Symposium

Quantifiable outcome

• Micro-grant program provides $1,000 awards to women entrepreneurs (5 recipients in 2024 via Interministerial Women's Secretariat partnership)

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and moderate.

• Copper Bottom BrewingminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 July 2022Copper Bottom Brewing partnered with PEIBWA for the 2022 Micro Grants Program launch, providing support for women entrepreneurs through the micro-grant initiative.
• Atlantic Canadian Women in Growth Partnership (ACWGP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021A four-Atlantic-province partnership: Nova Scotia Centre for Women in Business (CWB), PEIBWA, Women in Business New Brunswick (WBNB), and Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) as project lead. Funded Accelerate HER PEI program (2022). Provides cross-provincial network and shared programming for women entrepreneurs across Atlantic Canada.
• PARO Centre for Women's EnterprisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPARO serves as the Provincial Partner for the WEOC National Loan Program on PEI. PEIBWA hosts PARO's Peer Lending Circle Info Sessions, connecting women entrepreneurs to peer lending circles offering $1,000-$5,000 loans with $500-$1,000 non-repayable portions. PARO also partners on the Community Innovation Table for PEI Women in Business.
• UPEI McDougall Faculty of BusinessmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted networking event with UPEI McDougall Faculty of Business and UPEI Women in Business, supported by the Catherine Callbeck Fund to Support Women in Business. Extends PEIBWA's reach to student and emerging women entrepreneurs.
• Purolator, UPS, FedEx, Canpar, Dicom, DHL (FlagShip Shipping Program)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFlagShip shipping discount program available to PEIBWA members, offering savings up to 70% across multiple carriers through a single comparison and shipping platform.
• Nicholson GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPEIBWA members receive access to health benefits through Nicholson Group as an exclusive member benefit.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Women Presidents' Organization (WPO): International peer-to-peer membership organization for women business owners at the president/CEO level. Comparable in curated peer-group model and premium membership tiering, but operates at a higher revenue and scale band than PEIBWA.
• Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB): Larger, pan-Canadian business association with PEI presence providing small-business advisory, policy advocacy, and member benefits. Comparable in membership dues structure but significantly broader scope and scale.

Others

• Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP): US-based nonprofit advocating for women business owners through policy and coalition-building. Conceptually aligned with PEIBWA's mission (women in business support and advocacy) but operates in a different jurisdiction and primarily through policy/advocacy rather than direct programming.

Direct peers

• PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise: Ontario-based peer lender and women's enterprise support organization that partners with PEIBWA on the WEOC National Loan Program and Community Innovation Table for PEI Women in Business. Closest comparable in peer-lending circle and accelerator programming.
• Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE): The lead partner of the ACWGP that co-funds PEIBWA's Accelerate HER PEI program. Provides mentorship, advisory, and programming to women entrepreneurs in NL — operating as a sister organization with comparable mandate and revenue mix.
• Women in Business New Brunswick (WBNB): Another ACWGP partner providing the same model (programs, advisory, mentorship) to New Brunswick women entrepreneurs. Directly comparable structure, funding sources, and member-base scale, making it an ideal peer for membership-pricing and program-tier benchmarking.
• Nova Scotia Centre for Women in Business (CWB): The Nova Scotia counterpart in the Atlantic Canadian Women in Growth Partnership. Operates a near-identical model — programs, advisory, mentorship, and networking for women entrepreneurs — making it the most direct peer for benchmarking program design and impact metrics.

Emerging players

• Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC): National umbrella network of which PEIBWA is the PEI provincial partner. Operates the federally-funded Women Entrepreneurship Strategy loan program, making it a structural upstream peer and primary funding conduit for PEIBWA's programs.
• Female Entrepreneurs Association: Digital-first global community for female entrepreneurs offering networking, resources, and events. Comparable in target audience (women entrepreneurs) and community-led GTM motion, though distributed globally rather than PEI-focused.

Regional players

• Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce: Geographic peer operating in the same PEI market with comparable membership-based business association model, but without the women-only focus. Useful for benchmarking membership tiering, event economics, and member-retention approaches in the same territory.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PEI Business Women’s Association (PEIBWA)