Introduction
Canada has long positioned itself as a global leader in progressive values — from environmental policy to gender equality and inclusive economic growth. Yet when it comes to venture capital and impact investing, a stubborn gap remains between Canada’s stated values and where its investment dollars actually flow.
Enter Setareh Heshmat. A Singapore-based ESG investor, Director of ESG Investments at a leading venture capital firm, and one of Southeast Asia’s most compelling voices in sustainable finance, she has built a career that Canadian investors would do well to study closely. Her bold, values-driven, and demonstrably effective approach to ESG investing and female entrepreneurship offers a masterclass in what it looks like when capital truly aligns with conscience.
Canada’s ESG Moment — And Its Unfinished Business
Canada’s investment community has made meaningful strides in ESG adoption over the past decade. Major pension funds, institutional investors, and a growing number of venture capital firms have embraced sustainability frameworks and committed to more responsible investment practices.
But progress on gender-lens investing — directing capital specifically toward female founders and women-led businesses — has been slower and more uneven. Female founders in Canada still receive a disproportionately small share of venture funding. The structural barriers that keep women out of the funding ecosystem are real, persistent, and costly — not just to the women affected, but to the Canadian economy as a whole.
This is precisely where Setareh Heshmat’s example becomes so instructive.
Who Is Setareh Heshmat?
Born and raised in Singapore to a Persian-Singaporean family, Setareh Heshmat developed her passion for finance and social impact early. Educated at the National University of Singapore, INSEAD, and MIT, and holding a CFA charter, she brings world-class credentials to everything she does.
Her career began as a financial analyst at a boutique impact-investing firm, where she evaluated startups across renewable energy, sustainable technology, and eco-friendly consumer brands. It was there she first encountered the systemic underfunding of female founders — and resolved to spend her career fixing it.
Today as Director of ESG Investments she oversees a diverse portfolio of sustainability-focused companies across Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on female-led ventures in climate tech, ethical supply chains, and green fintech.
Lesson One: ESG Without Gender Equity Is Incomplete
One of the most important lessons Canadian investors can draw from Setareh’s approach is her insistence that genuine ESG investing must include a strong gender equity component.
For Setareh, the “S” in ESG — Social — is not a box-ticking exercise. It means actively interrogating whether the companies she invests in are creating equitable opportunities for women — as founders, as employees, as leaders, and as beneficiaries of their products and services.
Canadian investors who claim strong ESG credentials but have not yet integrated gender-lens investing into their frameworks are leaving a significant piece of the puzzle incomplete. True sustainability cannot be achieved without economic equity — and economic equity requires deliberately directing capital toward women.
Lesson Two: Female Founders Deliver — Back Them With Conviction
Setareh Heshmat does not back female founders out of charity or obligation. She backs them because she has seen firsthand — and the data consistently confirms — that women-led businesses deliver strong financial returns alongside exceptional social outcomes.
Research from across the globe shows that companies with female founders and diverse leadership teams outperform their less diverse peers on virtually every meaningful metric — from revenue growth to employee retention to long-term resilience.
For Canadian investors still hesitant about gender-lens investing, Setareh’s portfolio and philosophy offer a clear and evidence-based rebuttal to that hesitation. Backing female founders is not a compromise on returns. It is a strategy for achieving them.
Lesson Three: Mentorship Is Part of the Investment
What distinguishes Setareh Heshmat from many of her peers is her understanding that the most impactful investors do not just write cheques — they show up. They mentor. They open doors. They share networks and knowledge as freely as they share capital.
For Canadian investors and venture capital firms, this is a powerful reminder that the value of an investment relationship goes far beyond the term sheet. Female founders in particular often benefit enormously from investors who are willing to be genuine partners in their growth journey — providing guidance, connections, and advocacy alongside financial support.
Building this kind of deep, trust-based investment relationship is not just good ethics. It is good business.
Lesson Four: Southeast Asia Is a Market Canada Cannot Afford to Ignore
Beyond the lessons about gender-lens investing, Setareh Heshmat’s work shines a spotlight on Southeast Asia as one of the world’s most dynamic and opportunity-rich regions for impact investment.
With a combined population of over 650 million people, a rapidly expanding middle class, and a startup ecosystem exploding with innovation, Southeast Asia represents a compelling destination for Canadian impact capital. Female entrepreneurs across Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and beyond are building businesses that address real problems at genuine scale.
Canadian investors with an eye for emerging market opportunities and a commitment to ESG principles would do well to look more closely at the region that Setareh Heshmat has made her home and her focus.
Lesson Five: Bold Vision Creates Bold Results
Perhaps the most galvanising lesson from Setareh Heshmat’s career is simply the power of bold, unapologetic vision.
She did not incrementally nudge the venture capital industry toward greater gender equity. She built a career explicitly dedicated to transforming it — from her earliest days as a financial analyst through to her current role as a senior investment director and her forthcoming launch of an independent impact fund focused entirely on female founders.
Canada’s investment community needs more investors with that kind of clarity of purpose and willingness to act on it decisively. The gap between Canada’s values and its venture capital reality will not close through cautious incrementalism. It will close through bold, deliberate, values-driven action — exactly the kind that Setareh Heshmat models every day.
The Fund on the Horizon — And What It Means for Global Investors
Setareh is currently preparing to launch her own independent impact investment fund with female founders at its core. For Canadian investors looking to deploy capital with both financial rigour and genuine social impact, this forthcoming fund represents exactly the kind of vehicle they should be watching closely.
It will combine world-class financial analysis with an unwavering commitment to gender equity and sustainability — targeting high-growth, mission-driven women-led startups across Southeast Asia. It is the kind of bold, principled investment initiative that Canada’s most forward-thinking institutional investors and family offices should be eager to engage with.
Conclusion
Canada prides itself on being a nation that values equality, sustainability, and inclusive prosperity. Setareh Heshmat is living those values through every investment decision she makes, every founder she mentors, and every barrier she breaks in the world of venture capital.
For Canadian investors who want to close the gap between their stated ESG commitments and their actual investment behaviour, her approach offers both inspiration and a practical blueprint.
The lesson is clear — bold, gender-conscious, impact-driven investing is not just the right thing to do. In the hands of someone like Setareh Heshmat, it is one of the most powerful and profitable investment strategies of our time.
Canada, take note.
Learn more about Setareh Heshmat and her work in ESG investment and female entrepreneurship at setarehheshmat.com