Gatineau-based Cliona Derma receives $100K from feds’ women entrepreneurship fund

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The federal government is funding a Gatineau-based cosmetics company as part of a program to support women-led businesses.

Cliona Derma Pharma, a skin-care company led by Gatineau’s Marie Dominique Loignon, will receive $100,000 through the Women Entrepreneurship Fund, a $2-billion spending promise first announced in the 2018 budget.

Loignon said in a statement that the funding will allow Cliona Derma to commercialize a new eco-friendly line of cosmetics, with the hopes of entering international markets within three to five years’ time.

Going global has proven challenging for women-led businesses, which produce roughly 15 per cent of Canada’s total exports. A pair of Ottawa researchers announced plans last week to analyze the challenges facing female entrepreneurs looking to enter the international market.

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