The glamorous award ceremony took place at Hotel X in Toronto, celebrating female founders redefining leadership, innovation and impact across industries.
Maison Veuve Clicquot raised a glass to some of Canada’s most ambitious entrepreneurs as the 2026 edition of the Bold Woman Awards celebrated female founders redefining leadership, innovation and impact across industries.
The awards ceremony took place at Hotel X Toronto, where Orlane Panet received the Bold Woman Award and Venesse Lewis was presented with the Bold Future Award.
Panet is the co-founder and CEO of MicroHabitat, an urban farming company focused on transforming unused city spaces into productive gardens and green infrastructure. Lewis, meanwhile, founded Niya’s Coily World, a brand centred on textured hair education and products designed to help young girls embrace their natural hair.
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Now in its 10th Canadian edition, the Bold Woman Awards were originally launched in 1972 by Veuve Clicquot in honour of Madame Clicquot, the Champagne house’s influential business leader who took over operations in 1805 and became known for reshaping the industry through innovation and entrepreneurship.
This year’s program received a record 358 submissions across the Bold Woman Award and Bold Future Award categories.
“There is clearly a desire for greater opportunities, visibility and networking by women entrepreneurs,” says Veronique Gonneville, Communications and Marketing Director at Moët Hennessy Canada. “We are so proud to be able to offer moments of connection to phenomenal business women throughout Canada.”
The selection process was overseen by marketing and consulting firm T1 Agency alongside a judging panel made up of Canadian business leaders, with a focus on fairness, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Speaking following the ceremony, Panet said, “I am very happy to celebrate Madame Clicquot’s legacy and to be recognized as one of the Bold Women honoured this year. It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase what women can do when they decide to be bold.”
Lewis also reflected on the significance of the recognition and the larger mission behind her brand.
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“I want the next generation of young girls to embrace their hair with confidence and see it as normal and beautiful and not something to be fixed,” she said. “I want them to know they never need to change themselves to be who they are.”
Both winners received handcrafted trophies and will take part in a three-day immersive experience at Maison Veuve Clicquot in Reims next year, where they will join fellow recipients from around the world for an international forum and programming tied to the brand’s history and entrepreneurial initiatives.
