Coralus, formerly known as SheEO, was founded in Canada in 2015 by entrepreneur Vicki Saunders to radically transform the way women-led businesses are funded. The idea was bold yet simple: create a global community of women and non-binary individuals who contribute financially to a shared fund, without expectation of return, in order to support ventures committed to solving social or environmental challenges. The model quickly gained traction and expanded beyond Canada to countries like the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In 2022, the organization changed its name to Coralus to better reflect its inclusive values, its collaborative spirit, and its ambition to drive systemic economic change.
Coralus’s mission is to help build an economic system rooted in cooperation, equity, and long-term impact. Its philosophy of radical generosity proposes a clear alternative to traditional finance: members contribute capital without interest or equity, and the supported ventures repay the loans into a shared pool that funds future recipients. The ventures Coralus supports are designed to generate societal good — from reducing inequality and fostering climate resilience to advancing health access and community empowerment. Coralus promotes the idea that success should be measured not just by financial gain, but by the positive difference a business makes in the world.
In addition to its internal peer-funding structure, Coralus also acts as a delivery partner for external financial support programs. It has been selected to administer interest-free loans — up to $50,000 — for entrepreneurs who are often excluded from conventional finance, especially at the startup stage. By fulfilling this role, Coralus bridges grassroots networks with public funding, bringing capital to those who need it most while upholding its core values: accessibility, transparency, autonomy, and inclusion. This extended role strengthens Coralus’s reach and demonstrates that values-based finance can scale and operate effectively within institutional frameworks.
The ventures Coralus supports span a wide range of industries, from clean tech to ethical fashion, sustainable food, healthcare, digital services, and community infrastructure. What connects them is a shared commitment to innovation and positive change. Coralus focuses especially on early-stage or growth-phase companies that demonstrate high impact potential but face barriers in attracting traditional funding. Along with financial backing, Coralus provides founders access to a vibrant global network of mentors, supporters, and collaborators — creating a rich environment of peer learning and long-term support.
Coralus’s model is anchored in key principles: diversity as a driver of innovation, collective decision-making, redistributive finance, and a redefinition of entrepreneurial success. The organization places special emphasis on reaching founders from historically marginalized backgrounds, including racialized women, Indigenous communities, LGBTQ2S+ individuals, and immigrants. About half of the ventures funded to date are led by founders from chronically excluded groups. Coralus also serves as a cultural force: it challenges dominant business norms by advocating for leadership based on care, equity, and imagination. Its community voting system for venture selection helps redistribute decision-making power and centers the voices of those most directly affected.
Since its inception, Coralus has circulated nearly $19 million to more than 190 ventures around the world, maintaining an exceptional repayment rate. Its model demonstrates that a regenerative economy — built on trust, solidarity, and shared accountability — is not only possible, but already in motion. Coralus does more than fund businesses: it fosters the conditions for a new economic story to emerge, one where entrepreneurship becomes a vehicle for collective well-being and system-level transformation.
