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That path is getting even bumpier for entrepreneurs, thanks to a and an economic future that is increasingly difficult to read.

But this isn’t a story about tariffs; it’s a story about tenacity, business savvy and a stroke of fairy-tale good fortune that can result from the most human of interactions: one person helping another.

It’s a story about how one businesswoman, who had travelled a road riddled with obstacles, realized she was in a unique position to support the next person navigating that same set of snags, hurdles and stumbling blocks.

That’s what happened when , the founder and CEO of textile disrupter , met Stephanie Lipp, the CEO and co-founder of sustainable material startup , for coffee in pc28����last fall.

“Building SRTX required solving so many problems from scratch. I kept thinking, ‘Why isn’t there a better way to do this?’” says Homuth.

Since founding her company in 2017, Homuth has been “navigating a constant series” of obstacles, scaling up production of rip-resistant tights and selling $155 million worth of goods.

The challenges aren’t limited to her advanced-material products; SRTX’s entire production happens on Canadian soil.

“Manufacturing in the west is no longer the norm,” says Homuth. “Unlike a lot of startups, we don’t just sell a product; we build the infrastructure to make it, which means every part of our business, from equipment to materials to logistics, has to be solved for.”

All of which meant Homuth understood exactly what MycoFutures was up against.

“By the end of that meeting with Stephanie, it was clear: This was exactly the kind of company I could help.”

So, how did the magic happen?

In September 2024, Lipp was a soon-to-be alumna of the , a two-year program run out of MaRS Discovery District that helps women-identifying and non-binary entrepreneurs transform vanguard concepts into market-ready companies.

She was revising her funding strategy to help fuel the development of MycoFutures’s sustainable leather alternative, made from the root system of fungi, and was looking for advice.

As it turned out, the keynote speaker at the WIC finale event was someone uniquely qualified to provide pointers: hard-tech leader Homuth. With an introduction facilitated by the program’s staff, a coffee date was scheduled.�� ����

Several weeks later, Lipp came to that coffee meeting armed with samples of her mushroom leather, which looks and feels like conventional leather but is cheaper and faster to produce, and has a .

She hoped to leave with some advice from a veteran on how to effectively pitch investors and maybe a few contacts; what she got instead was a rocket booster for her startup.

“Female-led startups need the same things as any great company: access to capital, resources and networks. But they often have to fight harder to get them,” says Homuth. “Instead of vague advice or endless hoops — something I had become all too familiar with — I wanted to give what I wish I had more often: real, tangible support.”

Homuth offered Lipp $100,000 in prepaid purchase orders, use of an SRTX manufacturing facility in Montreal, the support of her staff on navigating their manufacturing and go-to-market plan, and the promise to brand, market and launch their first product.

“What really stood out in that first meeting — and even more so since then — is Stephanie’s ability to act in real time and keep pushing forward,” says Homuth. “She’s resourceful, incredibly focused and has a deep understanding of both science and business.”

Lipp didn’t hesitate. She accepted the deal and an invitation for her and her partner and co-founder, Leo Gillis, to fly to Montreal the next day.

“I was like, ‘If you want to see us in Montreal tomorrow, we’ll do it!” says Lipp.

What it means to have a cleantech fairy godmother

The Montreal visit “was really eye-opening to what is possible in manufacturing,” says Lipp. “Seeing what she is able to produce, I realized if she can do it, we can do this.” And by the first week of January, Lipp and Gillis had moved their home (and all their mycelium spores, equipment and bins) from Mississauga to Montreal.

In its new facility, MycoFutures has room to house its vertically-integrated production, which starts with propagating fungi and ends with square-metre sheets of their mycelium leather.

“Now, we’re able to fast forward. We have so much space to grow into so we can make thousands and thousands of square metres at a minimal cost,” says Lipp, who notes that they — like SRTX before them — are building a company that isn’t reliant on overseas suppliers.

“We do everything from scratch. For our competitors, not owning the whole supply chain has been a pain point.”

MycoFutures’s first product — a —�� is available for sale on the Sheertex site as part of a limited-edition 3,000-unit run, and their first shipment is set to deliver later this month.

“My hope for MycoFutures is that they become a leading force in sustainable materials, worldwide,” says Homuth. “Most of all, I hope they inspire others to think differently about what the future of materials could look like and show that manufacturing in North America is not just possible but viable.”

Under the SRTX roof, MycoFutures is taking root. Lipp and Gillis are gearing up for a pre-seed funding round and scaling up production from 200 to 5,000 square metres of alternative leather per month.

“Thankfully, we’re relatively unaffected by potential tariffs,” says Lipp, because “we’ve focused on Canada and Europe.”

Unfortunately, the trade dispute has had serious effects on SRTX.

In February, the company temporarily laid off 40 per cent of the staff and, in March, it was announced that as CEO as part of a financing deal.

Late last year, Homuth had of the financial challenges facing SRTX and has candidly about what happens behind the curtain in a way few leaders of companies with $250 million in funding have.

“The sector needs more than just funding; it needs real, hands-on support from people who’ve built companies before,” Homuth said in an interview last month. “I’ve seen firsthand how women-led networks can prioritize real support. That said, we still need more systemic change — more women at the table, more funding flowing to female-led businesses and more recognition that backing great founders isn’t about gender, it’s about results.”

For her part, Lipp is concentrating on results as MycoFutures waits for news about the future of SRTX.

“It is quite a shock to us. We haven’t had any further information, so we’re just trying to focus on work and hold empathy for the situation. It’s a reminder of how wild and unpredictable this business is,” says Lipp.

But through the current round of bumps in the road, Lipp is also holding on to the most important lesson she’s learned from Homuth: paying it forward.

“I think that the only thing you could do when you receive something so generous is to find a way to help someone else and keep it going,” says Lipp. ��