BIPOC business accelerator gets major cash influx

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 1, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Foundation has received $2.6M in funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada to establish a business accelerator program for Black entrepreneurs in Western Canada.
BIPOC Foundation, established by Lethbridge entrepreneurs Clement Esene and Sinmi Adeoye-Esene, was established to create significant entrepreneurship opportunities for diverse communities.
The accelerator program will be based out of Lethbridge and will use digital tools to provide programming across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
“The idea is to close the economic involvement gaps in Western Canada and create open pathways to opportunities for black entrepreneurs,” said Clement Esene, executive director BIPOC.
The initiative will provide early-stage entrepreneurs with foundational business and growth training. It will also connect Black business owners and entrepreneurs with investors.
“With this program we want to address the low number of black owned businesses across Western Canada and our mission is to help raise 500 startups between now and 2030,” said Esene.
BIPOC Foundation operates out of Tecconnect, a centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation that has a vision to advance understanding, cultural exchange, cooperation, economic empowerment, and financial inclusion throughout Western Canadian society.
Their mission is to craft and facilitate a suite of programs that help launch 500 startups in Western Canada by 2030, while cultivating values of Culture, Equity, Equality, Empathy, Education, and Inclusion.
Esene said that even though the funds provided by the government are specifically geared towards black community, BIPOC hopes to leverage their resources and services in ways that will allow them to support Indigenous communities and other racialize communities as well.
The flagship program for the BIPOC Foundation, Black Founders Hub, will launch March 31. This 10-week accelerator for Black-led startups in Western Canada will provide foundational training to launch ventures in any sector to underserved Black-Tech startups and scaleups.
The program will include idea validation, value proposition, funding approval and customer discovery. Successful graduates will gain access to funders, partners and resources as they work though the Black Founders Hub eco-system.
Registration is open and can be found in their website at http://www.bipocfoundation.org

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