SA国际传媒

Commerce platform wants to see Black startup founders in its native base of Canada succeed.

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So it鈥檚 teaming up with , a tech incubator out of in Toronto, to help foster entrepreneurship among Black founders in Canada through a new program that has been dubbed the 鈥淏lack Innovation Fellowship.鈥�

“We’re committed to changing the face of entrepreneurship because we believe in a future with more voices not fewer,鈥� said Shavonne Hasfal-Mcintosh, diversity and belonging lead at Ontario-based Shopify. 鈥淒MZ’s fellowship program will improve access for Black entrepreneurs by providing a new path to success, which is another important way we’re helping independent business owners in Canada turn their big ideas into businesses.”

Shopify and inaugural founding partner , which was founded by Nigerian-born entrepreneur turned venture capitalist , are contributing capital to the program, which has a total initial fundraising goal of $1 million.

As part of the initiative, selected founders will have access to 鈥済rowth mentors, exclusive workshops designed to reflect the experience of Black entrepreneurs and a dedicated workspace in the heart of downtown Toronto.鈥� The participants will also have access to a 350-person network of investors, according to , executive director of DMZ, a business incubator that has worked with 398 startups that have raised nearly $594 million in seed funding since its inception in 2010.

Entrepreneurs addressing 鈥渁 compelling market or societal need鈥� are being encouraged to apply to the program.

鈥淲e realize that in North America, diverse communities still continue to face barriers to access that other communities don鈥檛 necessarily face,鈥� Snobar said. 鈥淭his concept was born to support black entrepreneurs, and help them build, grow and scale companies. It was also designed to help them build meaningful partnerships and not be impacted because of skin color, background, or where they were raised.鈥�

Founders will not be asked to give up equity, Snobar emphasized.

鈥淲e want to make it as accessible as possible so it鈥檚 completely nondilutive,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nly 10 percent of our community is made up of people who identify as black founders. We want to see that number double or triple.鈥�

Eventually, the program could extend to the United States, according to DMZ.

In February 2019, we wrote this article on minority founders being overlooked. But fortunately, we鈥檝e also covered other initiatives focused on helping Black or underrepresented entrepreneurs. In 2017, we wrote about the efforts of Austin-based , a nonprofit pre-accelerator that is holding 12-week programs for women and people of color tech founders. Also, earlier this month, we reported on how 鈥� a nonprofit fellowship program providing Black and Latinx students with training and mentorship in venture capital 鈥� has teamed up with Intel Capital to strengthen its curriculum and scale its programming. The organization also recently unveiled its inaugural 鈥�31 Under 31鈥� list.

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