Soar program aims to lift Indigenous entrepreneurs to new heights

The co-founder of a new accelerator for Indigenous entrepreneurs said successful First Nations business owners kept telling her they wanted to grow but felt stuck on a plateau.

"There was this gap that once you cross the million dollar mark, how do you take the next step" said Sunshine Tenasco, who is Anishinabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, Que.

So she tapped into her network and persuaded the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), mobile payment company Square and others to back Soar, an accelerator program launched this summer that aims to help five Indigenous companies reach what Tenasco calls "the next level."

Now she says the companies are "learning to fly together." This week, the company founders shared their insights about growth with hundreds of other Indigenous business owners at a virtual summit.

Indigenous business leaders and academics say First Nations people are increasingly interested in starting companies and note that having more big-name Indigenous brands is key to establishing economic independence and examples of success.   

"We need our youth, our aspiring entrepreneurs to see themselves in these large successful companies, and see that they can be successful without sacrificing who they are as indigenous people," said Michael Mihalicz, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

The five businesses in Soar's first cohort include Wabanaki Maple of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Sequoia Soaps, based on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec, Mini Tipi of Gatineau, Que., Cheekbone Beauty of St. Catharines, Ont., and Indi City of Calgary.

Each company already has more than $1 million in annual revenue and the accelerator's ambitious goal is to increase their revenue by five times in just a year.

"It's almost scary," said Trisha Pitura, the co-founder of Mini Tipi, of the target.

Mini Tipi works with Indigenous artists who produce fabric patterns with authentic First Nations symbols and designs to make blankets, shawls, ponchos, bags and mittens. 

Pitura, from Nipissing First Nation, near North Bay, Ont., started the company with partner Mélanie Bernard in 2016 when the two new moms both worked out of their basements.  

Now they have eight workers and a 7,000 square foot factory in Gatineau, Que. Pitura says they're rebranding and launching new products as part of their efforts to achieve the big jump in revenue. 

"It's really exciting to have the opportunity."

Statistics Canada estimates there are 37,000 Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada, but the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business puts that number at over 50,000 businesses.