Indigenous Centre of Entrepreneurship to open in July

Barayamal is excited to announce the launch of the Barayamal Centre of Entrepreneurship (BCE), in Brisbane’s West End in July this year.

The BCE aims to rapidly grow First Nations startups and businesses, increase economic development, and create jobs for First Nations people around Australia.

“First Nations entrepreneurship is the high-growth, high-impact solution to help close the disparity and opportunity gap for First Nations people in Australia,” explained Barayamal Managing Director, Dean Foley.

“So the ultimate mission of BCE is to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people build and manage wealth in their communities through business and property ventures.”

To that end, the BCE will offer co-working space for up to 30 First Nations entrepreneurs, alongside a meeting room and an event space with capacity for 40 people. The event space will be available for hire, and Foley envisions workshops, conferences, and hackathons will be just some of the events on offer.

“We’re thrilled to be able to deliver this level of support to budding entrepreneurs and future leaders from all over the country,” Foley added.

Addressing First Nations disadvantage has benefits for the entire Australian economy. Foley cites growing unemployment figures — reaching 21% in 2014 — among Indigenous Australians as a key figure that needs to change.

“By achieving economic independence, First Nations people can give back to their communities and strengthen our connection to the land,” he said. “Providing support to new Indigenous businesses is a critical piece of that puzzle.”

About Barayamal

Barayamal was born out of Founder Dean Foley’s desire to reduce the disparity gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. He saw that the high-growth, high-impact solution to closing that gap is to empower Indigenous entrepreneurs to create employment and community solutions that make a real difference.

He founded Barayamal, Australia’s first Indigenous business accelerator, in November 2016, and since then the organisation has established many valuable programs, from the CoderDojo First Nations coding clubs, to its Budding Entrepreneurs Program, supporting Indigenous business innovators to develop their ideas and take them to market.

With over 50% of the First Nations population in Australia under 25 years old, Indigenous youth are enthusiastically looking for business opportunities to achieve success, break the poverty cycle, and be in a position to give back and create a better world for everyone. Barayamal aims to support them on that journey.