Indigenous entrepreneurs set their sights on global markets

| August 3, 2018

Australia’s Indigenous Business Accelerator Program, Barayamal, is taking some of the best up-and-coming Indigenous entrepreneurs to America from September 3 to 13.

“The Startup Tour will inspire the next generation of Indigenous entrepreneur to think big, learn new skills and grow their professional networks,” explained Dean Foley, Founder at Barayamal. “It’s sure to be a life-changing event for everyone involved.”

For the Startup Tour, Barayamal is flying four of the brightest up-and-coming Indigenous entrepreneurs, including First Nations Youth Summit Deadly Award Winner Neenah Gray, to the United States.

The group will attend TechCrunch’s Disrupt event, spend time at the Australian Landing Pad for startups in San Francisco, and meet Native American entrepreneurs in New Mexico.

A learning opportunity

Disrupt is one of the biggest events in the world for startups, and attracts the best entrepreneurs, investors and technologists from around the globe.

Over three days, the Indigenous entrepreneurs will check out everything from the Startup Battlefield competition to a virtual hackathon, hundreds of the best startups in Startup Alley, world-class workshops, and legendary networking opportunities at Disrupt after parties.

The second part of the trip will be in New Mexico, and will give the Indigenous entrepreneurs an invaluable opportunity to meet Native American entrepreneurs and leaders, to collaborate and learn from each other.

The massive movement within New Mexico’s Native American communities to increase entrepreneurship and economic development is seen as a way to solve the disparity and opportunity gap created by colonialism.

Included in the tour will be a visit to New Mexico Community Capital (NMCC), one of the leading incubator/accelerators bringing tools for success to emerging Native American businesses.

In just over three years, NMCC’s flagship program, Native Entrepreneur in Residence, has graduated 30 small Native owned companies, creating 128 new jobs, with 58% of those being Native hires, and over $8 million in new gross revenues. NMCC has served people from 20 different tribes in 5 different states.

Trip Outcomes

The mission schedule includes private group tours and meetings, and the Indigenous entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to meet American entrepreneurs and investors in their own time, too.

“Our aim is to build the future leaders of tomorrow — individuals who can help build sustainable First Nations communities,” Dean explained.

“I am beyond excited for the Startup Tour because it presents an unmissable opportunity to contribute to Indigenous entrepreneurship and what it means to the world,” added Alisha Geary, Founder and CEO at Faebella, and Startup Tour participant. “I hope that this trip will serve as a giant dose of inspiration for me to kick-start my business and get it on the global stage.”

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