Southern Ontario Spotlight - February 2022

The Dream Legacy Foundation in partnership with the DMZ at Ryerson University, announced the launch of the Black Innovation Connections program, a three-month, track-based coaching program that supports high-potential Black tech founders. The Black Innovation Connections program is customized to meet each participant’s needs, and provides founders with free access to DMZ member benefits and access to office space and other benefits through Dream Suites. The program puts founders on a fast track to success and makes them competitive for funding opportunities through BKR Capital (formerly known as Black Innovation Capital) and for world-class incubator programs such as the DMZ's Incubator.

The Black Innovation Connections program is supported by a $3-million investment delivered by FedDev Ontario through the Black Entrepreneurship Program Ecosystem Fund. Designed to provide tech start-ups led by Black entrepreneurs with the support of a top university-based incubator network, participants will also receive meaningful mentorship opportunities, access to tailored events, and valuable industry and investor connections. Successful participants in the Black Innovation Connections program will also receive a $5,000 business grant upon acceptance into the program.

“As an entrepreneur, I understand the barriers that budding Black founders in Canada face in growing their businesses. Through our entrepreneurship programs and partnerships, Dream Legacy Foundation seeks to help eliminate these barriers, scale Black-owned businesses and drive inclusivity in Canada’s early-stage entrepreneurial ecosystem. We dream of a Canada in which there are Black-owned gazelles and unicorns.”

-Isaac Olowolafe Jr., Founder of Dream Legacy Foundation

Reelworld Screen Institute launched the Black Entrepreneurs Program, an initiative that provides Black film industry professionals with transformational business advisory services, training, paid apprenticeship, capital investment, and networking opportunities. During the nine-month program, 16 entrepreneurs will engage in a variety of workshops focused on strategic planning, finance, human resources, marketing and sales, in order to prepare the necessary skills for success in Canada’s vibrant media sector. With $1.4 million in support from FedDev Ontario through the Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) Ecosystem Fund, the program aims to increase black representation in the Canadian screen industry.

Founded in 2001 by actress and producer Tonya Williams, Reelworld is the largest national platform dedicated to changing the face of the media landscape by empowering and showcasing Canadians identifying as Black, Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American talent in the screen-based industries.

For more information on the program, set to begin in March 2022, and its participants, visit Reelworld’s Black Entrepreneurs Program website.

OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC) and the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab), in partnership with Dark Slope Studios, recently announced the first cohort for Scale Up Immersive, a media accelerator featuring programming aimed at increasing the capacity of Black creators and producers working in the immersive media space. Through a $3-million non-repayable contribution from FedDev Ontario, delivered through the Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) Ecosystem Fund, the three-month program will provide 11 founders of Black-owned content creation and production companies with hands-on mentorship and networking opportunities, access to industry experts, workshops, and access to Dark Slope Studio’s state-of-the-art production facilities.

“We are proud to support OYA Black Arts Coalition in launching the first cohort of their Scale Up Immersive program. Through this program, Black-Canadian content creators and producers will be able to access the critical mentorship, advisory services, capital and resources they need to grow and thrive. Through this and other Black Entrepreneurship Program investments, the Government of Canada continues to support the innovative work of Black entrepreneurs and drive strong, diverse and inclusive economic growth in our communities.”

- The Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

The partnership between CFC Media Lab, OBAC and Dark Slope Studios emerged from a collective desire to diversify the media industry’s talent pool and provide a pathway for Black voices and perspectives within the sector by removing barriers to learning. The collective aims to support 10 or more Black founders per year over the next three years.

OBAC also announced a list of 11 successful candidates for its OBAC Business Affairs Boot Camp, a three-month program providing Black-owned mid-career film, television or digital media companies with transformative scale-up opportunities. Supported by the aforementioned FedDev Ontario BEP contribution and partnered with Bizable Media, WIFT-Toronto, RBC and I.M.P.A.C.T, the Business Affairs Boot Camp will provide participants with workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities, including one-on-one meetings with key broadcast industry executives. This initial cohort consists of podcasters, documentary filmmakers, video producers, theatre directors, and more.

For more information on the Scale Up Immersive accelerator and the OBAC Business Affairs Boot Camp, visit OYA Black Arts Coalition’s website.

The Black Entrepreneurship Alliance is a collaboration between Toronto’s Black Creek Community Health Centre, a not-for-profit organization providing health care services and programs geared to vulnerable populations in the North York area, and key partners including York University, YSpace, TD Community Engagement Centre and Schulich Executive Education Centre.

This month, Black Creek Community Health Centre announced a new strategic collaboration between the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance and Aird & McBurney LP, a leading Canadian intellectual property firm. The partnership will provide guidance and support to Black entrepreneurs around navigating intellectual property (IP), defined as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce. Aird & McBurney LP will offer workshops and guidance to entrepreneurs on strategies to protect and benefit from their innovative ideas.

In 2021, the Government of Canada announced a BEP Ecosystem Fund investment of close to $3 million for the Black Creek Community Health Centre. With this funding, Black Creek will implement the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance that will deliver technology and agri-food incubator and accelerator programming, pitch and investment training, as well as business acumen and financial literacy programming for Black early-stage and growth-stage entrepreneurs in Toronto’s Black Creek community.