ImpactAlpha, March 9 — The more than 56,000 Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada contribute over $30 billion annually to the country’s GDP. More than half lack access to adequate funding and resources.
Vancouver-based Raven Indigenous Capital Partners is looking to back Indigenous-led early-stage startups in Canada over three years. Raven Indigenous Impact Capital Fund I has raised $25 million from 38 Canadian and U.S. investors to make equity investments ranging from $250,000 to $2 million.
Raven Capital’s Stephen Nairne told ImpactAlpha the fund is focused on opportunities in information and communications technologies, food security, renewable energy, and natural products.
Corporate impact
Canadian telecommunications company TELUS invested in the fund via its $100 million Pollinator Fund for Good (see, “TELUS commits $45 million to corporate social social impact fund”).
The investment in Raven’s Indigenous impact fund, “will ensure greater opportunities for Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs, whilst helping bridge the socio-economic digital divide experienced by Indigenous people and communities,” said TELUS’ Darren Entwistle.
