Innovation, since time immemorial
Indigenous Business Acceleration is not new to the lands we call Canada. It has been here since time immemorial. It has been along the west coast and up river as Ooligan runs, and the grease trails and trade routes they engineered, shared fishing villages, fish weirs, forestry practices, wildfire containment. We are still here, innovating.
INDIGENEXT is a Not For Profit registered in what is known as Canada and operates both regionally and globally.
We’re on a mission to fast-track Indigenous businesses that aim not to follow, but to lead us into the New Economy.
A unique aspect of many of the enterprises and businesses we support is that unlike the traditional acceleration/shareholder value model, most of our companies have no desire for what we would call “an exit” in western incubation/acceleration terms. No one exits the community and land they belong to. They are tied to it since time immemorial and for generations to come. There is often no exiting for these businesses, and that is true sustainability.
Business Development
Whether it’s the very beginning of a new idea, or the restoration of a very old idea, we’ve got the patience, know-how and the practical skills to get started and scale up in the right way. We can help you craft a clear vision true to the the values you bring to the table and make that vision take root, and grow.
If you’re an early stage or somewhat established First Nation’s owned business and are looking to grow or expand to new markets, we understand the risks, rewards and proper pathways. We can provide strategic mentorship, access to capital, technology and real-world planning to scale your business.
Community Development
We empower individuals and groups with the skills they need to effect change within their communities though entrepreneurship and economic development. We have also done deep and significant work in Language and Cultural Revitalization including significant successes in taking land back to do so. We are often asked to facilitate and hold space for community building, elder facilitation and youth leadership that covers a wide spectrum of needs, capacity building streams and training. We believe in community development closer to (and as old as) potlatch and not something taught from a textbook for an MBA.
Consulting Services
Business is hard and social enterprise is even harder. If you don’t know what the first step is or just need to be pointed in the right direction, we have an experienced team that has been though something similar and knows the ropes. We facilitate and hold space for connections, conversations and relationship development. We have created cleantech solutions, solar, hydro, run of river, led software, app, web, and filmmaking projects for nations oftentimes scaling up their internal team’s capacity (as partners) in the process. We have worked with 50+ nations and partners around economic development, inclusion and innovation.
The History
Indigenext researched and published a paper on the state of Global Indigenous Accelerators back in 2015. At that time there were less than a dozen on the global map and only one other on the east coast focussed on aerospace (an early collaborator of ours). While this consultation was undertaken, we were connecting with nations, elders, hereditary chiefs, matriarchs and a vast array of community members in understanding where existing (colonial) business infrastructures was coming up short and how we could re-frame and build a better type of acceleration network. Indigenext is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping it’s members achieve success on their own terms.
Collaborative
Our work is designed to provide Indigenous entrepreneurs with the necessary support and resources to establish and grow successful businesses. The program includes mentorship, business training, resources to build digital capabilities, seed funding, networking opportunities, and sometimes fire and song, whatever is needed.
We have engaged over the last 8 years in developing and supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs inside and outside their communities. Indigenous entrepreneurs are a grossly underrepresented group in terms of market share and we need to accelerate and support their pathways to success though all means.
We help connect the vision of growth and community, balance with opportunities, partners, mentors, and investors.
Our role is to seamlessly connect ambitious growth and restorative visions with tangible opportunities, drawing upon a rich tapestry of community, elders, partners, mentors, and investors. Our diverse team and network, ranging from adept financiers, visionary project managers, seasoned startup whales (not sharks), think tank leaders, builders, tinkerers, creative coders, artists, filmmakers, storytellers, and strategic tech innovators, are deeply and equally rooted in the corporate, social impact space, and public and private sector as well as have a deep understanding of NGO’s and the not for profit sector. We work on-the-ground with entrepreneurs and community realizing the transformative impact of the alignment of traditional wisdom and true wealth.
Leveraging Indigenous Ways of Being
We firmly believe that the relationship between Indigenous businesses, the land, and their communities is a source of unparalleled strength. We empower businesses to utilize this unique foundation to create a competitive edge and a deep entrepreneurial spirit.
Seizing Global Market Opportunities
We’re passionate about helping Indigenous businesses tap into national and global market opportunities. Through the fusion of traditional wisdom, business acceleration and global transformation, we position these businesses on the world stage.
Balancing Economic Development
INDIGENEXT is dedicated to achieving the balance between economic development, Indigenous entrepreneurship and the community in sync with the entrepreneur. We understand that true success for our business leaders is deeply rooted in community and must weave these needs together.
Selected Projects
We help connect the vision of growth and community, balance with opportunities, partners, mentors, and investors.
What are you waiting for?
We are happy to sit down with you and discuss how you might be a part of our circle, or us be a part of yours. We don’t like surface conversations or small talk, we prefer to go deep, even if it takes a bit of time or silence to get there. So please come prepared to do just that.
Our work in numbers
We have worked on projects community-centre-table small and great-bear-rainforest gargantuan, with equal vigour and passion. And in the end it’s not about the numbers. Impact can happen in much bigger ways that we sometimes mistakenly perceive as small.
projects
130
revenue raised
+25M
years of experience
+25
communities reached
139
Book a sit down
We are happy to sit down with you and discuss how you might be a part of our circle, or us be a part of yours. We don’t like surface conversations or small talk, we prefer to go deep, even if it takes a bit of time or silence to get there. So please come prepared to do just that.
info@indigenext.com
Indigenext’s Not For Profit Office began work in 2015 on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) working alongside our cousins and neighbors the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) sɛmiˈɑːmu (Semiahmoo), and sc̓əwaθən məsteyəx (Tsawwassen) First Nations. We continue work in those territories as well as holding space and expanding with team members in Kwakwaka’wakw, Lënapehòkink (Lenape) and Tsilhqotʼin (Chilcotin) Territories with the deepest gratitude towards the land, and all it’s beings and people, past, present and future.