Indigenous entrepreneurs set their sights on global markets

“I’m excited to announce that Barayamal is taking some of the best up-and-coming Indigenous entrepreneurs to America from September 3 to 13.

The “Indigipreneurs” 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. The Startup Tour aims to inspire the next generation of Indigenous entrepreneurs to think big, learn new skills and grow their professional networks – with the aim of supporting the future leaders of tomorrow who can help build sustainable Indigenous communities.

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 Indigipreneurs 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 the after parties.

The second part of the trip will be in New Mexico, and will give the Indigipreneurs 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.

“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.”

Here’s two of the Indigiprenuers we’re taking on the trip…

Alisha Geary

Alisha is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business law student, who is now taking her inspiration into the world of business with a new line of activewear. Alisha wants stories told in Indigenous art to spread far and wide across the world, and what better way than through entrepreneurship? Alisha owns Faebella, an online store selling women’s active wear featuring Indigenous art.

Morgan Coleman

Morgan is the CEO & Founder of Vets on Call and Morgan Coleman Developments. He has extensive experience founding and growing start-is within Victoria as well as running businesses of over 1 million in revenue. Being a proud Torres Strait Islander, Morgan wanted to create a company, which developed products that stood as a lasting testament of how Indigenous Australians truly can be the masters of their own destiny.

P.S. There’s a lot more to come…so stay up-to-date by subscribing to Barayamal’s Newsletter!” – Dean Foley, Founder at Barayamal.