Source: Venture Catalyst, LLC.
Scale without Borders (SWB) held its official launch event at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto yesterday, with the aim to provide Canada’s newcomer technology entrepreneurs with the tools required to grow their business.
Founder Nouhaila Chelkhaoui, who emigrated to Canada from Morocco to attend university and was herself an entrepreneur, was the master of ceremonies for the evening. The line-up of speakers and panellists showcased leaders of the local newcomer start-up community and brought together funders and other groups which support Canadian immigrant entrepreneurs.
The impressive lineup of speakers and panellists included Siri Agrell, Executive Director at One Eleven; Neha Bahl, President & CEO at the Toronto Business Development Centre; Peng-Sang Cau, President & CEO at Transformix Engineering Inc.; Sharon Connolly, VP of BDC’s Newcomer Entrepreneur Support Team (NEST); Leen Li, CFO at Wealthsimple; Issac Olowolafe, Founder & General Partner at Dream Maker Ventures; Michelle Scarbourough, Managing Director for event sponsor, BDC; and Bob Vaez, Founder & CEO of Eventmobi.
Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Honourable Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and City of Toronto Mayor John Tory were also on hand to provide remarks.
In her opening address, Cau described the roadblocks she faced as a refugee who started her own engineering company after coming to Canada.
“I don’t think I’ve felt so rejected in my life,” she said, relating how one investor told her that she’d have to decide whether her company would specialise in software or robotics. She replied, “Both.” Although Cau was unsuccessful in securing that particular investor and multiple others, she refused to give up and eventually sold her business for more than $10M.
Based on her experience, Cau acknowledged that tech entrepreneurs who are new to Canada will encounter many naysayers on their journey to success. Her advice? “If you believe in what you’re doing, turn off that noise!”
Similarly, Chelkhaoui shared her own experience of moving to Canada to study at the University of Toronto (U of T). Upon graduation, she led the hectic life of a start-up entrepreneur, both within U of T and at the Ryerson University DMZ. Chelkhaoui described the invaluable support she received from Toronto’s local community of immigrant business leaders and how that inspired her to launch Scale without Borders to support newcomer tech entrepreneurs.
Source: Scale without Borders.
“It was because of the people who helped me that I was able to make something out of this journey, and I wanted to give back, specifically in the tech and entrepreneurship space,” she said. With that in mind, SWB provides a 10-day virtual masterclass comprising a wealth of resources, with the goal of bridging gaps for new Canadian founders in the tech space. These will include support for navigating the legalities of Canada’s immigration and business landscape, and connections to peers and investors within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
This is the type of support which both Hussen and Tory recognised as being crucial to tech entrepreneurs who are new to Canada. When it comes to providing business and investment support to this talented community of founders, Hussen said, “Being open and welcome is not just the nice thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.” Furthermore, he stressed that partnerships between the public and private sectors are integral to ensuring Canada’s competitiveness on a global stage.
Mayor Tory, meanwhile, went so far as to lament the lack of participation of large, resource-rich corporate partners at the event, saying that being true to Canadian values is crucial to achieve success in the tech industry, both here and elsewhere. “If you don’t buy into the moral case, then you have to buy into the business case,” stated Tory, while pledging his support to reach out to the big players in support of SWB’s mandate.
With such resounding support from multiple levels of government, Toronto’s private sector actors have already begun to take notice. For example, in addition to the launch of SWB, venture capital firm Dream Maker Ventures plans to launch a $75M Diversity Fund to invest in under-represented start-up founders.
Nevertheless, Tory stressed that more work needs to be done to close the gaps within Canada’s tech industry. To begin with, he said, “[we] must ensure all sectors of the economy are truly inclusive.”
Fortunately, initiatives like SWB are available to give Canada’s newcomer tech entrepreneurs a head start.