Starting up for good

“Screw business as usual.”

It is a maxim held by a growing group of socially minded start-up entrepreneurs and supporters that include entrepreneurial doctors, eminent university presidents, grizzled community leaders, idealistic recent graduates, and of course, Richard Branson.  These social entrepreneurs are creating and supporting new enterprises that tackle our most pressing problems from poverty to climate change while simultaneously building sustainable and profitable business models.

From selling local food to ethical fashion from Haiti, this new breed of entrepreneur is turning to a growing group of impact-focused start-up accelerators and incubators.

You may be familiar with the start-up tech incubator phenomenon, popularized by initiatives like Y Combinator and TechStars in the US, or  FounderFuel in Montreal and Jolt at MaRS in Toronto.  If not, picture half a dozen or so aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs (and their teams) in their earliest and hungriest days, seeking to build the next Facebook, HootSuite, or Ubisoft. After a rigorous selection process, these entrepreneurs arrive on the metaphorical doorstep of these incubators where they are provided with a bounty of supports, from mentorship and education to investment and space for a specified period of time (usually 2-4 months).

These tech incubators will continue to thrive and to play a key role in driving Canada’s tech innovation agenda. But a new generation of impact focused incubators is now emerging across Canada, from coast to coast including:

• Radius Ventures based at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, British Columbia helps nonprofits, pre-revenue startups and early stage ventures with social impact at their core get market ready, growth ready, and investor ready;
• Impact8 based at MaRS in Toronto, Ontario provides an eight (8) week bootcamp program that fast-tracks high potential impact ventures to a greater stage of investment readiness;
• Pond Deshpande Centre’s b4 Change Social Enterprise Accelerator Program in Fredricton, New Brunswick delivers a six (6) month program with mentorship, expertise, and investor exposure for businesses that change the world; and
• The School for Social Entrepreneurs – Ontario based in Toronto, Ontario provides a six (6) to nine (9) month action learning program for nonprofit and for-profit social entrepreneurs.

There are many others institutions that support, incubate, and accelerate social enterprises. Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) support Canadian and global innovators tackling pressing global problems, from food security to global health, with financial support and mentorship.

And there are even more organic impact focused incubators in Canada. In Old East Village in London, Ontario, the local farmers’ market acts as an informal food business incubator, whereby sustainable companies like Fire Roasted Coffee can test their product and grow. Many ventures also “graduate” from the market to space on the local commercial strip.

In the last year alone, over 150 start-up or early stage social enterprises in Canada have gone through these programs. This is remarkable as a few years ago, this kind of infrastructure did not really exist.

Perhaps what is even more remarkable are the stories of these social entrepreneurs that are emerging from these programs.

Tom Murphy of Self-Reliance Solutions (SRS) participated in the first cohort of the School for Social Entrepreneurs – Ontario. Tom was a veteran of the construction industry and former director of the Regent Park Food Bank. A few years ago, he took over SRS, a local cleaning and maintenance services company originally started by Regent Park residents.  Today, the company is growing steadily, and is on track for over $1 million in revenues. Most importantly, the enterprise provides job opportunities to more than 20 people from marginalized Toronto communities, 75 per cent of whom live in Regent Park.

And 13,000 kilometres away, there is the story of Lucky Iron Fish, a participant in Impact8:

This is not just a new, exciting feature on the Canadian enterprise landscape. This a global phenomenon.

Around the world, there are hundreds of entrepreneurs participating in social enterprise accelerators like Villgro in India, Young Foundation in the UK, the Global Social Business Institute’s Accelerator and Hub Ventures in California, ImpactEngine in Chicago, Unreasonable Institute in Boulder, and Village Capital and the Branson Centres of Entrepreneurship in numerous locations across multiple continents.

So what?  Why does this matter?

Canadians are showing leadership in creating and supporting enterprises with a positive impact. Canada is not just following a socially motivated start-up trend; we should be proud to be among the leaders world-wide in supporting social enterprises with a local and global impact.

In Canada and around the world, we are laying the foundations for a new economy.  The start-up and growth companies of today will be the anchors of business tomorrow.  As these incubator programs continue to churn out successful ventures, we will increase the number of good businesses in the future.

There are new places and pathways for Canadians to pursue business as unusual. Now there is a path for start-up entrepreneurs that aren’t trying to be the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.  You might not be the next Facebook, but you could build the next enterprise that changes the world.