Refuelling THE ‘entrepreneurship ecosystem’ – Winnipeg Free Press

Business cards were traded like Pokémon inside the RBC Convention Centre on Thursday.

Eskor (Beko) Mbeko-Edem had his — and a suitcase full of his company’s hot sauces — on hand: “I’m always ready to go, any setup like this.”

Fellow entrepreneurs and support organizations surrounded him. He’d joined the first stop of Startup Canada’s cross-country tour promoting business creation.

Mbeko-Edem weaved through the downtown Winnipeg convention centre on the same day the University of Manitoba began its annual contest promoting entrepreneurship — the Stu Clark New Venture Championships, drawing scholars from across Canada and the United States.

The events come during a time when, according to an October 2023 BDC report, Canada has 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than 20 years ago.

Still, Manitoba organizations dealing with startups say entrepreneurship is steady or growing.

“How can we refuel the entrepreneurship ecosystem here in Canada?” asked Jocelyn Courneya, Startup Canada communications manager.

Entrepreneurship has lowered nationally because it’s high risk, especially amid high inflation, she said.

Startup Canada’s four-stop tour draws business owners, lobbyists and government into the same room — maybe this will help boost entrepreneurship in the future, Courneya added. “This is the entrepreneur stage to have their voices heard.”

Steve Dziver was ready to take the stage. He came prepared with a business idea and the will to earn $3,000 for his blossoming company.

Startup Canada held a pitch competition; a panel heard Winnipeg entrepreneurs’ startup ideas. The winner received money and a flight to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.

Winnipeg’s victor would then compete with finalists from Startup Canada’s other tour stops for a prize pool of $70,000.

Dziver sought funding for True Ag Developments, a technology company to help agricultural operations with their finances.

It’s difficult finding money for agriculture startups, he said. But Dziver believes in his product: “Financial reporting in agriculture is something that needs some new technologies.”

Funding is often the biggest hurdle for entrepreneurs, noted Courneya. It worsens when the business owner is a woman and/or a minority, she added.

As the roughly 350 tour attendees took in speeches and workshops, a few city blocks to the east, students throughout North America gathered at the Fort Garry Hotel to kick off the 20th anniversary of the Stu Clark New Venture Championships.

Students seem increasingly entrepreneurial, said Debra Jonasson-Young, I.H. Asper executive director for entrepreneurship at the university’s Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship. They likely have to be, she added.

“They’re going to need it based on how the job market and future of work is going,” Jonasson-Young stated, highlighting layoffs and consolidation within industries. “This type of thing puts control back into their hands.”

Jonasson-Young beamed as she outlined the 32 teams pitching their business ideas — roughly 65 students, coming from universities such as Yale, Johns Hopkins and San Diego State.

They contended with Canadian teams, including the University of Manitoba, for a collective $60,000 in cash prizes.

Pitches spanned from protein-filled gummies to technology creating sustainable aviation fuel. Winners will be announced today.

“These students are really coming up with stuff that is going to seed our future,” Jonasson-Young said. It’s crucial to develop their entrepreneurial skills young so “when that magical moment hits… they can call upon it.”

Anthony Theriault, Todd de Groot and Hazel Nguyen haven’t yet finished their U of M undergraduate degrees.

Even so, they’re ready to launch a business.

“I think I was born an entrepreneur,” Theriault, 19, said after the team showcased its business plan to judges.

Team Eleven59 hopes to build an app organizing students’ course curricula and school deadlines into a calendar and, using artificial intelligence, offering study advice.

Judges gave tips and lobbed questions — are there incentives to study? Why not sell this to universities? — and the students left their presentation with an air of excitement.

“One of (the judges) even gave us a card to help us get some funding,” Theriault exclaimed. “That’s really fantastic.”

Last year, nearly 98 per cent of Manitoba businesses were classified as small (with less than 100 employees). Small businesses employ some 71 per cent of the province’s private-sector workforce, according to Startup Canada.

Small businesses are “critically important,” said Jonasson-Young. She’d like to see Canada build a culture where entrepreneurship is considered normal, not a risky path.

The University of Manitoba is placing a heavier emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, Jonasson-Young said, adding it is encouraging students from all departments to start their own businesses.

Manitoba has a strong network of supports for entrepreneurs, Jonasson-Young noted. She pointed to at least 23 organizations offering resources and funding, and two incubators.

One of the incubators, North Forge Technology Exchange, is hosting its own pitch competition the weekend of April 26. Competitors don’t need to be experienced businesspeople; the event is meant to expose attendees to entrepreneurship.

Manitoba’s level of entrepreneurs remains “consistent,” described Joelle Foster, North Forge CEO.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an exception — North Forge clocked a 300 per cent increase in business founders. Foster attributed the jump to layoffs.

“We’re steady, but we can grow,” she said of the province’s entrepreneur count.

The pool might expand if there are more incentives to become a business owner and a greater focus on entrepreneurship in elementary and high schools, Foster added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and learning. She graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.

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