MEDIA ALERT: Inaugural accelerator for Indigenous-owned businesses starts in Toronto today

SOAR providing five Indigenous businesses with first-of-its-kind training and mentorship to help them increase their revenue 5x over in 12 months

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SOAR, a grassroots initiative to support Indigenous entrepreneurs, is hosting a first-of-its-kind-accelerator in Toronto, starting today, to address gaps in support of high-growth Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada. Its goal is to propel five Indigenous companies (who are all already making over $1M in revenue) to increase their revenue by at least five times over the next 12 months.

Co-presented by Square, BDC and Futurpreneur, the SOAR Accelerator is a unique 2.5 day program (June 15-16) that provides executive-level training and mentorship to build skills and capacity, organizes meetings with major buyers with the goal to create purchase orders, and creates connections between successful Indigenous business owners on a similar path. The inaugural cohort from across Canada includes: Cheekbone Beauty, Indi City, MINI TIPI, Sequoia, and Wabanaki Maple.

What:	Inaugural SOAR Accelerator, an executive-level training and mentorship program supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs.
	Participants will be dressed in traditional Ribbon Skirts and Ribbon Shirts Indigenous entrepreneurs to participate in a SOAR Shawl Ceremony on Thursday, June 15 at 9:15 a.m. EDT Additionally, participants will present ‘Love Letters’ to Indigenous Entrepreneurs at a breakfast at Indigenous-owned Tea’N’Bannock Café on Friday, June 16, 8:30 - 9:30 AM, 1294 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, M4L 1Y7
Who:	Sunshine Tenasco, Founder & Chair of Pow Wow Pitch and organizer of SOAR
	Jenn Harper, Founder, Cheekbone Beauty
	Angel Aubichon and Alex Manitopyes, co-Founders, Indi City
	Trisha Pitura and Mélanie Bernard, co-Founders, MINI TIPI
	Michaelee Lazore, Founder, Sequoia
	Jolene Laskey, Founder, Wabanaki Maple
When:	Thursday, June 15, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 1- 4 p.m. EDT
	Friday, June 16, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. and 2 - 4 p.m. EDT
Where:	Futurpreneur, 33 Yonge Street, Toronto Ontario M5E 0A9