The LiftOff Black Entrepreneurship Program is created to promote black entrepreneurs from their earliest stages of starting a business to innovating, growing, and scaling an already existing business.
This program is mainly designed for people with fresh business ideas but do not know where to start and those who already have and existing business but want to grow and scale. This grogram gives you access to coaches, mentors, training and, funding opportunities that are uniquely tailored to meet the needs of black entrepreneurs.
Under this program, a customized one-to-one coaching model is used to ensure that every minute spent in it is dedicated to the areas that matter the most to your business.
LiftOff entrepreneurs spend up to a year in the program working through the important milestones for business success which include market research and validation, business set up and intellectual property, long-term strategy and funding.
LiftOff Program Structure
- 1st Phase: Ideation and Market Validation
- 2nd Phase: Build and Launch
- 3rd Phase: Position for Success
- 4th Phase: Transition to Community
It is important to note that each of these four phases lasts for a period of four (4) months
Who is eligible?
This program is open to individuals who meet the criteria below;
- You must identify as black
- Have a scalable business idea or an existing business with potential for growth
- Business must be located in the region of Waterloo and Wellington County
- The applicant must be committed to dedicating a minimum of twelve (12) hours per week to their business for the duration of the program
- The applicant must be prepared to complete the coaching and reporting requirements of the program
Application Procedure
- Applicants must attend the “LiftOff Black Entrepreneurship Program: How to write a successful application” workshop
- Deadline for submitting an application is not beyond 11:59 p.m. Friday, December 10, 2021\. You must apply early in order to increase your chances of being selected because applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
- Applicants who succeed will be notified by Wednesday, December 22.
- The program begins on Monday, January 10, 2022.
You can click here to apply for the LiftOff Black Entrepreneurship Program
