Halifax-based Tribe Network, which offers national startup support services to BIPOC entrepreneurs, has officially opened its new, two-storey office on Barrington Street.

The property, located near City Hall, will not only house Tribe’s operations, but also act as a community and knowledge-sharing hub for racialized entrepreneurs, chief executive Alfred Burgesson said during an event Wednesday.

“We provide our entrepreneurs with coaches, communities, spaces like this and capital to support their businesses,” said Burgesson.

“This space is really important because we want to have a safe space as entrepreneurs, where we can confide in our peers and learn from each other, and have opportunities to meet partners and people that can help us along the journey.”

Tribe’s opening of its new office comes as Burgesson looks to diversify the organization’s activities into startup funding via a new venture capital arm, Tribe Ventures. The $20 million, sector-agnostic fund will back pre-seed and seed-stage founders across the country. Burgesson is targeting a first close by the end of this year.

“Racialized investors and racialized managers are more likely to invest in racialized founders,” Burgesson said previously. “By ensuring that our team is racialized and diverse, we know that we are going to be in a better position to vet the ideas and the innovations that racialized communities are coming forward with.”

Tribe also runs the Black Startup Project, which offers training, workshops and mentorship for startup founders, and gives them the chance to compete in Tribe’s AYA Day pitch competition. 

“It’s really important to be able to create a … cultural space that really reflects our racilaized entrepreneurs — the language, the culture, the opportunities and being able to be embraced in a space that really feels comfortable for people,” said Tribe vice-chair Nadine Bernard.