As African Heritage Month draws to a close, we’re highlighting a quartet of companies led by Black entrepreneurs from the Atlantic Canadian startup community.

People of African descent are under-represented in the Atlantic Canadian startup group. For example, our research shows that only 1.2 percent of the startups active in 2021 in the region were founded or led by Black entrepreneurs, born and raised in Canada. But the numbers are growing and there is a movement to improve diversity and equity within the ecosystem. 

“Not seeing people like you in a space makes it hard to feel like you belong,” explained Tribe Network CEO Alfred Burgesson, whose non-profit supports Black startup founders, speaking as part of the Entrevestor Live one-day conference last fall.

“We have a platform, we have programs … but there need to be people in the space who can relate to them and support them."

Here’s a look at some Black founders whose work we are watching closely in 2023:

Jonah Chininga

Arriving from Zimbabwe to study business at the University of Prince Edward Island in 2014, Chininga struggled to afford Canada’s high cost of living and to build up a credit raiting. So three years ago, he and three co-counders launched a startup that could help newcomers access small loans and build up a credit history. 

Charlottetown-based MIQ -- originally called MICC -- has developed a platform that helps people working in cooperatives to band together and help each other achieve their financial aspirations. This practice, known as rotational savings, refers to a group of people pooling their money and taking turns to borrow from the collective fund without paying interest.

The company has gained considerable traction and has such partners as Visa and Equifax. Last year it was named one of the top 11 startups at the Calgary Fintech Awards.  

Alfred Burgesson

Burgesson, who was born in Ghana and raised in Nova Scotia, founded Tribe Network two years ago to provide support services and act as an innovation hub for BIPOC — Black, indigenous and people of colour — entrepreneurs across Canada.

Based in Halifax, Tribe holds the distinction of being the only innovation hub in Atlantic Canada specifically for BIPOC entrepreneurs. The organization’s website now lists six staff, including Burgesson.

Tribe’s two flagship programs are the Black Startup Project and the IDEA Fellowship.

The Black Startup Project offers a trio of accelerator programs for startups in various stages of development, while the IDEA Fellowship gives aspiring founders access to peer networks, mentorship and financial support as they work on getting their businesses off the ground. IDEA stands for inclusion, diversity, equity and access.

About 280 entrepreneurs are currently registered for Black Startup Project programming, and for 2022, Tribe named 13 IDEA fellows.

Nevell and Karen Provo

Nevell, a former Team Canada basketball player from the historic Black community of North Preston in Halifax, founded Smooth Meal Prep in 2018 with his mother Karen, a professional chef with 30 years of experience. Within three years, they had grown to employ more than 20 people.

Smooth Meal Prep is a subscription service that delivers prepared meals to customers’ doorsteps twice a week. Its menu offerings are focused on healthy food, with a low-carb subscription plan,  and a muscle-building plan, among others.

Nevell Provo perviously said in an interview that the focus on healthy food and ready-to-eat presentation of Smooth Meal Prep’s offerings differentiate it from meal kit startups like HelloFresh, which delivers ingredients, but leaves its customers to prepare the food themselves.

Soon, the Provos will be eyeing the sale of franchises, with a particular focus on underprivileged areas; supporting marginalized communities is one of their key goals.

“We want to create a business that can be repurposed and recreated in other underprivileged communities, whether that's a women's community in Quebec or (First Nations) community in New Brunswick — communities that could use a hand,” Nevell said.

Tosin Ajibola

Ajibola, who was previously a fintech product manager in Nigeria, now helms Fredericton-based Welkom-U, an online platform to help newcomers to Atlantic Canada integrate into their communities.

He co-founded the company in 2020 with COO Michael Olamide Ojolom, CTO Babajide Sosan and product development head Ifeoluwa Williams while the four were students in the University of New Brunswick’s Master of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship program.

“There are a lot of people who are in school, who come to Canada and six months down the line, they’re still struggling with understanding what the Canadian culture is like and all of that,” Ajibola previously said of his company in an interview.

“I think all of us wish we’d had the opportunity to settle all of these things from our home countries before we came to Canada.”

Ajibola has also become a prominent figure in the broader New Brunswick business community, holding positions on the boards of startup hub Venn Innovation and the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, as well as working with Opportunities New Brunswick on investment attraction.