Barayamal and Fishburners kicks off Budding Entrepreneur program

Four indigenous entrepreneurs have been chosen for Barayamal & Fishburners 3-month Budding entrepreneurs program.

Barayamal is the first Australian accelerator for indigenous entrepreneurs and they are working with Fishburners.

The three months program will monitoring from successful Indigenous and non-Indigenous entrepreneurs, workshops and training at Fishburners in Sydney or Brisbane.

Barayamal organized a national charity hackathon, Give Backathon, which four indigenous charities received tech-based solutions to increase their social impact.

In the spirit of the event and giving back to the community, the winning team paid it forward by donating their 3-month membership at Fishburners back to Barayamal.

This births the Budding Entrepreneurs Program, allowing four indigenous entrepreneurs to have the opportunities to work on their startup ideas and help their communities.

Founder of Barayamal, Dean Foley said in a press release, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs can make a valuable contribution to their communities and help close the gap through innovative businesses.

“This program creates new opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs to grow and accelerate their business,’ he said.

“We are passionate about supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs because we believe real Indigenous entrepreneurship is the high growth and impact solution that will help close the disadvantage gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.”

According to a recent government report, the unemployment rate of Indigenous Australians is at 21 percent, which is four times the non-Indigenous unemployment rate.

It is important to also note that Indigenous businesses are a hundred times more likely to hire Indigenous people.

Less than 1% of Australian businesses are Indigenous owned, despite representing 3% of the population, hence making this program an important step to bridging the gap.

“There is only so much we can do with no support from the Government but we love what we are doing — helping other Indigenous entrepreneurs achieve success and empowering youth with invaluable entrepreneurship and coding skills to achieve their dreams and create a better world for all who live in it,” Mr Foley added.

Annie Parker CEO of Fishburners also had the same sentiments, saying, “We are really proud to partner with Barayamal and welcome four new teams of Indigenous Entrepreneurs as members of Fishburners.”

“Our values are centered on collaboration, brilliance, community, and diversity, and all of our members contribute and give back to our community and I’m thrilled the winning hackathon team did just that, which now guarantees these four deserving Entrepreneurs will now join Fishburners,’ she said.

The program will officially kick off in January 2018.

The four Indigenous businesses are,

Aartbi: is an entertainment booking website, connecting customers with performing artists, event services and more.

Bunji Bakana: Aboriginal designed apparel sporting clothing that is universal to all sporting clubs around the world.

Wakarla: creates artwork that preserves Indigenous languages and promotes conservation by using Australian made and ethical products.

Dreamtime Concepts: provides event management services, governance and compliance advice, business development assistance, strategic planning, and other business services to Indigenous businesses.