{"id":5728,"date":"2020-02-29T17:18:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T17:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/"},"modified":"2020-02-29T17:18:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T17:18:42","slug":"why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech","status":"publish","type":"rbc_tl","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/841b801a-92b3-4071-a259-3c5809f92f37?dark=false\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h4>In 1837, Thornton Blackburn, an escaped slave, launched Toronto&#8217;s first taxi company, and turned The City into a thriving enterprise that generated a small fortune for Blackburn and his wife Lucie \u2014 and yet somehow has been forgotten to history.<\/h4>\n<p>More than 180 years later, most Canadians would be pressed to cite the Blackburns or name a single black entrepreneur. Even though 1.2 million Canadians <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Black_Canadians\" class=\"at ey fx fy fz ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">identify<\/a> as black, representing 3.5% of the population, a Black in Canada <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blackincanada.com\/2015\/08\/09\/black-business-survey-results\/\" class=\"at ey fx fy fz ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">survey<\/a> found only 2,000 black-owned businesses of significant scale. (It&#8217;s not just a Canadian problem. In 2018, a <a href=\"https:\/\/ratemyinvestor.com\/diversity_report\" class=\"at ey fx fy fz ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">U.S. study<\/a> found just 1% of venture-backed founders were black.)<\/p>\n<p>For Black History Month, RBC Disruptors talked to two entrepreneurs who are trying to do something about it. In 2018, Isaac Olowalafe Jr., a Toronto real estate investor, and Abdullah Snobar, executive director of Ryerson University&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/dmz.ryerson.ca\/\">DMZ<\/a> start-up zone, launched the $1-million <a href=\"https:\/\/dmz.ryerson.ca\/bif\/\">Black Innovation Fellowship<\/a> to provide entrepreneurs with access to networks, seed capital and business partners like <a href=\"https:\/\/thoughtleadership.rbc.com\/stories-moment-became-entrepreneur-tobi-lutke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dig-id=\"TNL_021\" data-dig-category=\"TNL Innovation\" data-dig-action=\"mid-funnel click\" data-dig-label=\"shopify article dl-142238\">Shopify<\/a>. Snobar stressed one word: \u201caccess.&#8221; According to the Black in Canada survey, black entrepreneurs say their biggest challenges are marketing (51%), networking and learning opportunities (51%) and finance (48%). Olowalafe says the tech sector is perhaps the best opportunity, given its rapid growth and concentration in cities like Toronto. \u201cRyerson is known for tech and diversity,&#8221; he told us. \u201cHow do we bring the two together?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The opportunity for the country is enormous. While close to a quarter of Canadians identify as visible minorities, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.gc.ca\/eic\/site\/061.nsf\/eng\/03087.html\" class=\"at ey fx fy fz ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">one in eight<\/a> small and medium-sized businesses is owned by one. Across every sector, role models are key. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/canadian-black-chamber-commerce-1.5113473\" class=\"at ey fx fy fz ga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">Lola Adeyemi<\/a>, a Nigerian-born, Toronto-based food entrepreneur, found, \u201cOne of the struggles when I started the business was having somebody who looked like me, has been through the same struggles as an immigrant like me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto&#8217;s thriving tech sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":5729,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"disable_focal_point":true,"featured_image_focal_point":{"x":0.5,"y":0.5},"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"rbc_tl_category":[109,100,110],"rbc_tl_tag":[108,104,113,106,103],"class_list":["post-5728","rbc_tl","type-rbc_tl","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rbc_tl_category-disruptors","rbc_tl_category-innovation","rbc_tl_category-season-one","rbc_tl_tag-diversity","rbc_tl_tag-entrepreneurship","rbc_tl_tag-leadership","rbc_tl_tag-talent","rbc_tl_tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech? - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto&#039;s thriving tech sector.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto&#039;s thriving tech sector.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/\",\"name\":\"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech? - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-29T17:18:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto's thriving tech sector.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1236},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech? - RBC","description":"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto's thriving tech sector.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech?","og_description":"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto's thriving tech sector.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","og_site_name":"RBC","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1236,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","name":"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech? - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80","datePublished":"2020-02-29T17:18:42+00:00","description":"Meet two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in Toronto's thriving tech sector.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80","width":2560,"height":1236},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech?","url":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80&w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80"},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Stackhouse"}],"creator":["John Stackhouse"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"RBC","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z","datePublished":"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z","dateModified":"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in Canadian Tech?\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/thought-leadership\\\/disruptors\\\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/thought-leadership\\\/disruptors\\\/why-are-there-so-few-black-entrepreneurs-in-canadian-tech\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80&w=150&h=150&crop=1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"John Stackhouse\"}],\"creator\":[\"John Stackhouse\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-29T17:18:42Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rbc.com\/p.js"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-29-scaled-1.jpg?quality=80&w=1024","coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/author\/johnstackhouse\/","display_name":"John Stackhouse"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 6 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 29, 2020","modified":"Updated on February 29, 2020"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 29, 2020 5:18 pm","modified":"Updated on February 29, 2020 5:18 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"rbc_tl_category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Disruptors<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/innovation\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Innovation<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/season-one\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Season One<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Disruptors<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Innovation<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Season One<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_tl_category","name":"Categories"},"rbc_tl_tag":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/diversity\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diversity<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/entrepreneurship\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Entrepreneurship<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/leadership\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Leadership<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/talent\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Talent<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/technology\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technology<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diversity<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Entrepreneurship<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Leadership<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Talent<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technology<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_tl_tag","name":"Tags"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl\/5728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rbc_tl"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl\/5728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rbc_tl_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl_category?post=5728"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_tl_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl_tag?post=5728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}