The three-month program will provide five innovative First Nations businesses with mentoring and training by industry experts, as well as $50,000 in grant funding. Businesses will be able to showcase their businesses at the Demo Day & Awards event scheduled for the 27th of November 2020.

Founded by Dean Foley, Barayamal aims to address the disparity gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Being First Nations owned and run, Barayamal can empower and support entrepreneurs through accelerator programs, technology solutions, free events and funding.

“We inspire and support Indigenous youth and entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams through entrepreneurship and technology so they can achieve their self-determination aspirations and create a better Australia for all who live in it,” said Foley.

After running an Indigenous Startup Weekend in August 2016, a 54-hour event that taught 40 aspiring entrepreneurs the fundamentals of starting a business and empowering them to help their communities through entrepreneurship, Australia’s first Indigenous Accelerator Program emerged. It was run in November that same year, in collaboration with Slingshot. The program educated and supported five Indigenous startups over a four-week period in Fishburners.

The success of the Startup weekends and the Accelerator Program led to the founding of Barayamal in 2017. Barayamal has since run several programs, including a Budding Entrepreneurs Program which provided working space and mentorship for 3 months in Brisbane and Sydney, as well as CoderDojo First Nations, a nationwide network of coding clubs aiming to inspire and empower Indigenous Youth. In collaboration with LaunchVic, Barayamal has also launched Victoria’s first Indigenous Accelerator Program last year, after a 2-day Pre-Accelerator program. Since its inception, Barayamal has since been recognised through awards, such as the CSIRO Indigenous STEM Early Career Award and the “Entrepreneurship Award” at the Indigenous Digital Excellence Awards.

The Barayamal Accelerator is now taking applications until the 9th of August 2020, with the 3-month program beginning in September and culminating in a Demo Day scheduled for the 27th of November 2020, where businesses can showcase their ideas.

Cover Image: The Demo Day held at the Victorian Innovation Hub in Melbourne in October 2019, as part of Victoria’s first Indigenous Accelerator Program, allowed businesses from the program to pitch their ideas to investors. (Image: Barayamal)