Pow Wow Pitch, North America’s premier pitch competition for emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs, presented in partnership with RBC, Shopify, and Mastercard, announced a new partnership with the Mana Up to put the spotlight on Indigenous entrepreneurs in Hawai‘i, USA.
“We are excited to announce our partnership with Pow Wow Pitch, whose team have been true ecosystem builders in elevating the voices and brands of Indigenous entrepreneurs,” said Althea Wishloff, Partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. “With this partnership, our goal is to learn from founders and share knowledge and capital succession for companies as they grow.”
First-Place Winner, Lisa Perley-Dutcher, Founder and Director of Kehkimin, a non-profit Wolastoqey Language Immersion School, founded her school with the purpose to replenish and revitalize the traditional language and knowledge of the Walostoqey people. “Pow Wow Pitch is supporting something that is so vital to our people and our language,” said Lisa. “[with the funding and in-kind support] we can make sure that our new students are well supported.”
The winning business, Kruger Mountain Gear, is a local outdoors brand that is making a name for itself through their unique elk call tool, patented as ‘Okanagan Elk Battle Tubes’ & ‘Arrow Lakes Elk Battle Tubes.’ As part of the pitch, Charles spoke passionately about his strides in local elk conservation as well as traditional hunting practices he uses in hunting knowledge sharing. “This Pow Wow Pitch was a super experience,” said First-Place Winner Charles Kruger, Founder of Kruger Mountain Gear. “I came back to try it again (for a second attempt) and it gave me a chance to grow and sharpen my skills and speak from my heart. Pow Wow Pitch makes people feel comfortable and welcome. It was a great experience.”
“Pow Wow Pitch provides a platform to accelerate and foster Indigenous entrepreneurship while boosting Indigenous economic resiliency, aligning completely with Futurpreneur’s mission,” said Holly Atjecoutay, the Director of Futurpreneur’s Indigenous Entrepreneur Startup Program. “Young Indigenous entrepreneurs nationwide benefit greatly when Indigenous service providers partner together with the common goal of championing and supporting Indigenous entrepreneurship success.”
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