EntrepreNorth and Shopify Team Up to Advance Indigenous eCommerce Across the North

Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon - June 19, 2020 - EntrepreNorth is excited to announce a new partnership with Shopify to accelerate the growth of ecommerce opportunities for Indigenous and community-based entrepreneurs across Northern Canada. Shopify is a leading global commerce company founded in Canada, providing trusted tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business of any size. 

Through this partnership, Shopify is providing capacity building funds to EntrepreNorth along with Shopify Retail Kit to create a commerce hub for the community. As well, Shopify is providing 60 program participants with Shopify for free for 6-months, along with culturally and locally relevant, co-created entrepreneurship education.

“This is a significant and timely partnership that will support our efforts to empower entrepreneurs in Northern communities to grow online business startups and sales” says EntrepreNorth Project Director, Benjamin Scott. “Taking a business online offers a powerful opportunity to connect with customers from around the world who care about supporting locally-made products with meaningful origin stories.” 

Shopify is committed to leveraging the power of commerce to support economic well-being. This partnership is part of a larger program where Shopify is investing in Indigenous organizations across Canada and New Zealand to build a global support system for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

“Shopify wants to help increase the number of Indigenous entrepreneurs through partnerships to help amplify Indigenous businesses globally,” says Jace Meyer, Shopify’s Lead for Indigenous Entrepreneurs. “We are seeing growing opportunities to build borderless trade networks that strengthen Indigenous-led businesses and local supply chains both domestically and globally.”

A few examples of Northern-based merchants powered by Shopify include: Tania Larsson, who designs contemporary, northern Indigenous adornments rooted in Gwich’in culture; Dene Roots, a smokeless smudge spray company based in Jean Marie River in the Dehcho region; Hinaani Design, an Inuit apparel band based in Arviat, Nunavut; Uasau Soap, an Inuit soap and body care line featuring bowhead whale oil based in Iqaluit, Nunavut; and the Tłıcho Online Store that sells handmade authentic native art and crafts made by the Tłıcho. 

Over the next year, EntrepreNorth and Shopify will work closely together to support Northern and Indigenous entrepreneurship and amplify merchant success stories.

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About EntrepreNorth: 
​EntrepreNorth empowers Indigenous and community-based entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses and livelihoods across Northern Canada. EntrepreNorth delivers culturally-grounded business programming to early-stage entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon who are ready to elevate their business and community impact. EntrepreNorth is a project on MakeWay’s shared platform, which provides operational supports, governance, and charitable expertise for changemakers. The shared platform enables more time and money to go towards achieving greater impact. MakeWay is a national charity that builds partnerships and solutions to help nature and communities thrive together. For more information, visit www.entreprenorth.ca.

About Shopify:
Shopify is a leading global commerce company, providing trusted tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business of any size. Shopify makes commerce better for everyone with a platform and services that are engineered for reliability, while delivering a better shopping experience for consumers everywhere. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Shopify powers over one million businesses in more than 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Allbirds, Gymshark, PepsiCo, Staples and many more. For more information, visit www.shopify.com.