Angel investors are a critical component of any successful innovation ecosystem. They provide the early-stage funding, connections, and mentorship that entrepreneurs need to scale their operations, expand to new markets, and secure future investments from venture capital and financial institutions. Yukon has made significant progress towards the development of a strong innovation ecosystem by creating spaces and programming to support entrepreneurs across a variety of sectors. A natural progression of this work is the formation of a coordinated network of early-stage investors to support Yukon entrepreneurs. According to a report released in 2017, The Yukon Angel investment market is currently fragmented and not well-organized (1). There is a need for early-stage capital (2). Early-stage opportunities in Yukon often go unfunded, remain under-capitalized, and never reach their full potential. The majority of local early-stage entrepreneurship funding comes from government programs and financing opportunities offered by däna Näye Ventures and some additional funding opportunities are available to Indigenous entrepreneurs in the territory. Currently, there are no formal Angel Groups or NACO members in the territory. To ensure that Yukon entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need to realize their full potential, we must focus on activating and mobilizing local angel investors — which in turn will attract capital from outside the region to amplify the growth opportunities available to Yukon- based entrepreneurs. As a first step in this report’s evaluation process, NACO held several events in the territory, consulting with local leaders and entrepreneurs, providing education, and facilitating connections to angel investors from across the country. The outputs of these sessions, combined with NACO’s 20 years of expertise and knowledge have resulted in this report, which outlines an action plan for the development of a vibrant angel community in Yukon.
(1) Kassun-Mutch, P. and Fox, V. (2017). Yukon Project Assessment The Hub. The Pivotal Point. (2) Northmark Ventures (2018).Funding Yukon Innovation A Yukon-based Funding Concept for Technology Investors and Entrepreneurs.
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MOBILIZING ANGEL ACTIVITY IN YUKON
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