“I want to help First Nation communities,” Turner says. “But I kind of want to help everyone.”

“I’d really love Indigenous owned and run businesses to apply to take their business to the next level.”

Fortescue Metals, Minderoo Foundation founder Andrew Forrest

Now Turner is on the other side of the table: he will be an educator at the latest iteration of the start-up accelerator program, now in its third year and renamed the Dream Venture Masterclass. Like the original, it will culminate in an in-person pitch fest. Unlike the original, it now runs for four weeks instead of two days and will be taught almost entirely virtually.

There are now two separate streams for youth (18-30s) and everyone else, for more tailored content; and $75,000 in seed funding for pitch competition winners in each stream (a fivefold increase on the original $30,000). The UN Development Programme, which works with countries on initiatives to reduce inequality, and Citi Foundation, which partners with community organisations to improve employment opportunities for young people, are the program’s new co-leads.

Breaking down ‘unique barriers’

Les Delaforce, Minderoo Foundation’s head of Indigenous entrepreneurship, has his own experience running start-ups and says Indigenous entrepreneurs come up against certain challenges.

“They are quite unique barriers that include lack of pre-existing business networks, significantly lower intergenerational wealth, but also their access to capital has been quite a lot harder when you don’t have those assets,” Delaforce told The Herald and The Age.

Minderoo Foundation estimates there are about 200,000 Indigenous Australians in employment. But another 300,000 must be employed to close the gap by 2040, Delaforce said.

“We know based on research that Aboriginal businesses and start-ups are up to 400 times more likely to employ Aboriginal Australians. A dedicated program like this will provide the capabilities, the skills and the competence they may lack to then grow and scale the business, and hire more Aboriginal people.”

The free program which starts on August 2 will see 40 successful applicants selected to participate in workshops and presentations that will give them the know-how and skills to raise funds (whether it be angel investing, crowdfunding or venture capital), how to create a business model, a go-to-market strategy, and more.

Heavyweights from some of Australia’s tech and investing scene (Google, Blackbird, AirTree Ventures, TDM Growth Partners) will be involved in delivering program content.

Forrest says Indigenous-run businesses were the key to ending disparity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. “We want to help get these entrepreneurs on the road to greater success,” Forrest says.

Applications for the 2022 Dream Venture Masterclass program closes on July 10.