Press

Dream Maker Ventures Blog

All Posts
News
Press

Mar 16
1 min

Rep Matters Interview - Episode 5 - Isaac Olowolafe Jr.

On our fifth episode of Rep Matters, we sat down with Isaac Olowolafe Jr., Founder and General Partner of Dream Maker VC.

Feb 24
1 min

Government of Ontario announces $1.2M support towards Ryerson’s DMZ Black Innovation Programs

by the DMZ, Tech Accelerator February 24, 2021 TORONTO, February 24, 2021 – Committed to empowering Black entrepreneurs across the...

Feb 12
1 min

Why entrepreneurship, home ownership are two powerful forces in fight against anti-Black racism

by Barbara Shecter, Financial Post Feb 12, 2021 When Isaac Olowolafe Jr. was 15, his family moved from Toronto to nearby Woodbridge,...

Feb 10
1 min

‘I don’t want to be a unicorn’: Black founders struggle to raise venture capital

by Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press Feb. 10, 2021 TORONTO - When Lola Adeyemi started a company making chickpea stews and roasted...

Feb 4
1 min

Reaching Full Potential: Removing Barriers and Elevating Black Entrepreneurs

by Jon Jackson February 4, 2021 We know that as a Black entrepreneur, sourcing outside capital for your startup is difficult, but it’s...

Feb 2
1 min

The Barriers and Lost Opportunities in Backing Canada’s Black Entrepreneurs

by Jon Jackson February 2, 2021 Having a diverse investing staff can begin to address the barriers to entry for underrepresented...

Jan 21
1 min

Powerful Tech Incubator Works to Support Black Entrepreneurs

by MediaPlanet Underrepresented communities continue to face barriers in accessing lucrative entrepreneurship opportunities created by...

Dec 11, 2020
1 min

Twitter acquires screen-sharing social app Squad

Today, Twitter announced that it is acquiring Squad and that the team from the screen-sharing social app will be joining Twitter’s ranks.

Oct 7, 2020
1 min

Support for BIF continues to surpass expectations, program welcomes new contributing partners

Scotiabank, Accenture, TorQuest, TELUS Ventures, Magna International and community leaders among some of the recent contributors to the DMZ

Sep 9, 2020
1 min

Tonight w/ Jamil Jivani on NEWSTALK1010 - September 9, 2020

Trudeau announces cash for loans, support to Black Canadian entrepreneurs (GUEST: Isaac Jr. Olowolafe, President of Dream Maker Corp.)

Aug 13, 2020
1 min

E04: Isaac Olowolafe discusses Dream Maker Ventures, the importance of environment, the BIF & more!

In this episode of the Beehive Capital Podcast, Isaac and Douglas discusses the Black Innovation Fellowship

Jul 28, 2020
1 min

8 startups that are currently in Ryerson's Black Innovation Fellowship

Black-owned startups in Toronto that are part of Ryerson’s BIF recently received additional funding from the City of Toronto

Jul 28, 2020
1 min

Dream Maker's Diversity Fund Is Ready to Change the Narrative for VCs, Entrepreneurs, and Tech

For the past six-months, the coronavirus has affected billions of people across the world, and continues to make its impact on the U.S.

Jul 24, 2020
1 min

City of Toronto becomes next leading supporter of Black Innovation Fellowship

Mayor John Tory announces the City’s commitment of $250K to build on the success of DMZ program

Jun 29, 2020
1 min

DMZ receives overwhelming support from Canadian leaders to expand Black Innovation Fellowship

Leading Canadian entrepreneur and investor Michael Hyatt joins as Black Innovation Fellowship Champion

Jun 24, 2020
1 min

Ryerson’s DMZ reaches $400,000 of $1 million goal to expand Black Innovation Fellowship

The DMZ, is gearing up for a $1 million expansion. So far, the DMZ has reached $400,000 of its $1 million goal from six program donors.

Jun 23, 2020
1 min

DMZ to expand programming for Black entrepreneurs with announcement of additional financial support

With support from leading Canadian innovators, the DMZ BIF program will pave pathways to success for Black-led startups

Apr 23, 2020
1 min

ThisFAR doc (Episode 15) - Isaac Jr Olowolafe

Isaac Jr Olowolafe (Dream Maker Inc.) for ThisFAR doc

Mar 10, 2020
1 min

Lessons learned attending eight days of tech events for International Women’s Day

by Danielle Graham March 10, 2020 My past eight days have been a true whirlwind of launches and activity in the women entrepreneurship...

Mar 6, 2020
1 min

Dream Maker Ventures launches network to connect underrepresented founders, funders

by Meagan Simpson March 6, 2020 On Wednesday, Dream Maker Ventures held the official launch for its new Dream Network, an initiative...

{"items":["60524b9c2028f80015774109","6039166a4ae2e70043781aee","602e94835132f600171477a7","602599f068035f0017580097","6021c0ccfcc01e0017623a85","6021befeb6dbe90017e49a9e","6021c2fed3c71c001762e5e6","5fe20f8b0a3336001760f271","5f9c6ef72da2030017369573","5f9c6a11283e440017a75ee5","5f9c66d56dc175001734ce7f","5f9c528a8974f900177b492f","5f9c60b25eeb8d00173f1dce","5f9c5be65bbd3d001772da42","5f9c4b92d7982100178ff34e","5f9c47ae48456e00172baa6e","5f9c39d575031a00177a8ebc","5f9c36587e38720017f909b2","5e6a89748f711700179dcc23","5e6a7cdeed07080017b7dfa8"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"#EDEDED"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":940,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}

2 3