Canim Lake Band member Carl Archie has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2020 Pow Wow Pitch.
Archie, a government transition advisor with the Canim Lake Band, is one of 125 semi-finalists chosen for the event, cited as Canada’s premier pitch competition for Indigenous business owners and emerging entrepreneurs.
Archie is the founder and CEO of Sklow’ Analytics, a financial analytics tool for First Nations in Canada. Sklow’ means “money” in the Secwepemc language.
As a semi-finalist, he was given access to mentors and support and has a chance to pitch for non-repayable seed funding of up to $10,000 to get his business off the ground.
Archie made his Pow Wow pitch Tuesday afternoon.
If he wins, Archie said, he will use the funding to work with software developers to create a detailed software development roadmap for the company.
He said Sklow’ Analytics will provide First Nations leaders with financial analysis to assist with making better-informed decisions for their communities and provide a more accurate picture of the estimated $200-billion global Indigenous economy.
“I started it in the spring during COVID because I had some time on my hands. I’ve spoken to people across the country, the service is definitely needed,” he said, adding the funding would “enable me to scale it up and hopefully do it on a more global scale.”
Sunshine Tenasco, founder and CEO of the Pow Wow Pitch, said in a media release that “Archie truly embodies the spirit, resilience and creativity of Indigenous entrepreneurship.”
The 25 Pow Wow winners are expected to be announced later this week.
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