The venture arm of the crown corporation Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has appointed Jason Baibokas as the managing director of its $100-million Black Entrepreneurs Fund.
BDC Capital announced the appointment in a LinkedIn post last week, saying Baibokas brings more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, business advisory, and entrepreneurial growth. BDC Capital added that he will lead the development and execution of a strategic investment strategy to deploy $100 million in equity capital into Black-led businesses across Canada.
The appointment is the realization of a commitment BDC Capital made last June, when it announced two $100-million CAD platforms designed to support Indigenous and Black-led businesses.
Now, eight months later, BDC Capital said Baibokas will use the coming months to build out the Black Entrepreneurs Fund investment team and meet with stakeholders to define the fund’s investment thesis and criteria.
According to Baibokas’s LinkedIn profile, he brings experience as a principal at investment and advisory firm KASCorp and chief financial officer at Toronto-based digital mortgage platform 8Twelve Financial Technologies.
BetaKit reached out to BDC for more information on the Black Entrepreneurs Fund, Baibokas, and for updates on the coinciding $100-million Indigenous fund, but did not hear back by press time.
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When they were announced last June, the funding platforms for underserved entrepreneurs were meant to complement BDC’s existing $500-million Thrive platform for women entrepreneurs. At the time, Geneviève Bouthillier, BDC’s senior vice-president of growth and impact investments, told BetaKit that the platforms were in very early stages of development, and each platform will be tailored to the needs of each community, rather than taking a “cut-and-paste approach.”
Last month, in an effort to counter low investment activity in Canada, BDC Capital made nearly $1 billion in new commitments to its Growth Venture Fund and Growth Equity Partners (GEP) program. The bank positioned the new funding as a way to increase access to capital for entrepreneurs navigating economic uncertainty amid inflation, higher borrowing costs, labour shortages, and a looming trade war between the United States and Canada.
Feature image by Upper Left Photography, courtesy of BDC.