Our history
It started as a startup, for startups
Futurpreneur started with an imaginative and ambitious idea: filling a gap in the Canadian financial marketplace by providing financing, mentorship and business resources to young aspiring entrepreneurs with dreams of launching their businesses.
The history of Futurpreneur
Since 1996, Futurpreneur, alongside our dedicated partners and team members, has empowered over 20,000 young entrepreneurs, helping diverse Canadian startup founders turn their creativity and aspirations into reality. These Futurpreneurs have made a difference in their communities and helped strengthen inclusive prosperity across the country.
At Futurpreneur, we remain more committed than ever to empowering the next generation of young entrepreneurs as a key member of Canada’s incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Starting out
In 1996, Futurpreneur, then known as The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF), launched to support young entrepreneurs with foundational support from CIBC and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and John Risley as our founding chair. Our first startup loans were provided to aspiring business owners in London, Ontario.
Foundational support from the government & BDC
We could not achieve our current impact without government investment and our strong partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). In 2001, the Government of Canada contributed $7.5 million, enabling CYBF to expand operations across the country. Our consistent 20+ year funding partnership with the Government of Canada – matched 1:1 from other sources – enables us to foster inclusive economic impact delivered locally at national scale. Futurpreneur is also proud to work with provincial governments to deepen our impact in rural and urban communities.
BDC began its partnership with CYBF in 2008 by matching its loans to eligible young entrepreneurs. Two years later, BDC doubled their co-lend to $30,000 increasing the total available loan to $45,000. When Futurpreneur increased its loan amount in 2019, and again in 2024, BDC followed suit, bringing the total available loan to $75,000 today.
Expanding our programs for growth and global reach
In 2009, CYBF became the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), later becoming Canada’s annual host. One year later, CYBF hosted the inaugural G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit and continues to represent Canada as a founding member.
In 2011, CYBF and Spin Master launched the Spin Master Innovation Fund which later evolved into the Growth Accelerator. In 2014, we introduced the Rock My Business Plan series, funded by RBC Foundation, which has evolved into our 3-part series of “Rock My Business” workshops and awards.
Commitment to inclusive impact at national scale
Futurpreneur has gone from supporting 5,000 young entrepreneurs in 2012 to 20,000+ as of 2025.
In 2018, the first entrepreneur in Nunavut received a Futurpreneur loan with mentorship, extending our reach to every province and territory.
We continue to evolve our programs and offerings to meet the needs of entrepreneurs in these changing times – with the support of funding and strategic partners across Canada.
Over the last decade, we have launched our Side Hustle Program (2016) to support founders with part-time businesses and our #OwnersWanted (2023) workshops for aspiring business owners looking to buy an existing business.
Our tailored startup programs for Indigenous entrepreneurs (2019) and Black entrepreneurs (2021), are led and delivered by team members from these communities who understand the barriers to success faced by young Indigenous and Black entrepreneurs. My Canadian Startup (2024) offers workshops and resources to help newcomer founders navigate Canada’s business environment and our Women in Entrepreneurship Initiative (2025) offers networking and peer support to women founders.
In 2020, Futurpreneur provided financial and programming support to our entrepreneurs impacted by COVID-19. Today, we remain committed to supporting entrepreneurs through economic hardships and natural disasters as part of our commitment to being a “lender with a heart.”
We look forward to empowering even more young entrepreneurs in the coming years as we continue to drive inclusive Canadian prosperity, one Futurpreneur at a time. You can help by visiting our Futurpreneur Marketplace, where you can buy Canadian products from hundreds of the vibrant businesses we’ve supported.
Celebrating our success stories
We have collected numerous success stories celebrating our rich history and growth since our founding. These inspiring journeys exemplify the hard work, resilience, joys and challenges experienced by our young entrepreneurs across Canada.
