EntrepreNorth Brings Sinew Impact Fund to the North First

Press Release

A $10M fund designed around Indigenous investors, launched alongside the communities it was built to serve

Whitehorse, YT — On May 6, 2026, at the Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference (AIIC), EntrepreNorth will publicly launch the Sinew Impact Fund: a non-profit $10 million impact fund designed to deploy patient, flexible capital to Indigenous entrepreneurs from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

The fund takes its name from sinew, the natural tendon fibre traditionally harvested from animals like moose or caribou by Indigenous peoples across the North. A single strand can break. Multiple strands twisted together create something that holds. That quality, strength through connection, is what the fund is built to provide.

Sinew is launching at AIIC because the fund was built to serve Northern Indigenous investors and entrepreneurs. Starting that conversation in Whitehorse is consistent with that commitment.

The Sinew Impact Fund is structured to centre Indigenous capital. Indigenous investors receive first repayment priority and a 7% return. Non-Indigenous solidarity investors accept subordinated repayment at lower returns. Philanthropic capital absorbs first-loss risk. This financial design is a statement about whose interests come first.

The fund is targeting $2 million in Indigenous investor capital as part of its first close, anticipated for June 2026.

As federal attention turns to Arctic sovereignty and Northern development, the risk is that capital flows into major infrastructure projects while local Indigenous economies remain underleveraged. Sinew exists to change that ratio.

“Indigenous communities have been excluded from wealth-building for generations. Not because of a lack of ambition or ideas, but because the capital systems in place were never built with them in mind. So we stopped trying to improve those systems and started building from a different place entirely. What does a fund look like when community wellbeing is the return? Sinew is our answer.”
— Kristin Richard, Managing Director & Co-Founder

Sinew is a fund by EntrepreNorth, a Northern Indigenous-led charitable organization that has spent eight years building one of the most active entrepreneur ecosystems in Northern Canada. Since 2018, EntrepreNorth has supported more than 400 Indigenous entrepreneurs across the Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut through culturally relevant business education, mentorship, and network programming.

That ecosystem infrastructure is the fund’s most significant differentiator. It means Sinew enters the work with relationships already rooted in the North, and deploys capital within a community EntrepreNorth has been nurturing for years.

Among those entrepreneurs is Sheila Flaherty, an Inuk chef and founder of sijjakkut, an Indigenous food enterprise based in Iqaluit. An EntrepreNorth alumna and active member of the network, Sheila is currently working with the Sinew team through the fund’s pre-investment support process.

“Since completing the EntrepreNorth program, I’ve continued to build both my vision and my business with intention. I’m now at a stage where I’m preparing to make meaningful infrastructure investments in Iqaluit, alongside launching a shelf-stable product line rooted in Inuit food ways. As I step into this next phase, having the Sinew team walking alongside me has been significant. This isn’t just an Indigenous fund—I’ve been met by Indigenous women at the helm who understand the realities I’m navigating and show up in a way that reflects that. They lead with relationship first, and that creates the kind of trust and alignment Northern Indigenous entrepreneurs need to grow in a good way.”
— Sheila Flaherty, Founder, sijjakkut

The fund’s Investment Committee was built with the same intentionality as the fund itself. A minimum of 75% of members must be Indigenous, with a strong emphasis on Northern representation, ensuring the people closest to this work have decision-making power over where capital goes. Denise Williams has been part of the EntrepreNorth community since its early days. As Investment Committee Chair, she brings extensive governance experience and investment acumen to the role.

“It’s powerful to witness the transformational vision of the Sinew Impact Fund come to life. Entreprenorth has continuously inspired the world with its ability to weave community led and land based solutions with an approach that truly shifts economic systems. The Sinew Impact Fund will be a driving force for the continuation of thriving Indigenous led business in the north, and as the investment committee chair, I’m honoured to have the opportunity to work alongside the team in stewarding governance and policy that aligns with values and heartbeat of the land and the people.”
— Denise Williams, board member and investment committee chair

EntrepreNorth became an independent charitable organization in April 2026, after eight years operating as a project of the MakeWay platform. The Sinew Impact Fund launch is the first major milestone of that independence, and reflects the organization’s intention to build permanent infrastructure for Indigenous economic self-determination in the North.

Expressions of Interest are now open for Northern Indigenous entrepreneurs. Eligible businesses must be majority Indigenous-owned and led, generating revenue, and operating in or serving Northern communities. Investment sizes range from $50,000 to $1,000,000.

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