Seun Richards Named GEN Ambassador for Canada

October 3, 2024 - The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), a non-profit that operates programs in 200 countries and territories aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business, has named Agunbiade Seun Richards as its Ambassador for Canada. Richards is an award-winning social entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, researcher and business coach with a successful track record serving his community through entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Richards moved to Canada in 2018 after studying and working in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates. Richards is the co-founder of the Black Business Professional Networks (BBPN) in Atlantic Canada, and founder of a zero-emission delivery service based in Saint John, New Brunswick. 

In addition to serving his local community in Atlantic Canada, Richards is an active national and global ecosystem builder. He was selected among some of the brightest global entrepreneurs as delegates at three consecutive G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) Summits in Germany (2022), India (2023) and Brazil (2024). He represented Canada at GEN’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Australia in 2023, and GEC+Africa and GEC+Puerto Rico in 2024. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the UBUNTU Founders Network, an initiative connecting Africa’s innovators and startups founders to investors. 

As GEN’s Ambassador in Canada, Richards will advance the organization’s efforts to strengthen entrepreneurship through the implementation of global programs and connectivity through strategic partnerships. Over the coming months, Seun will strengthen GEN’s work in Canada by building relationships with leading organizations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, interfacing with local and national government officials, convening leading ecosystem stakeholders, and providing information about ecosystem developments. 

"GEN has a 15-year history in Canada with programs that have supported the growth of the national entrepreneurship movement – and connected Canadian investors, policymakers, ecosystem builders and founders with global opportunities and knowledge-sharing,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president and co-founder of GEN. “Seun is an ambitious and accomplished leader who represents a new generation of GEN leadership to lead the next phases of our work here.” 

GEN began operating in Canada in 2009 when it partnered with Futurpreneur to launch the now annual national Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign. In 2012, GEN hosted the first Startup Nations Summit in Toronto to provide policy advisors with a platform to meet and learn from peers around the world who are searching for the most effective ways for government to stimulate entrepreneurial activity. In 2019, GEN expanded its national programming by partnering with Startup Canada to bring the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), one of the largest and most diverse pitch competitions and support programs of its kind, to the country. 

Since 2009, GEN’s global programming has reached hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs in Canada, and engaged influential leaders including heads of state and more than 500 partners across the national entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

“I look forward to collaborating on a future where thriving entrepreneurship communities are accessible to all, driving economic prosperity and social change across Canada and beyond,” said Richards. 

GEN invites the Canadian entrepreneurship ecosystem to participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week November 18-24, 2024, and to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Congress – one of the most impactful and influential live collections of entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders in the world – in Indianapolis, USA June 2-5, 2025.  

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GEN works to strengthen entrepreneurship in Canada by managing a collection of global programs and coordinating initiatives through strategic partnerships. Led by a GEN Ambassador, GEN's team in Canada is working to build a foundation of support by building relationships with leading organizations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, interfacing with local and national government officials, convening leading ecosystem stakeholders, and providing updates and information about ecosystem developments.