Acquiring, growing, and
Indigenizing Canadian SMBs.
Bear & Bison's Indigenous Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (IETA) Fund sources, recruits, and trains Indigenous searchers to lead acquisitions of profitable Canadian small businesses, building generational wealth for Indigenous Peoples and communities across Canada.
Patient capital. Indigenous ownership. Rural roots.
100% Indigenous-led and owned
The GP is 100% Indigenous-led and -owned, and was incubated within Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, North America's first by-and-for Indigenous venture capital fund.
Built for the communities others overlook
Traditional searchers won't relocate to rural, remote, and Indigenous-served regions, where strong businesses and Indigenous People already are. IETA is built precisely for them.
10–12 acquisitions, one playbook
We recruit Indigenous searchers across Canada, train them through an 8-week ETA bootcamp, and fund a 12-18 month search to acquire profitable, place-based SMBs with defensible moats.
Indigenous economic reconciliation
Economic self-determination is foundational to Indigenous sovereignty. ETA is a uniquely powerful vehicle to accelerate it, preserving local jobs, tax bases, and community services.
Considering a transition?
We move with care, communicate openly, and honour the confidentiality every owner deserves. Initial conversations stay between us, in good faith.