In a recent interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Ben Richmond, Managing Director of North America at Xero, introduced the Xero Beautiful Business Fund (XBBF). Launched in 2023, the fund aims to celebrate and support innovative small businesses worldwide by providing over $630,000 in funding. Ben explained that Canadian small businesses with 1-50 employees, operating for-profit or not-for-profit (excluding Quebec), are eligible to apply. The fund features four distinct categories: Innovating for Environmental Sustainability, Trailblazing with Technology, Strengthening Community Connection, and Upskilling for the Future. This initiative highlights Xero’s commitment to fostering creativity and resilience among small businesses, helping them grow and make a positive impact in their communities. Past winners, such as Scimar and For More Granola, have benefited significantly from the fund, enhancing their operations and achieving their sustainability goals.
Ben is responsible for driving Xero’s growth in the United States and Canada. In 2013, he joined Xero as New Zealand sales director where he led the business’ national growth and spearheaded Xero’s global agriculture strategy. Prior to joining Xero, Ben worked in a large regional accounting practice before joining New Zealand’s largest telecommunications company in a senior accounting role. He was also one of the founding board members of the Spark Foundation. Ben is a chartered accountant and earned a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in accounting, finance and information systems from the University of Canterbury.
Can you explain what the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is and who should consider applying for it?
The Xero Beautiful Business Fund (XBBF) was launched in 2023 to celebrate innovative, forward-thinking small businesses from all over the world and help them achieve their dreams. This year, the global initiative will provide more than $630,000 in funding to Xero small business and nonprofit customers to help catalyze their growth plans and drive future success.
All Xero, small business customers with 1-50 employees operating on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in Canada (excluding Quebec) are eligible to apply and we welcome their submissions! This year, we’re looking for the best and brightest across a few key focus areas and we encourage any Xero small businesses who qualify to apply.
What are the specific funding categories for this year’s Beautiful Business Fund, and what types of projects or businesses are you looking to support?
This year, we’ll be awarding XBBF funding through four distinct funding categories:
- Innovating for environmental sustainability: This category is for a small business or non-profit who wants to take the next step in their environmental sustainability journey by minimizing their own environmental impact, enhancing the sustainability of current products or services, or developing new environmentally friendly products or services.
- Trailblazing with technology: This category is for a small business or non-profit that has a “future focus” mindset and is seeking to innovate. These businesses are adaptive, creative and resilient and know technology can help them thrive. They want to set the pace and lead the charge using new and emerging technologies that can supercharge their business into the future or disrupt the status quo.
- Strengthening community connection: This category is for a small business or non-profit that has a mission or purpose rooted in serving their communities and making a positive impact. These changemakers could be striving to make a difference in a community they serve, supporting underserved or marginalized groups or contributing to social good through innovative ideas or solutions.
- Upskilling for the future: This category is for a small business or non-profit that wants to overcome a skills gap — either through upskilling for themselves or their employees. These businesses/organizations have a growth mindset and see a path forward with greater access to training and professional development.
Each country and global winner can only win in one funding category, but there’s no limit on the number of categories that small businesses can apply for, so if a small business fits within multiple categories, we encourage them to submit for all that apply.
What is Xero’s primary goal in launching the Beautiful Business Fund, and how does it aim to impact small businesses in Canada?
Small business entrepreneurs have demonstrated incredible resilience, ingenuity and resourcefulness over the last few years, both here in Canada and abroad. We launched the Xero Beautiful Business fund to celebrate and encourage that ambition. As a small business platform, this initiative is close to our hearts and represents a natural extension of our purpose to make life better for small businesses, advisors and communities around the world.
Here in Canada, the fund is a tangible way for us to support small businesses that are developing creative solutions to today’s problems, powering new innovation and making a difference in their communities.
How does the Xero Beautiful Business Fund support small businesses, and what are some examples of how past winners have benefited from it?
The Xero Beautiful Business Fund will provide funding to Canadian organizations across each funding category, with one winner from each category receiving $15,000 to help grow their businesses and strengthen operations. Country winners are also eligible to win the global prize: an additional $40,000 in funding.
Last year, XBBF funding allowed the team at Scimar, a Canadian biotech company and winner of last year’s “Upskilling for the Future” category, to provide specialized training for its employees through the Truth2Action Reconciliation for Business program, which addresses the social and emotional damage caused to Indigenous Peoples, helping the team become more well-informed as the organization grows. For More Granola, a gourmet granola brand, winning the XBBF “Innovating for Sustainability” prize enabled the organization to take new steps forward toward its sustainability goals and look at improving its ingredient sourcing based on the sustainability of each ingredient in the long run.
For small businesses interested in applying, can you walk us through the application process and any key dates or requirements they should be aware of?
Entries for the Xero Beautiful Business fund are open now through August 27th, 2024 at 5:00pm NZT (that’s 1:00am ET here in Canada), and small businesses who are interested in applying for the fund can do so through Xero’s website. Once applicants have registered, they’ll be asked to provide a few key details about their business along with a 90-second pitch video, where business owners can sell judges on their business, and explain their plans for the funding and how it would support the business’ goals. Once a submission is received, it’s reviewed and scored by our panel of specialized judges based on funding category, who will determine the winners for both the country and global prizes.
This year’s winners will be revealed in October 2024, so stay tuned! For more information about how to apply, we encourage businesses to visit: https://www.xero.com/ca/events/xero-beautiful-business-fund/
