The video captures the closing pitch competition of the Rise & Scale Bermuda Business Accelerator, a five‑week program organized by the Founders Institute in partnership with UNDP, UN Women’s Build Back Equal initiative, the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, and the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors. Program Analyst Jamaro Marville (UNDP Jamaica) opens by framing the accelerator as a vehicle for women, youth, and persons with disabilities‑led enterprises to build capacity, confidence, and market‑ready products for international investors. Participants such as Tenilia, Wayne, and several local entrepreneurs share personal stories that illustrate the importance of supporting women‑owned businesses as community anchors, the difficulty of accessing capital, expertise, and global networks, and the need for inclusive support for disabled entrepreneurs. The dialogue emphasizes that Bermuda’s reputation for the Bermuda Triangle should be complemented by a reputation for high‑quality products and services, and that under‑represented talent can drive economic growth when given platforms and partnerships. The event concludes with reflections on the challenges of access, the role of stakeholder collaboration, and the broader goal of scaling Bermudian innovation to the global market.
Chapters
I'm Tenilia.
I'm Wayne.
And I'm Jamaro.
Welcome to Bermuda!
¡Hola!
My name is Jamaro Marville, Program Analyst from the UNDP Jamaica Multi-Country Office, and I'm delighted to be here with Founders Institute for the culmination of the Rise and Scale Bermuda Business Accelerator Program. Today concludes with the pitch competition This initiative is a part of the Build Back Equal joint initiative, which is led by UN Women. UNDP is pleased to be here with other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, and the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation in the successful implementation of this amazing program. Over the last 5 weeks, we have been working with entrepreneurs, primarily women, youth, and persons with disabilities-led enterprises, in building their capacity for their products and services for the international market.
Market.
We are ensuring that this evening we are placing these entrepreneurs in front of international investors. We are building the capacity and their confidence, ensuring that they are able to take their products and services to the next level so that we can definitely see an increase as it relates to productivity here within the Bermudian landscape. Once again, we're delighted to have each and every one of you here with us this evening, and thank you once again.
Good morning!
Have a great day!
When I visit other countries and I'm a visitor and they say, "Where are you from?" I say, "Bermuda," and they say, "Oh, the Bermuda Triangle." And so Bermuda is known for the Bermuda Triangle, but what we are not known for is our products and services enough or as much as we would like to. We know that economies run off of people and having access to other people and the goods and services that other people produce and provide. For any economy, that is a plus and that is a win.
I think that the entrepreneurial journey is a difficult one. It oftentimes is a solo one, but I really want to express that it doesn't have to be. There are people, there are networks, there are organizations that want to support every single entrepreneur through their journey, and, and it's It's also important to understand that not every idea will be a success, but failure is only a means to an end, right? It is not a determination of who you are. And so it's important for us to support entrepreneurs in that journey and be exposed to opportunities for inclusion and impact.
I want people to receive me just like they receive everybody else, but the truth of the matter is I'm blind, so I will always need that additional support. If I don't ask for it, I won't get it, and therefore I end up blocking myself.
Morning. Morning. Celebrity.
I said be careful, there's a local celebrity.
I think there's a local celebrity too. Hey, Bob.
Are you eating this?
How is the colors?
It's pink.
Red.
Ah, I didn't wear it all March, April, May. Spanish. So I'm from the more central parishes, and I moved to St. George's about 20 years ago, and that is when I really truly fell in love with the history of the country. I bought a bookshop that was actually next door in the historic building here, and being in that historic space, looking up at the cedar beams, I think, you know, I'd wonder whose ancestors cut these beams, who carved this block. This town is hundreds of years old, and just being here inspired me to be more involved with learning about Bermuda Bermuda's history and then sharing what I've learned with, with the world. So in Bermuda, we have lots of women-owned businesses, and when we're talking about supporting a woman's own business, you know, she's often supporting her family, she's heavily involved in her community as well. So for empowering a female entrepreneur, you're empowering a community. Here in St. George's, so many of the businesses are women-owned. The people that are heavily involved in running the leadership of the town, doing cultural tours and experiences in the in town are women. So for me, I feel like when you're investing in a woman, you're investing in a community.
Underrepresented segments are the most powerful ones, and I feel like they are overlooked a lot of the time, and a lot of the talent is hidden, and a lot of the talent doesn't get the platform that it needs.
One of the major challenges that I have faced is access. Access to resources, access to, um, international experts, access to capital, and partnering with organizations that are outside of Bermuda who have more of a breadth of knowledge and access to those resources will significantly benefit us in Bermuda, helping us to reach our goals and objectives with our companies.
I found in Bermuda women are doing phenomenal things and have opportunities to do such great things that may not have been thought of as women's roles in the past. And so I really believe that because women have children and They understand about how to take care of children. They understand about how to take care of generations below and above. They are quite often in that sandwich, you know, the sandwich generation, as we say, having children on one side, parents on the other, and they're able to handle it all. And so with compassion and with a heart in lots of different ways. And so I believe that this is the year, the decade of the woman, as we see all over the world, women in leadership. And I believe it's that time for women here in Bermuda. There's no limit. We can do anything. The sky is truly the limit.
