Sean Rayland-Boubar was shaking like a leaf as he stepped up to pitch his social enterprise, Red Rebel Armour, at the Indigenous Venture Challenge finals.

“It’s always nerve-wracking, especially when you know there are other high-level entrepreneurs there. You feel like you have to be some expert or something,” said Rayland-Boubar. “But what always helps me is just grounding myself in who I am.”

It paid off. He won the national challenge, earning $50,000 in funding after being selected from a total of 77 Indigenous businesses across Canada. He said the funding will help stabilize Red Rebel Armour’s finances while supporting inventory, advertising and continued expansion.

A 2022 graduate of RRC Polytech’s Social Innovation and Community Development program, ​​Rayland-Boubar said what he learned continues to shape how he runs his business.

“Human-centered design is at the heart of what we do. We frame it as paid, flexible on-the-job training in a culturally safe work environment. That’s a big skill I retained,” he said. “And business development in general, from planning to launching a minimum viable product.”

He also credits the college as an ongoing partner in the business’s growth. “RRC Polytech has been one of our main supporters,” said Rayland-Boubar.

Since October 2025, Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah, RRC Polytech’s Indigenous business incubator and accelerator, has been working closely with Rayland-Boubar to advance the next stage of Red Rebel Armour’s growth. Amy Jackson, Director of Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah, said he was the ideal candidate to pilot a new accelerator program in partnership with FlintHub, Manitoba Innovates and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

“Sean really is that champion in Manitoba who’s been pushing through all the challenges,” said Jackson. “So I feel like working with Sean specifically is a really great way for us to learn more about how we can support established Indigenous entrepreneurs… we want them to be sustainable for the long term.”

Through the accelerator, Rayland-Boubar has access to a fractional COO and an advisory committee that has been offering expertise and connections across operations, finance and marketing.

He’s also mentored entrepreneurs in the four-month incubator through workshops and served as a judge for the program’s pitch competition. Jackson said Rayland-Boubar will serve as one of two community leaders mentoring entrepreneurs as Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah’s accelerator expands.

“He’s come into our ecosystem as somebody who contributes by inspiring our entrepreneurs, but also somebody that we also work with in discovering ways that we could be giving back to him as well.”

Jackson said this reciprocal approach reflects Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah’s broader philosophy. “Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to build and scale their businesses, but also to take up that position of leadership in the community.”

Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah is already preparing its next group, with four entrepreneurs from the incubator set to transition into the newly formed accelerator this winter.

At the incubator’s pitch competition, Rayland-Boubar sat on the other side of the judging table and told participants not to shy away from building profitable businesses.

“It’s so cool to see that everybody’s community focused, but one of the things I mentioned is that it’s okay to make money too,” he said. “The social impact is always important, but we have to make money while we’re doing it, so it makes it sustainable.”