PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs

What PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs does

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs is a Canadian registered charity (legally the Young Entrepreneurs of Canada Association, BN 784382285RR0001), founded in 1999 and headquartered in Canada, that delivers a 6-week in-school entrepreneurship program to students in grades 4 through 8. The core curriculum is structured around six modules — business ideation, market research, financial planning, marketing development, business plan refinement, and a culminating Young Entrepreneur Show — built on four pedagogical values: Challenge, Action, Plan, and Reflection. Program delivery is facilitated by classroom teachers using a turnkey Teacher Resources Package (Comprehensive Teacher Manual, Student Workbooks, Parent Info Guides, videos, online tutorials) and supported by the National Collaborative Learning Network (NCLN), a peer platform connecting PowerPlay educators across Canada.

The product portfolio extends beyond the core curriculum to include the PowerPlay Innovator Club (extracurricular workshops, mentorship, scholarships, and the Young Women Founders pillar event) and the EmPower Accelerator Program (advanced mentorship for continuing student entrepreneurs). The technology stack is modest: a Squarespace-hosted public website (powerplay4success.com), a Squarespace-hosted online courses portal (onlinecourses.powerplayforsuccess.com) for teacher sign-in, and Vimeo-hosted documentaries including Mindset Matters (2017). Program effectiveness has been validated through formal research partnerships with Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business and Johns Hopkins University's Center for Research and Reform in Education, with documented outcome gains in creative thinking (33%), problem-solving (29%), communication skills (38%), and overcoming fear of rejection (36%).

The organization operates as a donation- and grant-funded nonprofit with no fees charged to schools or students. Suggested donation tiers are $25 per student, $625 per class, and $2,500 per school, with all contributions receiving Canadian tax receipts. Funding is sourced from a small set of repeat foundation donors — Charles & Eve Chang Foundation (founding donor), CIBC Foundation, TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, Rogers Youth Grants, and Victoria Foundation — alongside individual donations and corporate volunteer engagement. Cumulative reach cited by the organization includes 180,000+ student participants, $450,000+ donated by youth to charitable causes through their PowerPlay businesses, and 750+ community member engagements. Customer segments span students (primary beneficiary), educators and teachers (delivery channel), schools and school districts (institutional adopters), parents and families, and community volunteers. Geographic footprint is Canadian, with documented operations in British Columbia and New Brunswick (including the Elsipogtog First Nation community).

Name

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs

Legal name

Young Entrepreneurs of Canada Association

Website

https://powerplay4success.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Short description

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs is a Canadian registered charity that delivers a 6-week in-school entrepreneurship program for grades 4-8 students, supplemented by the Innovator Club and EmPower Accelerator, reaching 180,000+ students across Canada through teacher-led delivery and foundation funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMAHAA

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

SECONDARYEDAMAHAE

Financial Literacy, Budgeting & Personal Finance

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

SECONDARYEDAMAHAG

Marketing, Branding & Sales Skills

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

SECONDARYEDAMAHAK

Social Entrepreneurship & Impact Business

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

SECONDARYEDAMAHAB

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

Keywords

• Youth entrepreneurship education
• Experiential learning curriculum
• School-based financial literacy
• Charitable education programs
• K-8 business education

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: PowerPlay operates as a Canadian charity (784382285RR0001) funded primarily through donations. Individual donations provide program access for students ($25/student), classes ($625/class), or schools ($2500/school). Tax receipts are issued for all contributions.
2. Foundation Grants: Funding from corporate foundations including CIBC Foundation, TELUS Friendly Future Foundation ($20,000 community board grant), Rogers Youth Grants, and Victoria Foundation. Grants support program expansion and community initiatives.
3. Corporate Sponsorship: Partnerships with corporations providing financial support, volunteer engagement, and community partnerships. Founding donor Charles & Eve Chang Foundation helped launch the charity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs operates a 6-week experiential entrepreneurship curriculum for grades 4-8 students, delivered through Canadian schools at no cost. Students create their own businesses through six structured modules covering idea generation, market research, financial planning, marketing, business plan refinement, and a final Young Entrepreneur Show. The program is supported by a Teacher Resources Package, an online learning portal, and the National Collaborative Learning Network (NCLN) for educators.

Product overview

PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs is a Canadian charity offering an integrated educational program portfolio centered on its core 6-week curricular program for grades 4-8 students. The core program teaches students to create their own businesses through six structured modules. This is supplemented by the PowerPlay Innovator Club (extracurricular workshops, mentorship, scholarships, events) and the EmPower Accelerator Program (advanced mentorship for continuing student entrepreneurs). Key resources include the Teacher Resources Package (manual, workbooks, videos, tutorials) and the National Collaborative Learning Network for educator support. The portfolio also includes the Young Women Founders Event and the Mindset Matters Documentary. The programs align with provincial curricula across Math, English, Social Studies, and Design & Technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PowerPlay Innovators Club: An extracurricular offering that includes workshops, extended mentorship opportunities, scholarships, and events for students building upon their PowerPlay journey.
• EmPower Accelerator Program
• Young Women Founders Event

Products and services

• PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs Curricular Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 33% increase in creative thinking among program participants (Simon Fraser University research)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor, founding and supporting.

• Simon Fraser University - Beedie School of BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted research study demonstrating program outcomes including 33% increase in creative thinking, 29% in problem-solving, and 38% in communication skills. Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship at SFU was established through Charles Chang's $10 million donation.
• Johns Hopkins University - Center for Research and Reform in EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted qualitative evaluation study on Young PowerPlay Leaders (YPL) project examining implementation activities, program impacts on student engagement, self-efficacy, attendance, and academic achievement.
• Make-A-Wish FoundationminorOthersStudents like Layla (Bookmark Boutique) choose to donate a portion of their PowerPlay business profits to Make-A-Wish Foundation as part of the program's emphasis on giving back to community.
• Young Entrepreneurs of Canada AssociationfoundingOthersParent organization of PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs. Registered charity #784382285RR0001. Oversees program development, funding, and strategic direction.
• United Nations Sustainable Development GoalssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPowerPlay aligns with UN SDGs including Quality Education (Goal 4), Gender Equality (Goal 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), and Reduced Inequalities (Goal 10), demonstrating commitment to global education objectives.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Enactus: Global nonprofit engaging university students in entrepreneurial community projects. Comparable in the youth-entrepreneurship-education category but focused on post-secondary rather than K-8; useful as an aspirational extension path for PowerPlay's older alumni.

Others

• Ashoka's Youth Venture / Ashoka Canada: Global social-entrepreneurship organization supporting young changemakers and venture creation among youth. Comparable in the social-entrepreneurship framing and youth-development mission that PowerPlay also emphasizes through its charitable-giving outcome.
• Canadian Centre for Cyber Safety (Canadian nonprofit ecosystem partners): Not a direct competitor but a representative adjacent category — government and nonprofit organizations delivering supplementary curriculum into Canadian K-8 classrooms through similar teacher-training and partner-funded channels that PowerPlay also navigates.

Direct peers

• DECA (formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America): International student organization preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Comparable as a youth business/entrepreneurship education program, though DECA is more competition-and-club driven and skews high school.
• Lemonade Day: National youth entrepreneurship initiative that teaches kids to start and run their own lemonade-stand businesses. Highly comparable experiential entrepreneurship program for grades K-8 with a youth-charitable-giving angle and corporate sponsor base (Google, Amazon).
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): US-based nonprofit that delivers entrepreneurship education curricula to middle and high school students, particularly in under-resourced communities. Directly comparable as an in-school youth entrepreneurship program with validated outcomes, corporate funding, and a focus on grades 6-12 — overlapping PowerPlay's grades 4-8 niche.
• BizWorld Foundation: US nonprofit delivering project-based entrepreneurship curricula to elementary and middle school students. Closely comparable target age band (overlapping grades 4-8), school-delivery model, and nonprofit/CSR-funded structure.
• Junior Achievement Canada: The Canadian arm of Junior Achievement, the largest global youth entrepreneurship and work-readiness education nonprofit. JA Canada delivers in-school K-12 programs (Company Program, Economics for Success, etc.) funded by corporate partners and governments — directly comparable mission, delivery model, and funder base to PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs.

Regional players

• Young Enterprise (UK): UK-based charity delivering enterprise and financial education programs to students aged 4-25 across UK schools. Highly comparable in mission, school-delivery model, and nonprofit-funded structure, but serves a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• Junior Achievement (Global): Global umbrella network of JA organizations reaching over 10 million students annually in 100+ countries. The closest broad-incumbent analogue to PowerPlay, offering an overlapping curriculum library and substantially larger scale and geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PowerPlayYE

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs