Community Futures Partnership: MOMENTUM Business Accelerator
- Community Futures Howe Sound
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
MOMENTUM is a Squamish-grown business accelerator, with the sole purpose of helping entrepreneurs turn their bright ideas into profitable companies.
It all started with Niklas Mey, a “human obsessed with bringing people together. His impressive background includes working with major brands such as Poparide, Spare, and Wonderpack. And now, Community Futures Howe Sound has partnered with him to support the growth of MOMENTUM, as it in turn supports entrepreneurs in the region.
We chatted with Niklas to learn more about how it all works.
What is MOMENTUM?
MOMENTUM is a business accelerator based in Squamish, BC, that helps you turn business ideas into real companies.
Our flagship program is a 7-week Foundations Sprint designed for 12 peers to go from idea to revenue. It provides founders with structured support and expert guidance to prove their vision, accelerate progress with AI, and create a real company.
It's for people with drive and great ideas, no matter their location, technical skills, or audience. If entrepreneurship felt out of reach before, MOMENTUM makes it accessible.
Why did you start MOMENTUM?
After 10 years in tech and innovation, last year stood out. AI dropped the barriers to building a business so much that suddenly, everyday people did it and started working on their own terms. To me, the future of work was clearly more fractional, more independent.
As I saw this wake up old dreams among friends, peers, and strangers, one thing hit me: most of us were struggling to actually make it work. As I had many times before, too.
So I started asking: What does it actually take? What's still missing for people to fully embrace this new professional freedom?
I’m biased toward action, so I started a community project here in Squamish to figure it out. Six months and incredible feedback later, it became MOMENTUM.
Asking for a friend, what does a typical 7-week sprint look like?
You’d pick a business idea and build alongside 12 others going through the same structured support and expert guidance.
We meet as a group on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work on customer discovery, idea validation, and marketing together. Fridays are for 1-1s with me and some more personal guidance. Halfway through, we do a 48-hour hackathon for that extra boost. And, we close out with a demo day to celebrate our progress.
For most people, this will sound quite intense. But for the right few, it’s pure joy and exactly what gets them to the next level.
What advice would you give someone starting out?
Businesses grow when you do! What stops most people isn’t the latest marketing tactic, perfect AI tool, or missing camera! It’s the internal stuff, the limiting beliefs, doubts, and fears.
Looking back, most of my breakthroughs happened when I was ruminating, 'Am I ready?' or 'What if I fail?' But once I leaned in and took action, they all dissolved.
So my advice? Don’t wait, prepare, or time the market. Take tiny baby steps towards your dreams every day! You’ll be surprised by how quickly progress compounds.
Tell me about one of your success stories?
I love this question because we have such a range coming through the program!
But if I were to highlight my local hero, it would be Elijah from Abbotsford. He’s helping small, local businesses with his AI marketing automation platform MarketMonkey AI. He went off to a “solid start with 7 active, paying customers using the app” within his 7 weeks.
Overall, 50+ people joined one of our sprints over the last 6 months, and 37% of them built real, revenue-generating companies. I’m proud of every single participant, knowing what courage and grit it takes to own and pursue one’s business idea.
How do you partner with Community Futures?
We share the belief that entrepreneurship should be accessible to everyone with drive and a great idea, regardless of their starting point.
Whether through Community Future’s small business loans and business development support or MOMENTUM’s founder network and Foundations Sprints, we’re removing barriers that stop Canadians from starting and running successful businesses!
Our goal is simple: more entrepreneurs building companies that strengthen our local communities and boost our economy. “Through our partnership with Momentum, we bring an innovative business ecosystem program to local entrepreneurs in our community.
Combining access to capital with accountability and structure allows us to support founders early-on and help them turn great ideas into thriving businesses,” - Kieran Hale, Executive Director at Community Futures Howe Sound.
What’s next for MOMENTUM?
The next cohort of our flagship program, a 7-week Foundations Sprint, starts February 19th. Join if you’re ready to give your idea a solid go!
Contact Nik at nik@momentum.builders to apply.
About the founder and MOMENTUM
Nik brings deep business-building expertise from working with BC’s most innovative companies, like Spare and Poparide, and pioneering AI at Wonderpack and now with MOMENTUM itself.
He pairs this with extensive training as an embodiment coach, providing holistic support that addresses not just business strategy, but also the personal challenges of change.
MOMENTUM is a business accelerator based in Squamish, BC, helping everyday people turn ideas into revenue-generating companies, no matter their location, technical skills, or audience.
With a 37% success rate, the next cohort of its flagship program, a 7-week Foundations Sprint, starts Feb 19. Sponsorships available through Community Futures.
For additional FAQ, scroll to the bottom of https://momentum.builders/foundations-sprint
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