TD Partners with The Weekend's Hxouse to form Black Hxouse

By Nick Krewen

Prior to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing a new $221M Black Enterpreneurship business investment initiative from Hxouse, the Queen Quay-based incubator financed in part by Abel "The Weeknd " Tesfaye,  last week, TD Bank Group threw its hat into the ring to sponsor Black Hxouse, a leadership and entrepreneurial  development initiative.

Aimed to provide Black, Indigenous and People of Colour with mentorship, tools, learning and networking opportunities, it is believed that TD Bank Group is providing a six-figure investment to help empower qualifying individuals.

Hxouse was launched in Toronto in 2018 by Tesfaye, his creative director La Mar Taylor and sports and entertainment marketer Ahmed Ismail with an initial investment of $6M and is located within the Artscape Daniels Launchpad.

Consisting of 35,000 square feet of studios and workspaces for  jewellers, photographers, fashion, graphic and digital design, Hxouse has provided state-of-the-art recording studios for practical experience for aspiring creatives in the building, which occupies the site that was formerly the homes of RPM, The Warehouse and The Guvernment night clubs.

Artists and music professionals affiliated with Hxouse  as educators include producers Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels, Ebony "WondaGurl" Oshunrinde, Metro Boomin' and Kasseem "Swiss Beatz" Dean and artists Halsey and Daniel "Oneohtrix Point Never" Lopatin and Mustafa "The Poet" Ahmed, among other creatives.