Dan Carriere

Chairman, 100 Urban Entrepreneurs

For the past two decades, Dan Carriere, 49, has made his mark financing, developing and selling small- and medium-cap companies, both public and private, in the United States and his native Canada. Ten-figure acquisitions are certainly nice — but his greatest motivation, he says, is the intrinsic connection he feels to those determined to improve themselves in the face of steep odds.

He was thus moved to cofound 100 Urban Entrepreneurs in an effort, as he puts it, to help young entrepreneurs in search of “a hand up, not a handout.” The nonprofit foundation is seeding promising businesses with $10,000 each in startup financing, as well as offering intensive mentoring and networking assistance. “I decided to become involved because I’ve never seen a community more eager to help themselves than young people in urban America,” he says. “The greatest determination and best new ideas will come from this community if only they can get access to the kinds of tools, resources and real-world experiences that 100UE can provide.”

Carriere is well-placed to make that assist; he has built his career by recognizing and developing high-potential companies in need of a sensible growth strategy and capable management. He was a founding partner of Corriente Resources, a natural-resources and commodities exploration firm that recently sold for $700 million, and a founder and director of ID Biomedical, a vaccine manufacturer that he helped transform from a tiny concern (its market capitalization was just $3 million when it went public in 1991) to an industry leader acquired for $1.7 billion by GlaxoSmithKline in 2005.

Carriere’s desire to help young entrepreneurs stems from his own experience as an autodidact whose formal education ended after high school. “I encourage everyone to seek a higher education if they can, but sometimes that’s difficult,” he says. “If you’re not able to, then have the courage to follow your dreams. I’ve been a company builder all my life — and because of what it accomplishes, 100 Urban Entrepreneurs is the movement I now want to help build. We’re creating jobs in urban America today.”