Platform and individuals charged in first case of its kind
Mahi Sall, Advisor, Fintech-Bank Partnerships, Payments and Financial Inclusivity
January 25th, 2023
Mahi Sall is the CEO & Founder of FinXpair, a Berlin-based strategic advisory boutique firm focu[...]
Search Results for: Go Fund Me
Goldman Sachs Funds Blockchain Payments Firm
Funding | Nov 17, 2023
Image: Unsplash/Shubham Dhage
Fnality raises £77.7M led by Goldman Sachs for a blockchain payment network, set to transform global financial transactions
Fnality, a blockchain-based wholesale payments firm, has successfully raised £77.7 million ($95.09 million) in its second round of funding. This round was led by Goldman Sachs alongside other prominent financial firms like BNP Paribas, DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura, and WisdomTree participated in this funding round.
With the latest funding, Fnality's total capital raised to date is £132.7 million.
The funds are earmarked for establishing a round-the-clock global liquidity management network, catering to new digital payment models in wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenized asset markets.
See: Understanding the Impact of Blockchain on Banking: Cross-Border Payments
Fnality's Evolution
Fnality International began as a research project focused on understanding how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) could transform financial markets. It evolved into a consortium of financial institutions exploring the use of Blockchain and DLT for tokenizing cash assets to settle securities trades, addressing challenges in Financial Market Infrastructures (FMI).
Key Developments:
- Utility Settlement Coin (USC) Project: The initiative was initially known as the USC Project, with a core objective to create a peer-to-peer digital cash asset for settling tokenized transactions with finality.
- Payment Solution Goals: The envisioned payment solution aimed to be available in multiple currencies, capable of interoperating across various business platforms, and represent a digital version of money held in central bank accounts.
After establishing the feasibility of their aims, the consortium members invested in creating Fnality International (Fnality) to enable 'on-chain' payment.
See: Bank Consortium to Launch “Paze” to Challenge Big Tech’s Fintech Dominance
Fnality now includes 17 major institutions as shareholders, such as Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Euroclear, ING, KBC Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Mizuho Financial Group, MUFG Bank, Nasdaq, Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, State Street Corporation, and UBS.
Next Steps
Fnality is awaiting approval from the Bank of England to commence operations, with plans to launch the Sterling Fnality Payment System in 2023. This system promises to be a game-changer, offering round-the-clock global liquidity management and supporting new digital payment models in both wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenized asset markets.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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OpEd: Should the Canadian Government Fund VC?
Rags to Riches | Vass Bednar | Feb 15, 2023
Image: Freepik
The market’s reality check is a welcome forcing function to rethink venture funding in Canada.
- A little while ago - all in one week - jobs cuts were announced at Lightspeed Commerce Inc., Clutch, Hootsuite, Thinkific Labs Inc. and Clearco. For the latter two, it was their second round of layoffs.
- Some of venture capital in Canada is dependent on the taxpayer, because government programs like the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development’s Venture Catalyst Initiative (VCI) funnelling fund from the state. That means that everyday people are backing some of the bets that venture capitalists make in Canada.
- In October 2022, Minister Ng announced new venture capital investments. If Canada is ranked third for VC investment according to the OECD
See: A Look at VCCI-2: Canada’s Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative Version 2
- Reporting: The money is tricky to track because of the ‘fund of funds’ structure. Consider Clearco: their Series A was partially supported by HarbourVest, and they got funds from the VCCI in 2017 and 2022. There’s hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars going through funds, to funds-of-funds, to different companies. There’s accountability to the partners of course - but the flow of funds itself is murky.
- Vass suggests: This moment in the market’s cycling should invite Canada to rethink how it intervenes in venture capital and private equity markets. Governments should choose to get out of the business of venture funding, for that lies at the crux of our national innovation failure: the reality that banks and businesses are hardly backing risk with substantive funds of their own.
- Capitalism is the better way: Venture capitalists should take the bold risks of investing because they are properly incentivized to succeed. If a VC gets sloppy and loses massively on an investment, that’s their problem. There is nobody to bail them out because there is no need to – the primary responsibility of VC funds are to their limited partners (LPs), and they are supposed to take the highest risks in capitalism.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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William Shatner Feature-length Documentary Reaches $790,000 Equity Crowdfunding Goal (less than a week)
Variety | | Jan 31, 2023
Image: Wikipedia, William Shatner
William Shatner fans bought up all the shares in the actor’s forthcoming feature-length documentary “You Can Call Me Bill” in less than a week — shelling out nearly $790,000 and topping the film’s crowdfunding goal.
- Legion M’s equity crowdfunding round for the Shatner documentary, exploring the life and career of the beloved 91-year-old actor, as of Monday had sold out from reservation holders before the company opened the offering to the public. Within four days, the project raised $789,655 from 1,338 investors.
- Distribution: The documentary has a production budget of $565,101, according to Legion M’s listing. After “You Can Call Me Bill” deducts expenses to third parties for accounting, legal, marketing and administrative fees, 100% of any revenue generated will be distributed proportionally to the film’s investors until they have recouped their initial investment. Any additional net revenue after that will be split, with 33% going to shareholders and 67% distributed to the producers of the film.
- With the Shatner doc, fans were able to invest directly in the Shatner documentary for a minimum of $100, subject to certain SEC restrictions, and they will recoup their money before any profits are shared with Shatner, Legion M or the film’s producer.
- The film is touted as “an intimate portrait of William Shatner’s personal journey across nine decades of a boldly lived and fully realized life.” The documentary “strips away all the masks he has worn during his storied career” — from Captain James T. Kirk to T.J. Hooker and from Alexander the Great to the Priceline Negotiator — “to reveal the man behind it all.”
See: Equity Crowdfunding Growth: It Took UK Seedrs 8 Years to Raise the First £1Billion and Only 2 Years for the Next Billion
William Shatner:
“For years I’ve had people approaching me to do a documentary about my life, but I turned them all down because it didn’t feel like the right fit. When I heard how Legion M wanted to incorporate audiences to be a part of it, it was perfect. Fans have been responsible for my career — it only seems right that they should own this doc.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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SEC takes legal action after crowdfunded marijuana investment scheme appears to go up in smoke
The Register | Tim Richardson | Sep 21, 2021
Platform and individuals charged in first case of its kind
US financial watchdogs have launched legal action against a cannabis-related investment scheme said to be the first case involving crowdfunding regulation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against three people – named as Robert Shumake Jr, Willard Jackson, and Nicole Birch – and Texan firm 420 Real Estate in the Eastern District court in Michigan, claiming the trio had been involved in selling nearly $2m in unregistered securities through two crowdfunding schemes.
See: Crowdfunding Is Revolutionizing The Cannabis Industry. Here’s Why.
The SEC also charged the registered funding portal that hosted the offerings – TruCrowd – and its CEO Vicent Petrescu (name spelled as listed), with violating Section 4A(a)(5) of the Securities Act and violating crowdfunding rules, alleging they "served as gatekeepers and, as such, were responsible for taking measures to reduce the risk of fraud."
In papers filed yesterday [PDF], Shumake, Jackson and Birch were accused of marketing both offerings as "opportunities for investors to share in bountiful profits from the cannabis industry, by acquiring real estate and leasing it to companies engaged in the business of growing cannabis."
However, the complaint lodged by the SEC claimed that none of the money raised had been used to "acquire or improve cannabis real estate" as set out.
"None of the investors in either crowdfunding offering has received any return on their investment, and few investors have recovered any of the funds they invested," the watchdog said.
See: SEC Votes to Approve Changes to Regulation Crowdfunding Increasing the Maximum Raise to $5 Million
Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement said:
"As companies continue to raise funds through crowdfunding, it will continue to make sure all involved are "accountable" and, if needs be, "enforce the protections in place for all investors."
Last year, the SEC relaxed the rules around crowdfunding limits, raising the ceiling from $1m to $5m.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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European Government Funds May Get Distributed by European Crowdfunding Platforms
Crowdfund Insider | | Jul 26, 2021
Recently, a report was published regarding the European Commission distributing European (ESIF) funds through European crowdfunding platforms. Obviously, if this occurs it will be a boon for both platforms and issuers.
The report was written by Karsten Wenzlaff, Ana Odorovic and Ronald Kleverlaan, along with consulting firm PwC. The authors are well known in the European Fintech and crowdfunding sectors.
Crowdfund Insider connected with the authors of the report. Wenzlaff told CI:
“The Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) are the main instrument for the European Union to create long-term growth and cohesion and achieve the policy objectives – it is a huge budget which has increased again for the next budget period 2021-2027. The way it works is that each country gets a certain amount and then the so-called Managing Authorities (MAs) are in charge of distributing the funds according to guidelines by the European Commission. These Managing Authorities are often Ministries for Infrastructure or Development Agency. The vast amount of funds is distributed through grants.”
Wenzlaff explained that the breakthrough of this report is because, for the first time, the European Commission has created templates for the collaboration between the MAs and the crowdfunding platforms. But it has much more relevance beyond that because other public authorities on the regional and the national level can use these templates to collaborate with crowdfunding platforms.
See: GOOD NEWS: Canadian securities regulators adopt new nationally harmonized start-up crowdfunding rules
Wenzlaff said they also consider financial instruments, including equity investments and loans. Since usually grants are given to companies, this is also a huge step, because the introduction of financial instruments in public support means that the private investors can be paired with public money, the public authorities can support the private investor directly through credit risk guarantees or indirectly through co-investing.
The report provides an overview of the current status of the crowdfunding industry in Europe and the potential to use crowdfunding platforms by public authorities to realize the ambitions of the Cohesion Policy and provide funding to projects through crowdfunding platforms. A recent blog post by Kleverlaan outlines the relatively new European Crowdfunding Regulation (ECSP) stating that it should boost the development of crowdfunding across the EU. The ECSP allows platforms to operate across the EU based on a single set of rules, under the supervision of the financial regulator in each Member State. The new rules are expected to become actionable in November of 2021.
The European Cohesion Policy is described as one of the key instruments of the European Union with a substantial budget of €373 billion. The report touts the opportunity for ESIF Managing Authorities (MAs) to take advantage of crowdfunding platforms to channel resources towards segments of the market that may be underserved yet important to the European economy.
See: Recent Decision by UK Financial Ombudsman Service Challenges Investment Crowdfunding Model
Kleverlaan explained that the new ECSP regulation is a catalyst for enabling the European Commission and the Managing Authorities to develop models to work together with crowdfunding platforms, due to the harmonized legal framework.
“We have identified several case studies in which public authorities already implemented a procurement process to select a crowdfunding platform for a project of several years in which match funding instruments were implemented.”
When asked if a managing authority (the government) investing funds in a private firm is the best use of public money, Kleverlaan said they have identified four different blueprint models of how MAs can start working with crowdfunding platforms, each with advantages and disadvantages.
- Providing grants outside a crowdfunding campaign
- Investing through a lending-based crowdfunding platform
- Providing guarantees to investors
- Operating a crowdfunding platform
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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BC tech orgs lobby federal, provincial governments for scale-up funding
Betakit | | Oct 19, 2020
A collection of innovation-focused organizations in British Columbia (BC) are pushing the federal and provincial governments to bring the Ontario-focused Scale-Up Platform out west, BetaKit has learned.
The group is seeking funding from both the federal and provincial governments, with an ask of $31 million from Western Economic Diversification, the federal government’s regional development agency (RDA) for Western Canada. The group, which consists of 11 innovation organizations, is looking to use the funding to support high-potential companies in BC.
See: ‘We don’t have enough money’: Tech leaders debate constraints at Vancouver Startup Week
The 11 innovation organizations pitching the governments include Vancouver-based groups like the BC Tech Association, SFU venture labs, and Entrepreneurship at UBC. Regional organizations onboard include Accelerate Okanagan, Nanaimo’s Innovation Island, Kamloops Innovation Center, and Victoria-based VIATEC, among others.
Jill Tipping, CEO of the BC Tech Association, told BetaKit the hope is that capital for a BC Scale-Up initiative will be included in the federal 2021 budget. The organizations claim the funding would allow them to pool their resources and offer tailored services and programming to various high-potential companies in their respective communities.
Ontario’s four-year Scale-Up initiative was launched in April 2019 with $52.4 million in funding. The capital was provided to Communitech, MaRS District, and Invest Ottawa, which committed to collaborating to help 30 Ontario companies scale up, with the goal of seeing those companies achieve revenues of $100 million or more, by 2024.
The $52.4 million for Ontario organizations was provided through FedDev Ontario, the RDA for southern Ontario, with a portion coming from the Ontario government.
See: How Governments Should Use Crowdfunding to Battle the Economic Impact of #Socialdistancing
“The Ontario program, which was launched in April 2019, was a fantastic model,” Tipping told BetaKit. She noted that the BC tech organizations’ lobby efforts very much based on the Ontario initiative. The group has taken “the very best of the Ontario program,” she stated, with some tweaks to make it work “for the BC context.”
“BC tech companies are a bit smaller than Ontario’s tech companies to start with,” Tipping said. “The key difference is [our BC] platform has a little bit more support at the earlier stage and is supporting companies at a slightly earlier stage than the Ontario program, but supporting them through to achieve exactly the same kinds of outcome.”
Conversations to bring the Scale-Up initiative to BC began in January 2020, prior to COVID-19, according to Tipping.
While the BC organizations are in talks with their provincial government about the initiative, the key focus is on the federal government. Tipping noted the group has briefed the BC government and asked them to consider partnering, but has yet to determine how much capital they are lobbying the provincial government for. This is likely due to the fact that conversations with the BC government have stalled due to COVID-19 and the current election.
“[The response has been] really positive around what we’re trying to achieve and what the objectives are, and the need to keep technology front and center for any economic development platform,” she said. “But COVID-19 and the government programs to address COVID have also put a bit of a strain on finances. There’s a lot of demand on the government for funding right now.”
See: Governments, Don’t Let your Startups and Scaleups Die
BC’s proposed Scale-Up funding would differ from the Ontario program, mostly in size and scale. Tipping told BetaKit the goal for the BC program is to help 600 companies, add an extra 8,000 direct jobs, and to help approximately 20 BC businesses scale to have revenues of $50 million or more by the end of the program.
“We have all of the key ingredients for success: we’ve got innovators, we’ve got people willing to take entrepreneurial risk, we’ve got people rushing to get customers,” Tipping said. “They’re achieving product-market fit, they’re getting started, and yet consistently, the persistent problem over time in BC is that [companies] seem to struggle to grow.”
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Canadian Micro-Needle brand PKA SoftTouch reaches early goal on first equity crowdfunding campaign for ground-breaking medical technology.
PKA SoftTouch | Dick Crawford | Jun 4, 2020
LAKEFIELD, Ontario, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PKA SoftTouch Corp., www.pkasofttouch.com, the Canadian-based developer of the medically-urgent Microneedle, is nearing the end of its successful preliminary equity crowdfunding campaign, surpassing an early target of $110,870 sixteen days before the close. Canadians can invest from $250 via Canada’s leading equity crowdfunding platform FrontFundr at https://www.frontfundr.com/PKASoftTouch.
This campaign situates the company well as it moves to an ultimate goal of $412,000 for animal clinical trials at the Ontario Veterinary College of the University of Guelph, ON of its painless, instantly disposable medication delivery system. These trials will be followed quickly by human clinical trials since the Micro-Needle works on both animals and humans.
The Micro-Needle is expected to cut deeply into the traditional needle injection market, via licensing agreements and milestone payments with pharmaceutical suppliers. The small, disposable cylinder-shaped device injects medication directly beneath the skin layer, avoids the nerves that cause pain. It combines the applicator and drug in one pre-measured dose, which is injected directly into the skin. The device is comprised of a top cap with a plunger, inner chamber, bottom chamber, spring, and drug bubble made of special plastic film and a needle of pharmaceutical-grade stainless steel.
See: Raising Capital in a Pandemic World
To date, 80 investors, many of them first-timers, have invested in the groundbreaking technology at FrontFundr. There are 14 days left in the campaign, which ends June 18. This early and successful raise will pay for the necessary revision of mechanical operability of the device, review of sterility and bubble-production procedures ensuring compatibility with regulatory protocols and maintenance of approvals of U.S. patent applications.
The Microneedle’s technology is timely thanks to the unprecedented global burden of chronic disease and the present pandemic crisis, which is crying out for an effective vaccine as the death toll climbs daily. The worldwide vaccine market was estimated at $779 billion before the onset of COVID-19 and the animal drug market in Canada is expected to reach $1.3 million by 2024.
Investors are drawn to both the moral purpose behind the painless lifesaving medication injection delivery and also to the excitement of being on the ground floor of the unique patented technology in its march to the pharmaceutical marketplace. Derek Green, Peterborough-based realtor, cancer survivor and PKA crowdfunding investor, says he looks for a level of empathy and human concern when investing that “goes deeper than the balance sheet, and the team at PKA SoftTouch has that.”
“This changes the game completely,” says investor Carol Raponi, district manager, Peterborough and Lindsay District Axe Clubs Inc. “The PKA Microneedle can transform vaccination time for children into a painless and stress-free process, and for any medication delivery requiring injection. It’s also exciting to get to jump on this technology early. Any technology that simplifies health care delivery and takes away worry will take off in the marketplace.”
About PKA SoftTouch
The PKA SoftTouch Micro-Needle addresses the increasing global need for humans and animals to administer lifesaving drugs in a painless, safe, inexpensive and simple manner. Patented worldwide, their pre-filled micro-needle technology is the only effective device that injects medication into the skin layers where there are no nerves and therefore no pain. Positioned to replace the traditional syringe delivery of drugs, they aim to enhance the quality of life for millions of users worldwide. PKASoftTouch is in its final weeks of financing on the FrontFundr platform and on-track to launching its final clinical trials. Those wanting to invest can find the campaign at https://www.frontfundr.com/PKASoftTouch.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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