Rojin Nair, Advisor
June 1st, 2021
At Incyub8 Inc, Rojin is focusing on nurturing and guiding various national and international start-[...]
Search Results for: equity crowdfunding
Hardbacon: Why we launched an equity crowdfunding campaign in the middle of a bear market
Hardbacon | Julien Brault | Jun 16, 2022
When we launched our equity crowdfunding round in May, the stock market was down 20% year-to-date and the value of Bitcoin had fallen 35%. While many of our investors were eager to reinvest, it was also obvious that many of our investors were impacted by the downturn and could decide not to reinvest in Hardbacon.
That said, postponing the round didn't necessarily seem like the right decision. First, I didn't have a crystal ball to tell me when, in the future, the markets would be more conducive to such funding rounds. Second, I knew that by successfully closing a round despite the economic environment, Hardbacon would be better positioned than ever for what comes next.
And it worked, since we reached our funding goal of $500,000 within a week of launching the round!
Right now, many fintechs are cutting positions in order to survive longer without seeking new capital. However, at Hardbacon, we’re actually looking to expand our team to accelerate our growth and to solidify our status as a key player in personal finance and financial product comparison tools in Canada.
As we plan to expand through acquisitions while simultaneously investing in our organic growth, the shortage of traditional sources of capital for start-ups could work in our favour. As VC funding is bound to get more scarce, our competitors will seek to sell themselves and we should be well positioned to snag the best in breed!
Hardbacon: a growth success story
As of today, Hardbacon reaches at least 232,000 unique visitors every month through its website, 38,000 registered users on its mobile app, and that doesn’t include our affiliate network and other owned websites! In February 2020, our website was only reaching 12,000 unique monthly visitors and our revenue was 10x lower than today. That’s what made people think that Hardbacon was an overnight success.
On Demand: Fintech Fridays EP51: Bacon and Eggs with Julien Brault, CEO, Hard Bacon
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! We tested one-thousand-and-one business models, price structures, and market segments! Most of our hypotheses were rejected by the market up until we embraced our current business model back in 2020. It is the affiliate marketing model.
Realistically, it means that we help our clients, who for the most part are financial institutions, acquire customers. On the other hand, contrary to traditional media which sells ads, we invoice based on results, which might be a credit card application, an account opening, or a sign up. If you’ve ever used our credit cards comparison tool and found a card you liked, chances are that we earned a bit of money!
If you want to know more about our business model and the terms of our current round, I invite you to visit our FrontFundr page.
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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UK Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs Achieved Record Funding Levels in 2021
Crowdfund Insider | | Jan 12, 2022
Seedrs, a leading UK-based securities crowdfunding platform that is merging with Republic, has provided a retrospective of 2021 performance.
According to Seedrs, 2021 was a year that delivered record-level funding. The top-line numbers are as follows:
- £696 million invested into securities offerings
- 310 funded deals
- 102 securities offerings of over £1 million
- A 90% funding success rate
- 12 portfolio companies delivered profitable company-level exits in 2021.
See: $100M Crowdfunding Deal: Republic acquires the UK’s Seedrs for European expansion
The largest private offerings listed on Seedrs include:
- Lick – £15 million – most funded
- Ziglu – £7.326 million or 724% as the highest percentage funded
- Chapel Down – £6.95 million involving 4172 investors – the most investors of any securities offering
Seedrs not only facilitates capital formation in the UK but is active in continental Europe having funded 33 EU businesses during 2021. Investors harken from 74 different countries.
A key feature of the Seedrs platform is its successful secondary market – a service that has been years in the making as private securities trading is a challenging task. Seedrs reports that during 2021 trading increased by 60% versus 2020 with £8 million in securities traded.
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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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FrontFundr secures another round of funding on its own equity crowdfunding platform
Betakit |
FrontFundr has secured $1.78 million CAD, through its own equity crowdfunding platform, as it looks to scale and bring more awareness to the crowdfunding model.
The funding came from 411 investors and brings FrontFundr’s total funding to date to $5.48 million, with the startup having raised all its capital through its own platform.
FrontFundr is using the financing to build on what it calls positive business momentum, as regulators have recently made it easier for startups to raise equity crowdfunding capital.
See: NCFA Response to the Modernizing Ontario’s Capital Markets Consultation Taskforce
Securities regulation in Canada, which equity crowdfunding falls under, is regulated on a provincial and territorial level, with no federal securities body. This has led to a patchwork of rules that change region to region.
Recently, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the council of all the securities regulators that coordinates and harmonizes regulation, has released new rules making it easier for companies across the country to raise equity crowdfunding capital.
“[There was a] patchwork of different rules, and they weren’t harmonized,” said Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, the founder and CEO of Silver Maple Ventures, the parent company of FrontFundr.
“That certainly has helped to create confusion in the market and definitely has been a challenge to growing the market,” he added. “Now, that’s out of the way.”
FrontFundr was founded in 2013, shortly before crowdfunding investment was legalized federally in Canada in 2015. The startup’s stated mission is to democratize the private sector investment model by offering companies an alternative to venture and private equity investing. To that end, Van Hoeken says FrontFundr has had to spend much of its time marketing the idea of equity crowdfunding to Canadian companies and investors, in addition to fighting for more harmonized regulations.
“We’re missionaries to spread the word around equity crowdfunding, in general,” said Van Hoeken. “We’re the leading platform in Canada, which is great, but that means that you also have to do most of the heavy lifting.”
See: FFCON21 On-Demand Video: European Crowdfunding Leaders - Lessons & Outlook from the First €1 Billion Raised
“Creating all that awareness has been a huge job for our company in the last five years,” the CEO said. “Not even awareness around FrontFundr, but more like the awareness that, ‘hey, this is an alternative way for you as a company to raise capital, and, as investors, you think you can only invest by Wealthsimple and public stocks, you can also invest in early stage companies from the very beginning.”
“We have seen the immense value and impact that harmonized crowdfunding rules have had in the US and the UK, and so we are really excited to work with Canadian companies and investors to help create the same sort of environment over here,” he said.
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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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With $1.6mm Seed Raise, CAARY Appoints Senior Fintech Investment Strategist John MacKinlay as CEO to Lead U.S./Canada Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns
Caary Capital | May 25, 2021
Fintech startup CAARY has unveiled a corporate credit card for SMEs which is the first of its kind in the Canadian finance industry, allowing businesses to qualify based on funding and revenue as opposed to credit history.
TORONTO, May 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CAARY CAPITAL LTD. (“CAARY” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that after raising a total of CAD $1,600,000 from accredited investors in Canada in an equity seed round, the Company has launched equity crowdfunding campaigns for Canadian and U.S. investors on FrontFundr and Fundable. In January 2021, senior fintech investment strategist John MacKinlay was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company to drive development of the product, its market, and partners, as well as to lead investment rounds and oversee early-stage commercialization of CAARY to build market share in the Canadian SME payments category, in which over CAD $40 billion is transacted annually. CAARY’s minimum viable product (“MVP”) is set to launch in July 2021, and has been developed to help Canada’s more than 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses (“SMEs”) overcome common hurdles in business credit, expense management, and payments.
See: Fintech start-up Hardbacon secures $1.1 million thanks to equity crowdfunding
Mr. MacKinlay has over 25 years of experience in the banking sector, acting as a strategic advisor, senior executive, investor, and entrepreneur. After several years as a banker and Strategy Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”), Mr. MacKinlay led the Banking Strategy Practice for IBM after they acquired PwC Consulting in 2002. Subsequently, he joined National Australia Bank (“NAB”) to lead Strategy & Corporate Development in the Americas. Subsequently, Mr. MacKinlay returned to PwC where he led and developed its Canadian Financial Services Advisory practice. In 2016, Mr. MacKinlay joined OMERS Platform Investments (“OPI”, the innovation arm of the OMERS pension fund) where he created the investment strategy for OPI’s Financial Services division and led their investments.
An overview of the CAARY solution (set to fully launch in September 2021) and its value proposition to Canadian SMEs is provided below.
Innovative Application Process: Canadian SMEs are often discouraged by the “black box” business credit card application process, which can take weeks to complete and generally requires a personal guarantee. CAARY primarily considers a SME’s cashflow and assets and never requires a personal guarantee, but can deliver same-day approval.
CAARY Mastercard®: Upon approval, virtual CAARY cards can be issued near-instantly for immediate use with unlimited supplementary cards. Physical cards are also available upon request.
Self-Serve Administration: SMEs will have the option to add/lock/remove cards at any time of day through an online dashboard. Permissions can also be adjusted for individual cards to include card-specific spending limits and merchant restrictions (e.g., by category or named merchants).
AI/ML-Driven Expense Management: Obviating the need to retain receipts and reconcile expenses each month, cardholders receive a notification via SMS, email, or the CAARY app each time a transaction is posted to their card. By responding to this notification with a picture of the receipt or invoice for that charge, CAARY uses an artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) system which extracts the data and can transmit it to accounting platforms such as QuickBooks and Xero.
See: Understanding the Differences Between Crowdfunding Investing & Traditional Canadian Investments
Near-Instant Money Transfers up to USD $50,000: As an alternative to cheques and wire transfers, CAARY will offer SMEs the option to make near-instant transfers of up to USD $50,000 (~CAD $60,000) to business or consumer recipients through a linked bank account, even outside of Canada.
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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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Fintech start-up Hardbacon secures $1.1 million thanks to equity crowdfunding
Wealth Professional | James Burton | March 2, 2021
Finance app Hardbacon receives boost to growth plan as it prepares to go public
A Montreal-based fintech company has secured more than $1.1 million through the Frontfundr equity crowdfunding portal as it positions itself to go public.
See: Fintech Fridays EP51: Bacon and Eggs
Hardbacon brought in $1,136,400 from more than 800 investors, smashing its $500,000 fundraising goal. The company, which markets a personal finance app, has thus completed one of the largest rounds of equity crowdfunding in Canada, with this laterst round bringing its total financing to more than $2.2 million since its inception.
A B2C app for self-directed investors, it generates revenue from Hardbacon Premium subscriptions as well as from lead generation and sales of its two white label solutions for financial institutions: a portfolio analysis module and a financial planning module. Its partners include National Bank Direct Brokerage and Desjardins Online Brokerage, and it also has an advisor feature.
The funding will be used to accelerate the fintech’s growth and fuel its ambition to reach the summit of the lead generation market in the financial services industry.
CEO Julien Brault told WP: “Raising a round of over $1 million with a goal of $500,000 is a huge vote of confidence from our user base and the Canadian public. It put us in a very good position to execute our growth plan as well as go public. This round, which is among the largest fundraising round in FrontFundr's history, proves once more that equity crowdfunding is a valid financing option for tech companies in Canada. I’m pretty excited about closing such an historic round and it will give us the fuel we need to hire the right people to execute on our growth plan.”
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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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UK Equity Crowdfunding platforms Crowdcube and Seedrs to merge
Yahoo News Release Crowdcube and Seedrs | Oscar Williams-Grut | Oct 5, 2020
The UK’s two biggest crowdfunding platforms have announced plans to merge.
Crowdcube and Seedrs said in a joint statement on Monday they had agreed the terms of a merger. The combined company will be worth £140m ($181.2m).
Crowdcube will acquire Seedrs under the terms, with Crowdcube’s shareholders owning 60% of the combined business. Seedrs investors will receive 40%, reflecting the differing valuations of the two companies. Crowdcube was last valued at £84m and Seedrs is worth £56m. The exact financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“Today’s agreement is an incredibly exciting milestone that will benefit high growth businesses, their investors who believe in their vision and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports them,” said Darren Westlake, Crowdcube’s founder and chief executive. “Together with Seedrs, we can accelerate plans to further expand in the UK and overseas, launch innovative new products and improve our customers’ experience.”
See:
Getting In Early: SEC Sees Growth In Equity Crowdfunding
What are the major sources of scale-up equity finance in the UK?
Crowdcube Founder Claims An Industry Tipping Point
NCFA Response to CSA on NI 45-110 Harmonized Securities Crowdfunding Rules
Ontario introduces interim registration and prospectus exemptions to facilitate start-up securities crowdfunding
Westlake will serve as executive chairman of the combined business. Seedrs chief executive Jeff Kelisky will serve as CEO.
“We believe that you need to be a player of greater scale to serve companies and the investors who support them,” Kelisky said in a statement. “Now is the right time to bring our strengths together, in order to meet our common mission to deliver a step change in the accessibility and efficiency within private company investing.”
The merger is subject to approval by shareholders in both companies, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority. The deal is expected to close either at the end of this year or early in 2021.
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Seedrs Chairman Update | Jeff Lynn | Oct 5, 2020
Why merge?
By joining forces, we’ll be able to harness the best of both companies as we accelerate our shared mission to create the world’s largest private equity marketplace. Together, we will help fund thousands of ambitious, fast-growth businesses and deliver exceptional returns to the investors who support them.
In turn, the merger will allow us to create a more robust company, and we will be able to achieve our shared mission faster and more effectively when we are united.
How will the merger be structured?
The merger will be structured as an acquisition by Crowdcube Limited of all of the outstanding share capital of Seedrs Limited via scheme of arrangement. Existing Crowdcube shareholders and option holders will own 60% of the combined company, and existing Seedrs shareholders and option holders will own 40% of the combined company. This merger ratio reflects the approximate valuations of the two companies based on each of their most recent fundraising rounds.
See:
Seedrs Founder Jeff Lynn: We are experiencing meaningfully higher levels of fundraising and investment activity than the same time last year
Setting up small and medium-size enterprises for restart and recovery
How the UK economy can survive the coronavirus
The transaction is subject to approval by, among others, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and shareholders of the two companies, as well as the sanction of the Court. The transaction is expected to be completed in late 2020 or early 2021.
What will the company look like after the merger?
Following completion of the merger, Jeff Kelisky will serve as CEO of the combined company, Darren Westlake, Crowdcube’s CEO and co-founder, will serve as Executive Chairman, and the management team will include key leaders from both businesses. The companies will then work together to define how the two businesses will combine their teams, customers, brands, services and technologies.
Going forward, the combined company will aim to deliver new innovations and products that will make it significantly easier, more affordable and valuable for ambitious businesses to raise growth finance, and for investors to have an even greater selection of investment opportunities with richer investment tools.
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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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