In a world that is seeing the economic centre of gravity moving to Asia, does Canada have what it needs to ensure that the prosperity the nation has enjoyed will be sustained in the decades ahead?
State of the Global Startup Economy
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Voices
Hot off the press: NCFA’s Fintech Confidential Issue 4, October 2021
About NCFA Canada | Craig Asano | Oct 7, 2021
Welcome Letter
Dear Global Fintech & Funding Communities,
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) and partners are excited to present Vol. 1 Issue 4, FINTECH CONFIDENTIAL, a digital pop-up of the 7th annual 2021 Fintech & Financing Conference and Expo (FFCON21) held virtually from May 11-13 and co-hosted by NCFA and Toronto Finance International (TFI).
As global economies strive to contain the latest Covid outbreak and recover fragile sectors, fintech innovators continue to ‘BREAK BARRIERS’, the main theme of this year’s conference, and the second year in partnership with TFI, reflecting the growth and emerging challenges that the Canadian Fintech industry must navigate to achieve mass adoption and scale.
Fintech is not a niche but a permanent technological evolution that is changing the world of finance by high growth fintech companies and incumbent financial institutions. It’s setting new standards and demanding new regulations. It’s about delivering better financial products, services, and outcomes for everyone especially consumers and small to midsize enterprises (SMEs).
It’s been another unprecedented year with covid accelerating trends such as bitcoin’s institutionalization, the growing power of retail investors, the 2nd round of Open Banking consultations and the advisory committee’s recommendations to the federal government, payment modernization efforts, adoption of harmonized Crowdfunding regulation, AI roadmap, emergence of digital identity as a ‘right’ and core data infrastructure (ie., vaccine passports), growing support for Purpose (not just shareholder profit), green finance solutions tackling shared global problems such as SDGs and climate change, EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion), and regulatory push back and a firm ‘line in the sand’ for Big Tech.
FFCON21 was a successful event attracting over 100+ thought leaders, 75 partners, 500+ attendees, an NFT charity fundraiser in partnership with CanadaHelps for front line workers, and our second annual 2021 Fintech Draft competition -- a pitching event inspired by sports league drafts and designed to identity emerging high growth fintech ventures. A hearty congratulations to the winners: Agryo (Overall) and Copia Wealth Studios (People’s Choice)!
Thank you to all the partners, speakers, attendees, volunteers, and the entire organizing team for making ‘Breaking Barriers’ an impactful and amazing online experience and for being part of Canada’s fintech and funding community. We hope you enjoy reading this special edition of Fintech Confidential.
Finally, we continue to encourage the community to be mindful of others, and to do the right thing. Dream big, be open to partnerships, and execute like your life depends on it -- it’s not too late to participate. The world is changing because of you but there is a long bridge to cross, and more glass ceilings to break. Onwards and upwards…
All the best
Craig Asano
Founder and CEO
NCFA Canada
Read the 85 page Fintech Confidential Issue 4 Digital Magazine --> Now
Note to readers: the publishing platform's 'hot spot editor' is currently down (but we wanted to publish before Canada's Thanksgiving Long Weekend. We'll add in audio and links to the document shortly. Thanks for your patience!
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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Is the fintech policy agenda overrated? It depends on who’s asking
PayTechs of Canada | Alex Vronces | Oct 7, 2021
Overrated or underrated?
It’s a question Tyler Cowen, one of my favourite public intellectuals, poses to guests on his podcast. The question turns simple conversation into meta-conversation. It moves you from discussing something to discussing the discussion of something. The question is almost magical, like a spell that makes you disappear only to reappear on a new cognitive plane.
So let’s pop the question: is the fintech policy agenda overrated or underrated? The answer depends on who’s asking.
Currently, the federal government is reviewing Canada’s approach to financial sector policy to put fintechs on a level playing with banks. Open banking is supposed to let fintechs access Canadians’ financial information, giving fintechs the means to offer better products and services. The government is also exploring whether to give fintechs access to the payments infrastructure our economy runs on — a privilege exclusively afforded to financial institutions, such as banks. Let’s call these two initiatives the fintech policy agenda.
See: Reflections on Canada’s open banking report
If the median voter is asking whether the agenda is overrated or underrated, then it’s grossly underrated.
The median voter likely doesn’t even know what the fintech agenda is. Is open banking about keeping my bank branch open longer? I make payments whenever I tap my card at the point of sale, so what’s the problem? In fact, the median voter likely doesn’t know what a fintech is, let alone what problems the fintech agenda is meant to solve and how it would solve them.
But if a fintech advocate is asking? Then the agenda is overrated.
It’s not that payments modernization and open banking don’t belong on the fintech policy agenda. They do, but they’re not the only things that do.
For example, how future proofed is the fintech policy policy agenda when payments modernization and open banking are at risk of having a short shelf life? Consider DeFi, or decentralized finance, a contender for crypto’s killer app. DeFi refers to the distribution of financial services on the blockchain. As Stephanie Choo, a partner at Portage Ventures, recently wrote, DeFi “has the potential to become for financial services what the Internet has been for media production and distribution.”
See: How open-source software shapes AI policy
The promise of DeFi comes from innovation in governance. It erodes the power that rent-seeking intermediaries, such as banks and legacy payment networks, have long had, while circumventing the barrier to entry-laden oversight that governments have long had.
The risk of obsolescence DeFi brings to payments modernization is easy to see.
An endangered intermediary, Payments Canada is building a real-time payment system called the real-time rail, while the government consults on giving fintechs access to it. Fintechs support both initiatives — and for good reason — but DeFi could obliterate the need for both if it matures into something more ubiquitous. It’s no wonder someone once told me that Canada is building railroads while the world is building airplanes.
The risk of obsolescence DeFi brings to open banking is also easy to see.
Another intermediary-centric initiative, open banking compels banks to open their data-loaded vaults to financial-app developers. What I said of payments modernization is also true of open banking: fintechs support open banking, and for good reason. But open banking does little good in a world where financial services have been disintermediated and user data is on the blockchain.
See: WEF: Decentralized Finance: (DeFi) Policy-Maker Toolkit
Jon Stokes, who co-founded Ars Technica, recently described the status quo of data governance as a “decentralized network of siloed (user data) tables connected by access-controlled APIs.” Stokes thinks we could see the de-siloing and aggregation of user data on the blockchain. If open banking promotes competition, then blockchain-based data portability promotes competition on steroids.
If you think such visions are speculative, you’re not alone. No one knows what the future of financial services has in store, just like no one knew what the future of media distribution before the Internet had in store.
DeFi is going to be tricky
It’s too early to tell which way DeFi will go, which is why experimentation is so important. But DeFi experimentation is going to be tricky, as it’s prone to undermining itself.
The government’s response to DeFi has so far been an ambiguous combination of supportive and fearful — the latter state being one from which little good has ever come. For example, although the Ontario Securities Commission is allowing for some experimentation with crypto, the experimentation is limited and controlled. Moreover, the Bank of Canada announced it’s exploring how it could issue its own digital currency to crowd out the privately-issued competition, should it ever mature.
See: Decentralized Finance—Risks, Regulation, and the Road Ahead
It’s not hard to see the risk that the government extinguishes too many future possibilities, killing DeFi before its potential is even meaningfully tested. This is why DeFi deserves more space on the fintech policy agenda.
Then again, perhaps you’re a DeFi bear and think DeFi deserves no more attention than it’s getting.
If that’s you, then substitute for DeFi for another idea you think is underrated. Maybe your underrated idea is sandboxing under the Bank Act, making it easier for fintechs to become banks, or maybe it’s better coordination and alignment between the provincial regulators on modernizing consumer protection and market conduct regulation. Alternatively, maybe Canada’s competition laws need to be reformed and authorities better equipped to level the playing field between incumbents and challengers.
The point is, no matter what you pick, we get to the same place: the fintech policy agenda is overrated because it’s not inclusive of what’s underrated.
If you’ve gotten this far, rest assured that there’s a way to make the fintech policy agenda appropriately rated — not overrated, not underrated, and just right. In fact, it ought to be obvious by now. Take a cue from Tyler Cowen: gather your smartest friends and play a few rounds of “overrated versus underrated” with them.
Authored by Alexander Vronces, Executive Director of PayTechs of Canada, representing the diverse community of payment technology companies operating in Canada. Using his payments and policy knowledge and network, Alex leads the push for a more competitive and innovative Canadian payments ecosystem.
This article is featured in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4 Oct 2021). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4) --> 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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The Holt Xchange Kicks off 2021 Investment Program
Holt Xchange | Jan Arp | Oct 7, 2021
During this year’s investment period, The Holt Xchange hyper-targeted 7 main verticals that deemed most promising: digital identity, regtech, insurtechs, cybersecurity, digital lending, wealthtech, and digital assets. As a result, this led to better targeted candidates and as such, a greater number of applications were a better fit for our investment program and Holt Ecosystem.
As a way to engage with fintechs in these verticals, Holt hosted the ‘Holt Invests’ Webinar Series featuring special Holt Advisors and alumni portfolio companies who are experts in this space. As such, we were able to engage in some engaging conversations as they shared first-hand insights on the current trend and opportunities.
The webinars consisted of the following:
- The I AM Webinar explored trends and opportunities found within RegTech & Digital ID industries. It’s clear that compliance costs are surging and expected to continue this trend. For instance in 2018, businesses spent $1.3 million on average to meet compliance requirements and were expected to put in an additional $1.8 million (IAAP). In Europe, GDPR played a large role in compliance related cost increases for business, with more expected to come. Given Canada is moving forward nationally with programs like Bill C and provincially, such as Quebec’s Bill 64, we expect compliance costs in Canada to further continue. Additionally, FAbout 25% of all financial services applications are abandoned due to friction in the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, in part because current Identity Verification (IDV) procedures fail users. Need for consumers to support. To better prepare for these proposed legislative changes (ie. among many others), as well as support KYC / AML process, this year we invested in following regtech companies:
See: Where the UK is heading with Smart Data and why Fintechs want a cross-sectoral access
- The I BORROW Webinar explored the opportunities and trends found within Digital Lending space. There continues to be an emergence of alternative lending options, pushing lenders to compete on price, demographics and ancillary product offerings. Additionally new offerings such as revenue base financing, and buy-now-pay-later, are received with greater comfort by investors and customers alike. As such, while looking into alternative financing options and recognizing the lack of options for first time buyers in a surging real-estate market, we invested in a new financing product of:
- FirstStep Financial ca: Opening the Door to Home Ownership. Digital Lending
- The I EARN Webinar explored the opportunities and trends within Digital Assets, Investment & WealthTech industries. For instance, A survey conducted by the Alternative Investment Management Association and SS&C found that out of 100 global hedge fund managers, 69% of the market leaders use alternative data to boost performance. Also considering property earning assets, the real estate market showed no sign of slowing, and real estate sector funding appeared to be making a comeback early in the year, with VC funding to proptech companies growing 29% to $2.4B for Q1’21. Given the need for better solutions in trading and real-estate, we invested in:
- CityFalcon com: Using Big Data, AI, and NLP, we democratize access to financial content, personalize it, add analytics, and deliver it in real-time in 50+ languages. Capital Markets
- Reitium com: REITIUM is a blockchain real estate marketplace where everyone can be an investor starting with $100. PropTech
See: Tokenizing Assets and Unlocking Value on the Blockchain
- While not a webinar in itself, the theme of I TRANSFER emerged throughout the series, focusing on payments and banking. Payments remains the largest attraction for VC investment, whereby funding for payments companies tripled compared to the previous quarter, with over $6 billion in funding. The number of deals (114) increased by 50%, with 18 mega-rounds accounting for over 75% of the total funding. From a banking side, according to Accenture, over 50% of banking tasks are still manually performed. By using technology, banks in North America can save more than 70 billion USD through 2025. Not only can technology improve the bottom line for banks, but we are witnessing better customer centric designs to better tailor and serve niche demographics and communities. As such, we invested in the following payment and niche banking companies:
The Holt Xchange has just invested in 8 of the best fintechs that build solutions for our society’s greatest challenges. They kicked-off their Growth Acceleration Program and are already in the process of working closely with the portfolio companies and leveraging their global advisory network to help drive their business growth.
“I am very excited to work with this year’s portfolio investments, complemented with 500+ Advisors, and to have the backing of key partners like Fairstone, RBC, MNP, BDC and Montreal International.” stated founding managing partner Jan Arp.
If you are interested to learn more about us, or meet our portfolio companies or Advisors highly suggest you attend our Fintech Show 2021 either remotely or in-person: Fintech Show 2021.
Read: Tiger vs. SoftBank: Inside the investing playbooks that upended Silicon Valley
What’s Next for the Holt Xchange? The Holt Fintech Show
- When: Tue Nov 16, 2021
- Where: Rialto Theatre (Montreal, QC)
- Agenda:
- 6 PM - 7 PM: Doors Open
- 7 PM - 8:15 PM: Fintech Show
- 8:15 PM - 9:00 PM : After Show
- Tickets to register: https://bit.ly/3tdicJA
The world-famous Holt Fintech Show, in which our Holt 2021 Portfolio Companies will pitch their progress to date and share their next key milestones that the audience may want to get involved with, such as investing, partnerships, new clients, mentoring, etc.
This is a great networking opportunity for anyone looking to get more involved in the fintech ecosystem.
* If you can't make the in-person event, virtual options are available.
Join the LinkedIn event page here and remember to register a spot as spaces are limited!
About Holt XChange
Driving Canada’s Fintech leadership, The Holt Xchange is a global early-stage fintech fund headquartered in Montreal. Backed by Holdun, a 5th generation multi-family office, The Holt Xchange is focussed on building off of the legacy of Sir Herbert Holt. As the Holt family has done before, they are enabling Canada to take a technological lead in the next generation of financial services, known as Fintech. As Canada's most active seed fintech investor, Holt has spent the last year tracking over 10,000 early stage fintechs globally, soliciting the ones that presented a best match with their 500+ Advisor network, and then investing in the top 1% of applications globally, resulting in 35 investments to date.
This article is featured in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4 Oct 2021). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4) --> 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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Liquid Avatar Technologies Partners with the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) to Provide Digital Age-Verification Solutions to Over 8,000 Stores
Liquid Avatar Technologies | Cara Buckspan | Oct 6, 2021
Partnership will create Smart Age program utilizing Liquid Avatar’s LAVCE platform to provide the capability for the OCSA and all convenience stores in Ontario to implement digital verification solution for age-restricted sales.
Toronto, Canada – TheNewswire - October 6, 2021 -Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (CSE:LQID) / (CNSX:LQUID.CN) / (OTC:LQAVF) / (FRA:4T51) a global blockchain, digital identity and fintech solutions company,together with the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA), announce that they have signed an initial agreement, effective September 27, 2021, to support digital innovation in the c-store industry and develop Smart Age, a digital age verification program to help Ontario-based local, regional, and national convenience retailers verify the age of their patrons, as these operators dispense age-restricted products.
With daily foot traffic of over 3 million people in convenience stores and over 96% positive verification of age by individual convenience stores according to the OCSA, the opportunity to use digital verification tools and services to improve the customer and vendor experience and the quality of verification is critical to the industry as it looks to expand current age-restricted product sales. These include single sport betting and other lottery products, future opportunities with alcohol-based beverages, and other emerging categories.
See: The dream of a low-friction financial system is just the beginning
The Smart Age program will consist of in-store and out-of-home awareness campaigns, digital verification review at the point of purchase and, where applicable, integration into existing point-of-sale and payment terminals that will use verified credentials to confirm that the customer is of legal age to purchase restricted products. No personally identifiable information will be exchanged with the vendor. The OCSA and Liquid Avatar Technologies are establishing a working group to develop best practices to bring the product to c-stores, and it is expected that the program will be available as both a Software as a Service monthly subscription and as a pay-as-you-go verification model with minimum requirements.
Published December 2020, The OCSA State of the Industry report showed that, in Ontario alone, there are over 72,000 full- and part-time employees selling almost $3 billion in lottery sales, representing 17% of all convenience store purchases. Over 75% of all lottery sales in Ontario are purchased at convenience stores. In 2019, convenience store operators earned approximately $218 Million in commissions for the sale of lottery tickets.
While lottery sales are only one of several age-restricted sales categories available in convenience stores today, failure to always comply with verification can lead to enforcement violations for the sale of future age-restricted products and include fines, and loss of the ability to sell certain product, both of which may result in potential loss of income or business. As the industry looks to the future opportunities to increase sales of age-restricted products, transparency and enhanced verification tools will become increasingly important to c-store business.
See: Liquid Avatar Releases Major Update to their Digital Identity Mobile App
“The OCSA wholly supports the need for verification for the sale of age-restricted products and is working with the industry to achieve a 100% success rate. Together with Liquid Avatar, our goal is to implement the Smart Age solution in over 8,000 c-stores across the province and leverage easy-to-use technology to better protect families in their respective communities,” said Dave Bryans, CEO of the OCSA. “We believe this digital solution will help our sector modernize and further enhance the trust that c-stores have already established in their own neighbourhoods.”
Liquid Avatar Technologies has developed the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credential Ecosystem (LAVCE) and a digital wallet that supports digital credentials for age verification. As this program becomes available in Canada, Liquid Avatar Technologies will be one of the first to provide true blockchain-enabled, W3C compliant, digital identity-verified age verification solutions for all parts of the digital identity ecosystem, including individuals or Holders, issuers like governments, and verifiers like convenience stores and other businesses. The LAVCE platform allows users to leverage government issued digital ID to verify who they are at healthcare facilities, testing labs, government agencies, schools, sports arenas, transportation, trade shows, age-restriction programs, and workplaces.
Recently the Ontario government announced its intention to move forward with issuing digital government ID credentials through interoperable digital wallets that conformed to certain guidelines such as providing self-sovereign identity and open standards models and Liquid Avatar Technologies believes that it aligns with the current requirements and the projected roadmap technologies and standards of Ontario’s programs.
See: Open data for finance as an emerging source of GDP growth
“We are very excited to have formalized this partnership with the OCSA,” said David Lucatch, CEO Liquid Avatar Technologies. “The LAVCE platform together with the Liquid Avatar digital wallet is perfect for age-verification functions for small businesses. C-stores sell more age-restricted products than any other retail setting and are provided with the least number of resources. We know that our modern and cost-efficient tool will give confidence to these operators that not only is the patron who they claim to be, but that they are, indeed, of age.”
Continue to view the full release --> 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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[Event, Nov 2]: The Future of Canadian Competitiveness
Degroote School of Business | Oct 5, 2021
In a world that is seeing the economic centre of gravity moving to Asia, does Canada have what it needs to ensure that the prosperity the nation has enjoyed will be sustained in the decades ahead?
How does Canada’s competitiveness stack up against its global peers and potential challengers? Does Canada have the skills, assets and institutions to compete in the global market, near-term and long-term. In a world that is seeing the economic centre of gravity moving to Asia, does Canada have what it needs to ensure that the prosperity the nation has enjoyed in the past will be sustained in the decades ahead? These are just some of the questions we will explore with Arturo Bris from IMD, based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Event, Oct 7, 2021: Rising to the Challenge of New Global Realities
Arturo Bris is a Professor of Finance and Director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Centre. He specializes in working with senior executives from a wide range of global clients on issues related to competitiveness, finance and governance. His prolific research output has been published in leading journals, making him one of the top one hundred most-read finance academics in the world. His latest book, Blockchange! provides insights on how to survive the crypto economy. He holds a PhD in Management from INSEAD.
Date & Time
November 2, 2021
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Register Here (free)
Continue to the full event page --> 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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Liquid Avatar Releases Major Update to their Digital Identity Mobile App
Liquid Avatar Technologies | Cara Buckspan | Sep 30, 2021
Toronto, Canada – TheNewswire - September 30, 2021 -Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (CSE:LQID) / (CNSX:LQID.CN) / (OTC:LQAVF) / (FRA:4T51) (“Liquid Avatar Technologies” or the “Company”), a global blockchain, digital identity and fintech solutions company, today announces a major update to the Liquid Avatar Mobile App, available shortly in the Apple App Store and currently on Google Play. The new release provides a completely revamped user interface and experience. When combined with the recently announced Liquid Avatar Wallet, consumers can use verifiable digital identity credentials anchored in blockchain technology to share information, like health testing, vaccination records, government identification, and other personal information and data, in a way that is resistant to fraud, highly secure, and privacy preserving.
Launched earlier this year as a pilot program to garner user feedback, the Liquid Avatar Mobile App has over 13,000 initial downloads. It enables online users to manage their different online personas and only share what they want, when they want and with whom they want ™.
See: Can Liquid Avatar end fake COVID vaccine cards?
This major update, which now forms the basis for full commercial rollout, provides consumers with the ability to use a personal digital wallet to hold different types of verifiable identity credentials. These can be digitally verified for authenticity and accuracy without the owner having to divulge personally identifying information (PII) to the person or business that is doing the verification.
“We’ve listened to users, we’ve listened to government, and we’ve listened to the business community. We believe that Liquid Avatar Technologies has delivered the best-in-class digital verification solution for the emerging digital and privacy standards of businesses and governments today—and one that will help them achieve their roadmap for the future,” said David Lucatch, CEO—Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc.
“From the beginning, our goal has been to provide consumers with a cloud-based platform and services that gives them full control over their information and privacy, and protects them against loss, damage, or theft. I believe that we’ve achieved that—and we’ve achieved it at no cost to the consumer.”
New and updated features of the Liquid Avatar Mobile App include:
- A completely revamped login, and user interface that employs facial recognition and verified email to deliver an easier, seamless digital experience.
- The ability to share any of the personas associated with an avatar by QR code or through email, messaging, and social channels, simply by selecting them.
- Enhanced privacy and data control that allows complete control over data and privacy through verifiable credentials — all with the tap of a button from a person’s biometrically controlled digital wallet.
See: Financial Health Network Report: Financial Data – The Consumer Perspective
- Once a credential is added to a wallet, a person can select which personal information to provide from each of their credentials (address, contact methods, social media, etc.) when they receive a request from a verifier.
- Safe and secure, biometric access to digital personally identifiable information (PII) as needed. A digital wallet that is managed and controlled only by the individual owner, providing the ability to prove to any verifier their name, address, email, age, health information and more, in one place.
- Customizable Avatar experience — you can now choose to start with an avatar or go back later and determine what avatar best suits each of your profiles.
- Simple way to connect securely to others — users can scan a credential with a QR code to start the blockchain based verification process.
- Complete the cashback form for instant access to KABN KASH — over 600 merchants providing discounts on name brand items. Users can get great discounts and online savings providing in app opportunities earn cashback and rewards.
- Enhanced AR experience — users will be able to see unique offers and virtual rewards, coupons, and other discounts at physical locations, creating value for local merchants, tourist destinations and other opportunities.
- Interoperability allows credentials to be used across a wide range of verifiers and regions increasing portability and use globally.
See: What the heck is SSI? (Self-Sovereign Identity)
- Enhanced compliance and data management by country with rollouts starting in Canada, followed by the USA, EU and then globally.
- Additional features and benefits are currently in development and testing.
The Liquid Avatar Mobile App is powered by the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credentials Ecosystem (“LAVCE”) and wallet, and it unlocks a new way of issuing, sharing, and verifying information, providing immediate benefits to customers as well as businesses and organizations. Businesses of all sizes can now interact with customers in a way that provides the highest level of assurance that the information shared is valid, while also preserving privacy and preventing fraud.
“A transformative technology like this is not a simple endeavor because it has to be inclusive: We needed to ensure that users could add credentials from a wide range of issuers and verify them around the world, not just locally,” added Lucatch.
“This significant update to the Liquid Avatar Mobile App provides a framework, together with the LAVCE and our upcoming SDKs, to create an interoperable system for holders, issuers and verifiers to be able to integrate with other apps, services and providers similar to card and payment networks and ATMs.”
See: How Verifiable Digital Identity Will Protect Your Post-Pandemic Privacy
The Company recently made and announced an equity investment into Indicio.tech, a global leader in decentralized Trusted Data Ecosystem development, and with their continued support, Liquid Avatar Technologies is developing its technology with the same data privacy principles and technical standards as the Province of Ontario’s plan for Digital Identity and following a similar roadmap. This means that the Liquid Avatar Wallet is designed to be interoperable with other identity credentials built using the same open standards and guidelines. The Company, as a member of the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC), Trust over IP Foundation, Good Health Pass, and other leading industry organizations, is on a path following the guidelines set out by the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework for digital identity and other leading organizations for global standards and interoperability.
To encourage future adoption by businesses and governments, Liquid Avatar Technologies will offer a software development kit (SDK) for both iOS and Android that can be embedded in, and power different apps, for use with corporate and government portals, and other solutions to make it possible for all types of organizations to support digital wallets and verifiable credentials easily and effectively.
The Company as a member of the Toronto Region Board of Trade has also become a partner in the We’re Ready Toronto program launched earlier this week to support businesses and individuals across the Greater Toronto Area to help them to get back to their everyday lives.
View the original release --> 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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Startup Genome: Canada Ranks 14th in The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021
Startup Genome | Sep 29, 2021
State of the Global Startup Economy
In March 2020 startups’ prospects looked bleak. Consumer demand had cratered. Travel ceased. Struggling businesses shed workers or closed. Global VC spending dropped 17% in the first quarter compared to the preceding one, with the number of rounds down 5%, according to Crunchbase. In China alone the number of venture rounds plunged 74% in just two months.
See: Are you a Pig, Gazelle or Bear? Beyond Unicorns, Zoology of startups
Then everything changed. Covid-19, which made rapid adopters of us all, slashed a bright line between how we once lived and how we will live. It is a line across which entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to ferry us. That is why, for many economies, startups are leading the way back to economic vitality.
The pandemic—dire for humans—has been fuel to technology’s fire. Last year Internet capacity rose 35%, reports market-research firm Telegeography. Global broadband traffic in the fourth quarter increased more than 51% over the previous year: a combination of more subscribers using more data during Covid-19, according to OpenVault, which tracks broadband consumption. Global e-commerce shot up to $26.7 trillion, according to the United Nations, with countries like the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and China experiencing especially dramatic spikes. The number of people buying food and household items online grew an average 30% worldwide.
Businesses, meanwhile, pivoted to remote work, with a corresponding bump in productivity of 3.1%, according to Goldman Sachs. Companies also sped up digitization of customer and supply-chain operations by three to four years, reports McKinsey & Company.
See: Lobbying: it’s high time startups up their game
Investors surged into these and other opportunities. In the first half of 2020 venture funding worldwide was $148 billion. In the first half of 2021 it had soared 95% to $288 billion, with increases at every stage, according to Crunchbase. Startups also are benefiting from new investment channels, including democratizing startups like Robinhood; crowdfunding; and special purchase acquisition companies. (Although some increasingly are skeptical of SPACs.)
The term “unicorn”—an indicator of extreme rarity—is becoming a misnomer. As of August there were more than 800 startups around the world with valuations above $1billion, for a cumulative valuation in excess of $2.6 trillion, according to CB Insights. Just between October 2020 and June 2021 their number rose 43%. Although U.S. companies dominated, China, Canada, India, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, and France produced between 7 and 10 unicorns in the first half of 2021, according to Crunchbase. Meanwhile, VC-backed exits are smoking hot. Startup Genome’s data show a 20% year-over-year growth in the dollar value of exits in startups globally.
For entrepreneurial ecosystems, 2021 is turning out to be a year of remarkable growth and productivity. And the dispersal of success—already underway before the pandemic—has only accelerated.
Read: From Global Leader to Follower, is Canada losing its FinTech edge?
Key Insights
- Despite a turbulent year for many, the top five global startup ecosystems maintain their reign at the top, with Silicon Valley in the #1 position, followed by New York City and London tied for #2 for the second year in a row. Beijing and Boston follow at #4 and #5, respectively.
- North America continues to dominate the Global Rankings, with 50% of the Top 30 ecosystems coming from this region, followed by Asia with 27% and Europe with 17% of the top performing ecosystems globally.
- The global startup economy is worth over $3.8 trillion in Ecosystem Value, more than the individual GDP of most G7 economies, not including the value of exits prior to 2018.
- There are now 79 ecosystems generating over $4 billion in value which is more than double the number identified in 2017.
- 91 ecosystems created unicorns in 2020.
Read and Download the Report --> here
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