Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Entrepreneurs, Start-ups, Small Businesses
Newchip Online Accelerator Hits a Dead-end: Files for Chapter 7
TechCrunch | Mary Ann Azevedo, Christine Hall | May 19, 2023
Image: Freepik/onlyuqj
Once a promising online accelerator, Newchip has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy following Chapter 11 filings earlier this year.
- Bankruptcy and Insolvency:
- The company reported assets of $1.7 mill\ion against liabilities of $4.8 million. A history of financial losses and inability to raise significant funds contributed to Newchip's financial distress.
- Employee Unrest and Mismanagement:
- Discontent among employees and clients escalated over time, leading to a significant walkout demanding the resignation of founder and CEO, Andrew Ryan. Accusations of mismanagement, aggressive behavior, and poor leadership decisions were chief among the reasons cited by the ex-employees.
See: The Use of Cryptocurrency in the Fundraising and Venture Capital Industry
- Customer Dissatisfaction:
- Startups that signed up for Newchip's services expressed dissatisfaction with the high fees and lack of promised services.
- The reluctance and difficulty in obtaining refunds from the company further tainted Newchip’s reputation.
- Newchip’s business model of aggregating as many startups as possible, regardless of their stage of development, was criticized as prioritizing profit over value delivery.
- Leadership Style:
- Ryan's leadership approach, characterized by a "military mindset," was questioned by both employees and founders participating in the accelerator program. His responses to the allegations suggested an acknowledgment of some shortcomings, however, the overall impact of his leadership style appeared detrimental to Newchip's working environment.
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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What’s the Commercial Value of Business Purpose?
The Business Purpose Project | Phil Preston | May 18, 2023
Image: Phil Preston
If you've ever wondered "what's the commercial value of business purpose clarity?" then the PwC Australia case study playing out right now is one for the ages.
- [PwC Australia] is accused - as advisers to government under non-disclosure agreements - of using confidential information for commercial gain, tipping off their clients of looming tax changes and helping them develop work arounds (refer PwC's statement or ABC's video summary).
- Whether it can survive and recover is anyone's guess, with criminal charges not out of the question. And it's not a case of a rogue consultant, this went far and wide within the firm.
- What is PwC's purpose statement I hear you ask?
"Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems"
FFCON23 Video: Advancing Fintech's Purpose by Phil Preston
- Companies need to do more: Phil Preston, an expert in corporate purpose statements, urges that these statements are often eloquent and inspiring, but represent mere intentions rather than a commitment to action. Despite the importance of purpose statements, many companies struggle to actualize them. Executives and directors are grappling with the challenge of implementing corporate purpose, which goes beyond creating a compelling statement.
- It starts with effective governance, establishing metrics to measure delivery on purpose, and assigning accountability.
- Misalignment between remuneration and the firm's purpose, as evidenced by PwC Australia, can lead to adverse consequences.
- Implementing corporate purpose requires integrating societal benefits into the organization's DNA, rather than treating them as yearly objectives.
- Once governance is mastered, which few firms have done successfully, goals and metrics should influence strategy, operations, and people. It's less about revolutionizing business practices and more about adopting a purposeful perspective on existing processes.
- Despite the effort, the payoff is worthwhile. Neglecting this may lead to existential crises, like PwC Australia's case, where partners prioritized personal gain over client interests. Their situation underscores the value of trust in business.
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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Game-changer for Remote Work? Introducing the AR Laptop by Spacetop
Wired | | May 18, 2023
Image: Sightful
The concept of working from home has been utterly redefined in the past few years.
- Spacetop, an AR laptop designed by Sightful, promises to redefine the concept of mobile workspace.
- The device, which includes AR glasses and a keyboard, presents a virtual multi-monitor environment, simulating a 100-inch screen and allowing users to open as many windows and applications as needed.
- Cost: Available through an invitation-only early access program at $2,000, the device is lightweight and compact, with thoughtful enhancements to ensure comfort and usability, including prescription lenses and adjustable display brightness.
- Specs: The hardware, borrowed from NReal and Wistron, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 8 GB memory, and 256 GB storage. Despite its modest five-hour battery life, it charges rapidly, hitting 85% in less than two hours. Not meant for intensive tasks, the Spacetop shines in areas like web browsing, emailing, video chatting, and using cloud-based services like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and various videoconferencing apps.
See: Anthony Di Iorio Unveils Web3 Blockchain Hardware and Game Theory Project: Andiami
- Refreshingly easy user experience.
- With minimal instruction, users can navigate around the Spacetop OS, manage windows, and perform standard tasks, much like any conventional laptop. However, its distinctively futuristic design could raise some eyebrows in public settings.
- Still, the Spacetop positions itself not as a replacement for traditional computing but as an adaptation to evolving workspaces, enabling a multi-monitor experience anywhere.
- This is especially appealing to those, like myself, whose productivity relies heavily on multiple screens. The glasses, admittedly, might take some getting used to.
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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Vault Launches Comprehensive Online Financial Platform Backed by $5M CAD Funding Raise
Vault | Release | May 16, 2023
Vault announces its official launch and widespread availability across Canada. The all-in-one online financial platform for small-to-medium sized business (SMBs)
- Vault, the comprehensive online financial platform, has announced its official launch in Canada, providing a one-stop financial solution for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and entrepreneurs. The platform offers a wide range of financial products and services, all with no monthly or annual fees or minimum balances. This includes local accounts in multiple currencies, real-time currency exchange, free domestic and international bank transfers, and more.
- Co-founded by Saud Aziz and Ahmed Shafik, Vault has a future-focused vision to reshape the financial experience for Canadian SMBs. The platform is set to include additional services like lending, savings products, payment automation, and more complex FX products in the near future.
- Vault also announces the ability to purchase investment products, including GICs that will earn highly competitive rates. The company is committed to extending its product and service offerings and has plans to include lending, savings products, payment automation and more complex FX products later this year.
- Backed by angel investors from industry-leading companies and securing CAD$5,000,000 in funding co-led by Fin Capital and Gradient Ventures, Vault has substantial support. It is collaborating with regulated financial institutions to ensure customer account safety and security.
See: Founded in Canada, Fintech NorthOne Closes CA$92.1 Million Series B to Serve Small Businesses in the U.S.
Ahmed Shafik, Co-founder of Vault:
My co-founder, Saud Aziz, and I have parents who are small business owners, and we experienced first-hand the antiquated banking services that constrained their ability to freely manage how they spend, move and manage their money, all while enduring excessive fees. We founded Vault to change this. Today, entrepreneurs and SMBs owners have a cheaper and easier way to manage their businesses financial needs - all without the need to visit a branch and backed by 24/7 customer service.
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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OSC Publishes TestLab 2022 Report: Exploring Innovations in RegTech with Participate Solutions
OSC | Release | May 16, 2023
Image: OSC
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today published its first report on OSC TestLab, the regulator’s testing environment designed to promote innovation and modernize regulation in Ontario’s capital markets.
- Promotion of RegTech Innovation:
- OSC TestLab, an initiative of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), has released its inaugural report outlining the importance of fostering regulatory technology (RegTech) innovation within the capital market.
- The report underscores the OSC's commitment to making product information more accessible, enhancing client relations, and improving information sharing. The TestLab initiative is designed to provide an environment for market participants and innovators to trial and refine new technologies and approaches.
See: OSC Announces New and Free SME Institute Webinars
- Collaborative Regulation:
- The OSC is transitioning from a top-down regulatory model to a more collaborative approach. By directly engaging with the capital market participants, the organization aims to better understand and address the challenges of RegTech innovation.
- The OSC has demonstrated this through their inaugural test, conducted between June and December 2022, in which seven businesses tested RegTech solutions with over 100 testers, providing invaluable insights and feedback.
- Encouraging Stakeholder Participation:
- The OSC is actively seeking public input and collaboration for future development in RegTech, underlining the importance of shared perspectives in driving innovation.
- The OSC's Innovation Office will support RegTech innovation by encouraging greater collaboration among innovators, regulators, and market participants. This includes exploring the potential for machine-readable securities regulation and encouraging capital markets testing through platforms like the OSC IdeaHub.
See: Financial Institutions and Regulators Alike are Showing Growing Interest in Fintech and Regtech Solutions.
- The following companies participated in the TestLab 2022 event
- They showcased their unique solutions designed to enhance regulatory technology (RegTech) in Ontario's capital markets. Their proposed solutions varied from wealth management to secure document storage, and they all shared a common goal to experiment, learn, and improve.
- Despite the different stages of business development, all participants agreed that the TestLab experience was beneficial in highlighting the challenges and successes in their development process. With feedback, several participants were able to enhance their solutions by adding features and functionalities to cater to the requirements of registrants.
- Both start-ups and multinational enterprises took part in this event, demonstrating that RegTech innovation is not confined to any specific type of business.
| Company Name | Problem Statement | Headquarters | Year Founded | Number of Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LockDocs Inc. | Enhancing advisor-client interactions | Toronto | 2020 | <10 |
| Mako Financial Technologies Inc. | Enhancing advisor-client interactions | Montreal | 2018 | <50 |
| Syntoniq Inc. | Enhancing advisor-client interactions | Seattle | 2017 | <30 |
| PW Portfolio Analytics Inc. (Wealthscope) | Making product information more accessible | Toronto | 2017 | <10 |
| TMX Group Inc. | 1. Making product information more accessible 2. Enhancing advisor-client interactions | Toronto | 2008 | 1,500+ |
| Broadridge Investor Communications Corp. | Making product information more accessible | New York + Markham | 1962 | 14,000+ |
| Morningstar Research Inc. | Enhancing advisor-client interactions | Chicago + Toronto | 1984 | 8,500+ |
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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How Fintech Is Set To Transform Payrolls For The Better?
May 16, 2023
Image: Pixabay/mohamed_hassan
Proper payroll management is critical for the health of a business or company, and errors can have a huge impact on employees' satisfaction and, ultimately, productivity. As a result, businesses go to all lengths to ensure their payroll is as efficient as possible.
While technological advancements in the last few decades have seen payroll management transform radically for the better, fintech is set to transform it to a much higher degree. This article looks into how fintech is set to achieve this and what you can expect in the future.
Understanding Fintech
Fintech is an acronym for financial technology and refers to the integration of technology in the financial sector. Fintech technologies have one thing in common; they aim to streamline the financial sector by reducing business costs and accessibility to financial systems.
While fintech has been around for years, its adoption has not been as fast as anticipated. Still, its uptake has seen a huge spike due to the effectiveness of the technologies when integrated with other technologies, such as blockchain.
When applied to payroll management, fintech is an excellent fix for traditional problems, as shown below.
Pay on Demand
Today's society is leaning more towards an on-demand lifestyle. The entertainment industry is a good example of this shift; people are dropping cable for on-demand entertainment sources like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify.
Employees are also looking for options that can allow them to access their earned money on demand. Traditionally employers have to wait for a week, two weeks or a month to get their paycheck. With fintech technology, employers can give employees access to cloud-based payroll solutions through mobile apps.
With the app, an employee can log in at any time and location, see how much they have earned, statutory deductions and the amount they can withdraw at that point.
Automated Payroll Systems
Not everyone may feel that having employees access to their pay is a good idea. Some may prefer that they stick to the good old payday payroll. If you are in this group, fintech can help you automate the process, eliminate errors, make the process much faster, and ensure compliance.
If your state laws require that you provide pay stubs to your employees, ensure you issue them one with every pay period. You can use this easy-to-use paystub generator to create these documents by entering the data processed by the fintech-based payroll system in three simple steps.
Access to Financial Management Tools
If employees have money in their pockets, their morale and productivity will be high. The opposite is also true. One way of ensuring employees have money in their pockets is adequate remuneration.
Providing adequate remuneration may not be enough if you do not match it with some form of financial education. Most fintech payroll platforms come with personal financial management tools that help your employees plan their budget, track finances, and offer financial literacy resources to help employees make better financial decisions.
This way, your employees will have a high chance of making better financial decisions and avoiding financial-related stress that could affect their productivity.
Data Security
Data beaches are among the most significant concerns for businesses with vast amounts of sensitive data. With the payroll having employees' names, contact information, social security numbers and bank information, its database is a prime target for cybercriminals.
Fintech platforms have come with robust data security measures thanks to the integration of blockchain technology in their development. This means all the data stored through fintech technologies is safe from unauthorized access.
With blockchain technology, a hacker would need to hack into all computers where the data is stored to get anything out of it, of which the chances are almost zero.
Mobile Wallet Integration
The traditional payroll involves a written check which the employee deposits in the bank or a direct bank deposit. But preferences for access to funds are changing, with an increasing number of Americans having an e-wallet as their preferred means of storing cash.
With fintech platforms, you can automate employee compensation directly to their e-wallets for easier access and convenience. E-wallets have seen increased popularity with cryptocurrency but are making their way into mainstream finance as a popular way of holding money in a safe space.
Final Words
The convergence of payroll management and fintech holds great promise for the future of payroll management. By embracing the technology, you will enjoy the benefits listed in this guide and stay ahead of the curve as other companies catch on.
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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OSFI Stakeholder Engagement: Help Shape the Future of Finance
OSFI | May 11, 2023
Image: Unsplash/David Hofmann
Digital Innovation Open Door
- We will be hosting a series of stakeholder engagement opportunities. This initiative will allow industry and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to have open discussions on digital innovation topics.
- Uncover fintech innovations: Whether you work for an established entity or start-up, a corporation, association, a regulatory authority or anything in between, we want you to take part in our Digital Innovation Open Door. We’re interested in discussions to advance our regulatory and supervisory functions. This initiative offers you the opportunity to provide insight that could potentially help shape the future of finance regulation in Canada. If you have a potential viable concept, we may invite you to test your product in our “digital innovation sandbox”. Here are a few examples of organizations we’d like to engage with in this initiative:
- Academia
- FinTech/BigTech
- Corporations working in the digital innovation space
- Federally regulated financial institutions
- Industry associations
- Regulatory authorities
See: Speech by OSFI Superintendent Peter Routledge: Looming risks and long-term resilience
- We have a particular interest in the following topics:
- Artificial intelligence
- BigTech
- Cryptoassets
- Custody
- Distributed ledger technology
- FinTech
- Open finance
- Quantum computing in financial services
- Risk management of machine learning in third parties
- Sandbox
- Smart contracts
- Tokenization of assets
- How to register: Register here!
- When you register, please provide as much detail as possible, as this will allow us to bring the appropriate subject matter experts to those meetings. We’re planning to start meetings on June 14, 2023, dependent on the number of expressions of interest received. We’ll host this initiative virtually.
View the original announcement --> 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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