Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Online Funding / Investing Portals
New online lenders make it easier to get small businesses loans
The Globe and Mail | CLARE O’HARA | Aug 27, 2015
Online business lenders are increasingly popping up in the financial technology (fintech) world and filling a major gap for Canadian small businesses often overlooked by the major banks, but small business owners should take the time to research these various platforms to ensure they fit the company’s needs.
The Canadian marketplace has seen a number of new entrants join the online lending space in recent months. Mogo Finance Technology Inc. was the first Canadian online lender to go public in June and announced it will enter the small business lending space over the next year.
Lending Loop, a peer-to-business lender where individual investors will finance small business loans, is set to launch its lending site at the end of September. The platform is already open for small businesses to submit loan applications. Once approved, businesses will be added to an online ‘marketplace’ where individual investors will be able to fund the loans.
See: Will Crowdfunding Threaten Institutionalised Lending?
One of the biggest attractions of online lenders is the speed in which they can process an application. While banks can take between four to six weeks to process a business loan application, most online providers can process in one to two days of the application.
Bill Finley, co-owner of Hemp and Company, was approved in less than 48 hours for his business loan with Company Capital, an online provider that offers short term lending options for small to medium sized businesses.
Based in Victoria, B.C., Mr. Finley has been running his organic clothing shop for 16 years. His first online loan was four years ago when he was looking to increase his inventory. He had the option of applying for a short term business loan or a merchant cash advance, and decided on the latter.
A merchant cash advance allows a company to borrow a sum of cash up front but pay back the amount based on a percentage of daily sales vs. a fixed monthly payment.
For example. Mr. Finley borrows $15,000 for his inventory purchase. The amount he will pay back, including the amount of borrowing is predetermined upfront to be $16,700.
The length of time he has to pay back the loan depends on how aggressive he wants to be with the payments.
During the summer months when Mr. Finley’s business produces higher sales, he pays back the loan at 15 per cent of his daily sales until the loan is paid in full.
See Also:
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Canadian Marketplace Lenders
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Lending Loop Launches Online Business Lending Marketplace on Back of Seed Funding
The advantage – especially to seasonal businesses – is the percentage of daily sales can be adjusted accordingly. If the winter months are a slower season, business owners can choose to lower the percentage of sales going toward their loan payment. The downside is the lower you go, the longer it will take to pay off.
Small business owners should also be aware that the price tag of borrowing with online lenders is much higher than that of the major banks. Interest rates can be as low as 10 per cent but also has high as low- to mid-20s, depending on the provider and loan application.
To qualify, businesses need to be Canadian based and running for at least one year. Thinking Capital is one of the few providers that look at businesses that have been open for just six months.
To complete an online application, depending on which provider, small business owners may need to provide: A company address; how long a company has been in business; name of owner(s); how much money the owner(s) have invested in the company; a sales history of the company, as opposed to a full financial statement (the sales history is generally acquired by the company’s third party point-of-sales provider); estimated annual revenue; and social media accounts, as in some cases a company’s Facebook or Twitter account can help verify the health of their business with the number of followers or connections.
“Our underwriting doesn’t rely on financial metrics alone,” says Anthony Lipschitz, chief strategy officer at Thinking Capital, which has been in the Canadian marketplace since 2006. “Technology has rapidly changed since we first started and we have spent the last few years really focused on building our technology from a servicing standpoint.”
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The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
Kickstarter Superstars Launch a Crowdfunding Site for Games
Wired | Chris Kohler | Aug 19, 2015
Three of Kickstarter’s biggest winners are launching a crowdfunding site for games, one that will bring together fans and investors alike in a system of rewards-based crowdfunding and equity investing. The site, called Fig, launched today with a campaign for the space exploration game Outer Wilds. Its advisory board includes three indie studio heads who have raised millions on Kickstarter for games like Wasteland 2 and Broken Age: Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, inXile’s Brian Fargo, and Obsidian’s Feargus Urquhart.
But the biggest difference is Fig will combine rewards-based crowdfunding with equity investing.
Fans can support Outer Wilds to get rewards, but accredited investors can get a share of revenue once the game is released. Fig CEO Justin Bailey, who was the COO at Double Fine, says campaigns eventually will be opened to non-accredited investors, meaning anyone could become an investor in a game and reap the rewards.
“Look at what happened to Oculus,” he says, referring to the pioneering VR company that started as a Kickstarter project. “It was sold to Facebook for 2 billion dollars, and the people who were involved, the superfans who were getting behind Oculus to make that possible, they didn’t see any of that. It would seem like they should, since they had a pivotal role in that coming about.”
The developers on Fig’s board are going all-in; the next big title from each studio will be crowdfunded on Fig.
Brian Fargo, whose game Torment: Tides of Numenera was until recently the most-funded game on Kickstarter, says the concept for Fig grew organically from the community independent developers are creating in the crowdfunding era.
See: Kickstarter backers of Oculus Rift angrily reject Facebook takeover
“In the past … we were just sort of competing with each other for contracts, and now there’s this real general sense of one plus one equals three. We share information, we give comments on other’s videos and campaigns,” he says. “Even when projects are point-on competitors to mine, I support them … Their success is not going to mean my failure.”
Creating a crowdfunding platform specifically for games could lead to far more ambitious projects. “It would not be unreasonable that that starts to double, triple, quadruple what options are available to us,” Fargo says. “It could be that this equity component allows us to do bigger-budget products, to compete visually at a very different level.”
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The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
Is Culture Killing Equity Crowdfunding in Canada?
Crowdfund Insider by NCFA Ambassador Bret Conkin | August 17, 2015
American culture is known for celebrating “winners.” Canadians are known for being modest and risk averse. Could this cultural difference explain why Canadian equity crowdfunding appears to be relatively underdeveloped so far? We checked out the funds actually raised in 2015 and talked to some of Canada’s leading platforms and experts to find out.
Part I in the series takes a snapshot of market metrics and traction so far in Canada. Part II drills down on some of the causes and lessons to be learned from other more developed markets. Part III takes a specific look at the Real Estate sector.
A market snapshot – Canada vs. US
The equity crowdfunding market was pegged at $1.1B in 2014, growing by 182% from 2013, according to industry researchers Massolution. CNBC reported that Equity crowdfunding in the US in Q1 2015 rose to $662 M, driven by fast growing real estate platforms like Realty Mogul and FundRise.
So, given this explosive growth, one could reasonably expect that Canadian have tapped into this new funding phenomenon too. Have they?
If we straight-line project total 2015 capital raise in the US based on the CNBC estimate, we could project a number of $2.65B USD. With current growth, it could be much higher. With a Canuck population that roughly approximates 10% of the US, we could peg a relative estimate for Canadian capital raise at $265M USD in 2015, or $347M Cdn.
Related: Crowdfunding Market Grows 167% in 2014, Crowdfunding Platforms Raise $16.2 Billion
Narrowed to two calendar quarters, that total projects to $174M Cdn. While not scientific, these estimates are intended to shed some light. Of course there are other important traction indicators such as platform activity, deal flow and user growth, media coverage and the regulatory environment.
So how are we doing?
The Canadian market so far
As of August 14, there are currently 7 equity platforms operating in Canada that have or have had live offerings. (Note: not including debt platforms). The US market boasts dozens and dozens of equity platforms including those set up for intra-state use. Let’s segment the market into:
- Startup/SME,
- Later stage,
- Impact investing and
- Real Estate.
A) Startups/SMEs
A couple platforms are targeting early stage/SME ventures and both accredited investors and retail investors. SeedUps Canada (Calgary) launched early 2014 and Frontfundr (Vancouver) in Spring 2015.
SeedUps has 4 offerings live in early August with jumpOn!! Flyaways 25% funded to date ($31,250 of $125k target). A prior raise for JumpOn netted another $60k. On an encouraging note, more than 1500 users have registered including many investors.
Related: Certain Canadian securities regulators to adopt start-up crowdfunding exemptions
SeedUps also recently announced a raise for their platform, a walk the talk strategy completed very successfully in other markets. As Sandi Gilbert noted in a recent blog post flagging VCs, Angels and Investment Funds, “Why isn’t Canada embracing [crowdfunding].”
SeedUps CEO Sandi Gilbert comments indicate that culture is not the key barrier, “The space is very new in Canada – with SeedUps being the lone voice for early stage investment until recently. The Canadian public in general, isn’t even aware that they can invest in deals online. So – getting the word out is important.”
Frontfundr has 3 offerings live and claims $740k total invested to date. Only Guusto Gifts, via the Startup Exemption requirements requires a minimum threshold ($20k in this case), so the funds noted will likely reach the ventures. Of the $740k, most has been raised offline. Another 10 ventures are queued up in The Sector Lounge.
As Frontfundr CEO, Peter-Paul Van Hoeken echoed in a recent Globe & Mail piece, “Canada is conservative… It’s a process to create a crowdfunding market.” He added, “We don’t think the cultural difference is a primary factor.”
Related: Landscape changing in equity crowdfunding across Canada
Other platforms that have announced intent to launch in this space include CrowdMatrix, CrowdFuel, iCrowdX and CanaDragon.
Let’s sum that segment as roughly $1.5M raised. Not very much money has changed hands but considerable platform activity and user growth and interest is indicative of much more to come. Media coverage and industry events have accelerated too.
Join us at Western Canada's leading crowdfunding conference for innovative ventures & businesses (Equity, Debt, Rewards & Fintech)
B) Later stage ventures
The OCMX (Toronto) offers “institutional” crowdfunding for later stage ventures and has operated since 2009. InvestX/WaverlyIX launched a Private Equity platform late 2014 focused on Canadian and US investors. ECNCapital (Calgary) has been live for several years with their private capital network.
The OCMX claims to have raised nearly $30M in the first quarter on BNN. They did about $20M last year.
Some might say that what The OCMX is doing is more corporate finance or investment banking than “crowdfunding” often defined as small amounts raised from a large number of people online.
InvestX does not publish their metrics but of their 2 current deals – lyft has raised $402k of $604k and Spotify has raised $360k of $370k. However, based on communications InvestX appears to be allocated only a portion of these raises by their PE partners. There were a couple of earlier deals this year, as well.
C) Impact Investing
SVX, Social Venture Exchange, launched early 2014 and targets accredited impact investors. SVX claims to have “mobilized” $3.5M in impact investments from over 100 investors for 26 impact ventures and funds in Ontario. SVX recently announced expansion into Quebec.
Backed by an impressive list of partners including MaRS, TMX, RBC and The Rockefeller Foundation, expect further regional expansion. With the ability to tap the philanthropic and profit levers of Canadian culture, the future for SVX appears bright.
D) Real Estate
Open Avenue (Toronto) has been live since 2014 with capital raised to date not disclosed. This sector will be covered in Part III of the series.
In Summary
Defining what is “equity crowdfunding” and what should be counted is one of the challenges in assessing market size. As Craig Asano, Executive Director, National Crowdfunding Association of Canada, states, “The challenge is the definition of what’s included (and what’s not) in the aggregate count. I think platforms/transactions that are openly raising funding under the equity crowdfunding banner should be counted.”
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About the Author
Bret Conkin is the Founder of CrowdfundSuite, a CrowdInvesting and Crowdfunding Consultancy. CrowdfundSuite provides platform development and other expert services to help organizations profit from the new Crowd Economy. Bret is an Ambassador to the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada and a former executive with FundRazr. He has founded and collaborated on multiple tech start-upsincluding Canada’s first Crowdfunding platform Fundfindr launched in 2008.
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
NexusCrowd Receives Exempt Market Dealer License from the OSC
NexusCrowd Release | Hitesh Rathod | Aug 13, 2015
Toronto, ON – August 13, 2015 – NexusCrowd Inc. today announced that it has achieved an unprecedented milestone by becoming the first online investment platform to receive an exempt market dealer license from the Ontario Securities Commission.
NexusCrowd is the first investment platform in Canada to offer investors the opportunity to co-invest alongside venture capital and private equity partners who will commit at least 50% of the capital, for each investment.
“We're excited to announce that we will soon be launching with our first deal,” said Hitesh Rathod, co-founder and CEO of NexusCrowd.
“Our current VC and private equity partners are sector experts and leaders in real estate, advanced materials and technology who collectively manage over $1 billion in investment capital. We are also in the process of adding to our roster of partners and will be announcing a new partnership shortly.” (Learn more about our partners here)
NexusCrowd provides accredited investors access to exclusive private investment opportunities that have reached at least 50% of the funding target. In addition, NexusCrowd enables exclusive access to investment opportunities that are sourced, vetted, structured, reported on and managed by its institutional partners.
See: Securities Crowdfunding Breakthrough
About NexusCrowd Inc.
NexusCrowd is the first equity crowdfunding platform in Canada that provides accredited investors with exclusive access to co-invest alongside institutional investors, on the same terms. Unlike other crowdfunding options, NexusCrowd provides professionally led investment opportunities that have reached at least 50% of the funding target.
NexusCrowd is led by a team with unique expertise in financial services, technology and institutional finance. It’s the only crowdfunding platform in Canada with an exempt market dealer license that uniquely partners with institutions on equity and debt financings. Combined with proprietary investment and fundraising technology, NexusCrowd provides a simple, transparent process for investors, and a frictionless way for venture capital and private equity partners to raise new capital. For further information, visit www.nexuscrowd.com.
Media Contact:
David Finkelstein
The DFI Group
(416) 300-4150
david@thedfigroup.net
Investor Contact:
Hitesh Rathod, CEO
NexusCrowd Inc.
1 (877) 487-6506
info@nexuscrowd.com
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
FrontFundr expands nationwide to provide investors and companies access to a new capital market
FrontFundr Release | Jeannine Bartz | Aug 12, 2015
VANCOUVER, BC (August 12, 2015) – Canadian financial technology platform, FrontFundr, is now approved nationwide, allowing regular Canadians to invest in private companies. Canadians in eight provinces will be able to invest in early stage and growth companies listed on FrontFundr. Provinces in which FrontFundr is approved include British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
FrontFundr uses technology to enable entrepreneurs to raise money from a broad investor community. This is an opportunity for the general public to directly drive innovation and entrepreneurship. With FrontFundr, both experienced and regular investors are able to exercise positive influence on businesses they would like to support.
Previously, most Canadians were locked out from investing in young companies due to absence of an accessible market place and regulatory restrictions. On the other side, most early-stage companies looking for capital to grow their businesses had limited to no access to capital markets. This model left gaps in the growth-potential of early-stage companies, and it cut average citizens out of these investment opportunities.
See: FrontFundr kick-starts equity crowdfunding in B.C.
“We’re giving regular people a chance to sit in the dragon’s seat and assess business pitches,” says Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, CEO at FrontFundr. “We’re providing ordinary people with access to carefully screened investment opportunities, and entrepreneurs with access to more capital to support their growth.”
On May 14, 2015, six provinces in Canada announced that they will allow young companies to raise up to CA$500,000 a year using a funding portal. FrontFundr is leveraging both these new capital raising rules and long established capital raising rules to offer both companies and investors a broad range of funding and investment solutions.
FrontFundr’s investment opportunities are typically early-stage, mission-driven ventures seeking up to $3 million in capital investment. FrontFundr has already registered three businesses to raise capital through its platform, including RentMoola, InterLock, and Guusto.
“We’re an innovative technology company and we work at a fast pace,” says Patrick Postrehovsky, CEO of RentMoola, a company that eases the pain of paying rent with rewards. “We’re excited to work with an exempt market dealer that operates similarly to the way we do—leveraging technology and innovation to disrupt an industry to the benefit of the public.”
FrontFundr is a fully compliant, registered exempt market dealer (EMD) in eight provinces and conducts stringent due diligence on all business investment deals presented to its investor community, and ensures both investors and entrepreneurs understand the risks and rewards associated with entering into a transaction. Visit FrontFundr.com to browse live investment opportunities.
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For more information or media requests, contact Jeannine Bartz at jeannine@frontfundr.com or 604-306-0207.
Early bird tickets just launched!
Vancouver Event (Sep 29, 2015): VanFUNDING 2015 (more info)
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
Gotroo.com, launches equity crowdfunding portal for business
Gotroo Release | July 31, 2015
MONTREAL, July 31, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - A group of entrepreneurs and an angel investor have just launched Gotroo.com, a platform that puts entrepreneurs looking for financing in contact with investors from the public at large, whether they are qualified or not. With Gotroo.com, a company can register with the platform and reach a financing objective of up to $250,000 built on a maximum of $1500 per investor.
Gotroo.com has nothing to do with the current offer of crowdfunding sites, which give users the chance to buy a product or service in the form of presale, without any actual share ownership in the company. Gotroo.com makes equity crowdfunding possible—by issuing debt securities (such as bonds) or a participation that give users the right to a portion of the eventual profits (such as shares) to subscribers (an investor) from the public at large. This type of crowdfunding is authorized by the securities regulators in the participating province or territory where the business or investors are located.
With the Gotroo.com platform, businesses can maximize their chances of success by having access to qualified investors acting as lead investors or sponsors and by making full use of tools that will help them secure their financing.
View: Certain Canadian securities regulators (to) adtop start-up crowdfunding exemptions
The financing process of the Gotroo.com platform meets the standards and criteria of Multilateral CSA Notice 45-316 (Start-up Crowdfunding Registration and Prospectus Exemptions), issued by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec and the securities regulatory authorities in five other provinces. The AMF and the Nova Scotia authorities have given Gotroo.com its official go-ahead with its prospectus and registration exemptions for crowdfunding of start-up businesses. The provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are also in Gotroo.com's sights.
Gotroo.com innovates by making it possible for entrepreneurs in need of capital (up to $250,000 twice a year) to issue shares of their business on the Web to investors who will then become part owners of the business.
Here's an example from the Autorité des marchés financiers site to illustrate how it works:
"Valérie has a brilliant idea. She has developed a soft drink flavoured with maple syrup and other local products. She has prepared a detailed business plan and hopes to turn a profit from her business venture. She thinks there is a market for maple soft drinks in gourmet grocery stores, bars and restaurants. She wants to begin production. She needs $75,000 in order to bottle and market her soft drinks. She applied to a financial institution for a loan, but was refused. She is thinking about raising the funds she needs by issuing shares through a securities crowdfunding campaign."
It's not the stock exchange
What's important to understand is that the shares purchased come from private companies, not publicly traded ones. Which means that it isn't possible to resell the shares acquired as you would on the stock exchange. The shares will be subject to the agreement between shareholders that governs the shares, for every business.
The specifics
- An investor cannot invest more than $1,500 per company, either by credit card or electronic funds transfer.
- An investor can invest in as many companies as he/she wants.
- If you are a qualified investor according to AMF standards—i.e. a person with an annual income of over $200,000, a family income of over $300,000, financial assets of over $1 million or total net assets of over $5 million—, you can act as a lead investor or sponsor and have no limit on your investment. See Regulation 45-106 on the AMF site for more details.
An injection of new capital in Quebec and the rest of Canada
There is very little business start-up capital in Quebec and the rest of Canada. With Gotroo, companies self-finance via ordinary people and then share the profits with them. Though it represents risks for investors, a great investment is always possible—something that doesn't happen on other kinds of crowdfunding portals. At best, all you might receive is a product purchased in advance or a gift, and your money can in no way earn a profit when the company grows.
Gotroo.com in brief
Gotroo.com was created by an experienced group of Canadian entrepreneurs and investors who want to help companies and investors prosper and stimulate the Canadian economy.
Its main directors are:
Chairman:
Robert Brouillette, lawyer, engineer, patent and trade mark agent, entrepreneur and angel investor
robert@gotroo.com
CEO:
Philippe Brouillette, lawyer, engineer, trade mark agent and entrepreneur
philippe@gotroo.com
Board member and secretary:
Benoît l'Archevêque, serial entrepreneur
ben@gotroo.com
As well as Pierre Gagnon (pierre@gotroo.com), serial entrepreneur and Anthony Bryant (anthony@gotroo.com), serial technology entrepreneur.
SOURCE Gotroo.com
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs Raises $15.6M To Launch In US
TechCrunch | Mike Butcher | Jul 30, 2015
Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs has raised a $15.6 million (£10 million) Series A round led by Woodford Patient Capital Trust plc (WPCT) and Augmentum Capital, the money from which will be used to launch in the U.S. market. Seedrs had previously raised $7.2 million from Faber Ventures and it’s own crowdfunding campaign.
Furthermore, Seedrs is to launch a £2.5 million crowd funding campaign to give existing shareholders and new investors the opportunity to participate in the round. The details will be announced later.
View: Seedrs funding rounds on CrunchBase
Seedrs plans to now expand its marketing efforts in the U.K. and Europe, increase platform development activities and launch its business in the United States.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1100+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more About Us or visit ncfacanada.org.
