Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Progressa Release | Aug 14, 2018

TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progressa, a Vancouver and Toronto based financial technology company, announced today it has successfully closed an $84 million equity and loan funding round. The equity financing was co-led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Gravitas Securities Inc. and included Eight Capital and Paradigm Capital as part of the syndicate. The equity capital allows Progressa to unlock a new forward-flow whole loan purchasing program for up to $72 million, with Vancouver-based credit fund Cypress Hills Partners.
The equity financing was largely supported by the Canadian investment banks who see the potential for Progressa to complete a go-public transaction (“IPO”) before the end of 2019.
Ali Pourdad, Progressa’s co-founder and CEO, commented, “Progressa is proud to have developed first-to-market technology solutions for the Canadian non-prime credit consumer market. Today’s enterprise business partners are utilizing the Company’s Powered by Progressa solutions to improve their customer experience, while enhancing collections recoveries and mitigating significant risk, a true win for both enterprise and Canadian consumers. We are pleased with this broad level of support from Canadian investment banks who see that Progressa is making a positive difference in the lives of Canadians.”
This latest financing round is anticipated to be Progressa’s last private round, as it has now raised over $15 million of equity capital since inception and begins to prepare for an IPO. Kia Besharat, Senior Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets Origination at Gravitas Securities commented, “We are incredibly excited to have supported Progressa over both its bridge and pre-IPO rounds in 2017 and 2018. Ali has assembled a world-class management team and has operated the business like a public company for as long as we have been working with him. We look forward to continue watching Progressa’s success in tackling the vastly underserved collections debt and retail point-of-sale finance market in Canada.” Gravitas has acted as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Progressa since May of 2016.
In the past 5 years, Progressa has established itself as a market leader in Canada by developing innovative software solutions for enterprise business that tackles a traditionally negative collections process in a positive and socially responsible way. Progressa’s solutions ultimately protect the enterprises' brand reputation, among other things, utilizing non-traditional credit evaluation techniques to improve lending outcomes. With additional lending capacity, the Company can onboard new banking partners and continue on its mission to help Canadians borrow for the right reasons and improve their financial well-being.
Miller Thomson LLP, a leading national law firm with expertise in, among other things, technology and financial services, assisted with the legal aspects of the Company’s equity round and loan purchasing program. Kevin Refah, who is the lead relationship partner for Progressa, commented, “Progressa’s new financial capacity will help position it well to continue its ascent in the Canadian FinTech space, and we certainly look forward to continuing to support Progressa and its excellent management team on the company’s impressive growth trajectory.”
“Cypress Hills Partners is proud to have been a part of Progressa's impressive growth over the past 3 years and is excited by our continued financial relationship. Progressa has proven to be a leader in serving Canadian unbanked and underbanked consumers with their highly successful instalment loan program,” said Kelly Klatik, Managing Partner with Cypress Hills Partners.
“They have demonstrated steady and continued growth in consumer underwriting practices and significant advancement in their adjudication technology required to further scale their lending business. We are proud to work with them as they continue their expansion and innovation in the Canadian FinTech industry.”
Progressa is experiencing a truly transformative year, expected to near $100 million of loan funding before the end of 2018. With offices in Vancouver and Toronto, the Company has over 100 team members and continues to make significant investments in its proprietary credit score that drives all of its enterprise software solutions.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with fintech, alternative finance, blockchain, cryptocurrency, crowdfunding and online investing stakeholders globally. NCFA Canada provides education, research, industry stewardship, services, and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding and fintech industry. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: ncfacanada.org
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WiredGov UK | FCA | Jun 28, 2018
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) yesterday published an update on its Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models.
The Review is an in-depth and wide-ranging piece of work to give the FCA a greater understanding of retail banks’ business models, and how these may change in the future. This includes looking at how personal current accounts (PCAs) are paid for, the possible impact of technological and regulatory developments such as Open Banking and changes to payment services due to the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). It sets out the progress made on the analysis of the issues and planned next steps.
The review is also critical to the FCA’s work on overdrafts. The FCA has already expressed concerns that some potentially vulnerable people are paying significantly more for their current accounts through unarranged overdraft charges and fees. In May this year, the FCA proposed a set of potential changes on overdrafts for discussion as part of its high cost credit work and will consult on any changes later this year.
The review shows that most current account customers contribute to their bank’s profits, but a small proportion pay significantly more than others – around 10% of customers generate between a third and a half of all contributions to profits from current accounts. The data also show that many consumers go to their current bank rather than shopping around when looking for other financial products.
For example:
Andrew Bailey, FCA Chief Executive, said: “This is an important piece of work to help us understand the complexities of the retail banking market and how this may develop in the future.
“It provides more evidence that there is no such thing as free banking. In particular, this evidence will inform the work we are doing on overdrafts, so we can fully understand the potential effects of the significant action we are considering taking in this market.”
The FCA’s analysis shows some of the reasons why retail banking markets remain highly concentrated. Major banks have a captive audience of customers who do not switch and can be cross-sold other products. Together they have a large share of the PCA market, currently over 80%, giving them considerable competitive advantages.
Yesterday’s update also sets out a number of factors that could lead to significant changes in this overall picture of the market. In the next stage of the Review, we will look at a number of scenarios to assess when and how these changes may have an effect – including changing customer behaviour, regulatory initiatives, technological developments like Open Banking, and changes to banks’ business models such as branch closure programmes.
The FCA has collected information from 45 firms across the range of the market to inform the Review including major banks, small retail banks, building societies, specialist lenders and new digital banks.
The FCA is asking for responses to this update, including evidence or views, by 7 September 2018. The next stage of the Review will look at a range of possible future scenarios, including what branch closure programmes mean for consumers and banks’ business models, and how technological and regulatory changes may affect the market.

The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with cryptocurrency, blockchain, crowdfunding, alternative finance, fintech, P2P, ICO, STO, and online investing stakeholders globally. NCFA Canada provides education, research, industry stewardship, services, and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding and fintech industry. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: ncfacanada.org
FinMason Release | Apr 27, 2018

BOSTON, April 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FinMason, a rapidly growing FinTech company, today announced that they are rolling out a Canadian Dollar version of their acclaimed investment analytics as a service platform. This enhancement marks the first step in FinMason's international expansion plans.
The new production environment will allow Canadian financial services firms – and U.S.-based companies with operations in Canada – to leverage FinMason's robust investment analytics to enhance their offerings. U.S. firms interested in expanding to Canadian markets can also take advantage of FinMason's new capabilities to facilitate the process and accelerate their timelines.
"One of the pleasures of working with a completely modern tech platform is that we can put in place a system for rapidly rolling out new base currencies at scale," said Kendrick Wakeman, CEO of FinMason. "That allows us to support our clients and prospective clients across the globe."
This announcement comes on the heels of last month's appointment of 32-year industry veteran David Remstein as the firm's first president and COO, a role in which he will help drive FinMason's international expansion. Prior to FinMason, Remstein held several senior global analytics roles at JP Morgan, Citi and Riskcare, including global head and chief operating officer of analytics and consulting at JP Morgan.
"It is important that investors always look at analytics specific to their own base currency," commented Remstein. "To do it right, you need to do more than just translate the currency. You need to change the perspective. For example, a U.S.-based investor would want to consider Trade-Weighted US Dollar as a potential return driver, but a Canadian-based investor would want to see trade-weighted Canadian Dollar. FinMason's system does just that."
The new Canadian analytics product is scheduled to launch at the end April. Looking forward, the firm projects incorporating support for the Euro, Pound and Swiss Franc by the end of the summer, with many of the Asian currencies following in early 2019. The new base-currency analytics can be accessed by simply changing three letters in the API address, allowing for global firms to use the same code base across all currencies.
ABOUT FINMASON INC.
FinMason is the world's largest independent investment analytics engine for financial services platforms. The Boston-based financial technology firm provides access to more than 700 calculations on every publicly traded asset in the world delivered through one simple API. Developed by FinMason's team of seasoned data practitioners and nine Ph.D.s, the cutting-edge platform delivers institutional-grade analytics in milliseconds via two core products: FinRiver™ – a lightning-fast API that delivers any analytics anywhere in a financial services firm's platform with just a few keystrokes; and FinScope™ – a bulk processing platform that can analyze millions of portfolios every night for compliance screening and performance attribution. For more information, visit www.finmason.com and follow FinMason on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding, alternative finance, fintech, P2P, ICO, and online investing stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, industry stewardship, and networking opportunities to over 1600+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding and fintech industry in Canada. For more information, please visit: ncfacanada.org
CryptoChicks | Release | March 14, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Mar 9, 2018- Toronto-based non-profit CryptoChicks and online educator BlockGeeks are pleased to invite entrepreneurs, startups, enthusiasts, investors, developers, and students of all genders to the CryptoChicks Blockchain Conference and Hackathon, April 6-8, 2018 at the MaRSDD centre in downtown Toronto.
Since being popularized by Bitcoin, encrypted accountancy ledgers or “blockchains” have taken the finance world by storm. Unmet demand for blockchain developers is high and increasing- blockchains simplify transactions and reduce costs- but, currently, in the industry men outnumber women 92-to-8.
“We believe this hackathon will provide needed exposure to female talent...connecting hackers with employers,” says CryptoChicks cofounder Natalia Ameline.
Speakers, participants, and mentors of all genders will gather alongside teams of females hacking in Business or Developer streams. Industry leaders from around the globe, including Paige Bailey of Microsoft, Amanda B. Johnson of Dash, Dr. C Mohan of IBM, 16-year-old ‘Crypto Price Tracker’ app-developer Harshita Arora and many others, will speak on blockchain matters in AI, healthcare, the developing world, small and large enterprise, investing strategies, ICOs and DAICO’s, hedge funds, fintech, venture capital, crypto economics, social welfare and industry disruption. The opening night panel will feature entrepreneurs Dmitry Buterin and Natalia Ameline, parents of Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin, speaking on supporting the next generation of tech pioneers.
Content tailored to blockchain entrepreneurs and startups includes starting a blockchain business, designing an effective token model, running a successful ICO, attracting investors and complying with regulations. Many employers and venture capitalists will be circulating at business pitches, the cocktail meet-and-greet, and the VIP dinner. The first-floor conference and second-floor hackathon, hosting over 100 female (cis and trans) hackers, will be connected to live video feeds. Hacked projects will be judged and awarded on the final day.
This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors BlockGeeks, Polychain Capital, RBC, Pixel Dreams, Microsoft, IBM, Nobul, RightMesh, ZCash, NeuFund and The Opinion Economy, who will present their ‘CryptoChick of the Year’ award at this event.
Act soon: early-bird ticket sales (3-day conference, including food, for $150.00) end March 15, 2018.
For more information, go to cryptochickshackathon.com.
Company Contact:
Elena Sinelnikova,
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a national non-profit actively engaged with social and investment crowdfunding, alternative finance, fintech, peer-to-peer (P2P), initial coin offerings (ICO), and online investing stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, industry stewardship, networking opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, academia and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and online financing industry in Canada. For more information, please visit: ncfacanada.org