ROSSLAND, BC, CANADA (August 14, 2017) – Less than a year ago, RED Mountain Resort in Rossland, BC launched a $10 Million crowdfunding campaign online called “Fight the Man. Own The Mountain.” This was the first time a for-profit resort had explored equity crowdfunding online and nobody knew what to expect. Fans of independent skiing and snowboarding showed up from far and wide to pledge their support and the resort surpassed its goal by several million dollars in Phase 1, known as “Test The Waters.”
Starting Monday, August 14th, Canadians can make good on their pledges and walk away actually owning a piece of one of North America’s most storied ski resorts.
“We planted our flag on this issue just as some of North America’s most famous resorts were amalgamated,” explains RED CEO Howard Katkov. “People were very passionate about keeping RED out of harm’s way. And, within a month, we had surpassed our wildest dreams on the crowdfunding front. I just hope everyone in Canada will recognize that now is the time to make good on those pledges and invest real dollars, for real equity, in a resort that’s about as real as it gets.”
Canadians are able to commit to their equity purchase starting August 14th on FrontFundr.com. US investors can purchase equity starting November 2nd on StartEngine.com, as the U.S. regulatory process takes approximately 90 days longer than in Canada.
“I want to make it very clear that the earlier Canadian opening date on subscriptions does NOT offer an undue advantage to RED’s Canadian fans,” explains Katkov. “Nor does it present a disadvantage to American investors. We will not run out of equity. We will not run out of perks or tiered rewards. People on both sides of the border will still have the same opportunities to invest and the same opportunity to reap the rewards. Nobody’s jumping the gun here…it’s a staggered start.”
Since launch on Phase 1, this unique “Fight the Man. Own the Mountain.” campaign has resonated far beyond Canada’s Kootenay mountain range with a fierce message of independence in an atmosphere of corporate mergers and acquisitions.
Potential investors are urged to “do the math”—i.e. their homework, their “dude diligence”—before dropping in on this unique equity offering, and can begin here. Two unique aspects of the offering are worth noting up front:
The first is a clause informally dubbed, “Last In, First Out”. What this means is that investors in Phase II—whether they’re in for $1,000, $25K or more—would be among the first paid back for their Class D units in the eventuality of any possible future sale of the resort. They would receive their investment back before all previous equity investors.
The second is the “rewards” associated with each level of investment, from lift tickets, custom skis or snowboards, season and family passes and access to a purpose-built clubhouse and overnight cabins. These rewards are laid out in the FrontFundr and Start Engine platforms.
“It’s showtime, and we’re both excited and a little nervous at the same time,” says Katkov. “The success of the campaign thus far has been an incredible reminder of the passion that the snowsports community really runs on. I think a lot of us in the industry lose sight of this passion from time to time… ‘Fight the Man. Own the Mountain.’ has become emblematic of the fight for independence in skiing all over the world. Even people who have never skied here are sending me emails from Scotland and Switzerland asking how they can invest just because they like what we’re up to here. This means the world to us. It really does. I can’t think of any sport where the passion runs this deep or crosses borders and languages so effortlessly.”
(RED Mountain Resort will continue to investigate the possibility of investors outside Canada and the US participating – international investors, stay tuned!)
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 1600+ 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 at ncfacanada.org.
Check out the RED Mountain “Fight the Man. Own the Mountain.” launch video here along with videos from partner brands Blizzard and Mervin Mfg.
TORONTO Aug. 2, 2017 – Lending Loop has raised $2 million in funding to roll-out its new automated investing product, Auto-Lend, and continue to grow its presence as Canada’s premier peer-to-peer lending platform. The company also plans to use the funds to help with new product expansion later in the year. The round was led by the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund and included a group of finance and technology investors.
To date, Lending Loop’s platform has facilitated over $7 million dollars of financing to small businesses across the country with the help of its growing community of over 9,500 investors. With fresh financing in place and the launch of Auto-Lend, Lending Loop aims to rapidly scale those numbers and help thousands of Canadians make higher interest on their money in the process.
“For far too long, people have assumed the only place to put their hard-earned savings was with a big bank,” said Cato Pastoll, co-founder and CEO of Lending Loop. “The release of Auto-Lend means we now have an incredibly simple way for all Canadians to automatically invest their money in this highly attractive asset class.”
Led by co-founders Cato Pastoll and Brandon Vlaar, the company is on a mission to democratize financial services, making it work for the many, not the few. It believes it can do so by operating under a system of radical transparency which is why it has also launched a new page where it makes its lending data publicly accessible at lendingloop.ca/statistics.
After raising its most recent round of funding, Lending Loop also added two industry veterans, Mike Kitchen and Clive Kinross, to its board of directors. Mr. Kitchen and Mr. Kinross add a wealth of experience from the traditional banking, online lending and online marketplace sectors. To further cement its presence in this industry, the company also assembled an experienced advisory board with key members to help with growth areas including credit risk, technology development, and strategy.
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About Auto-Lend:
Auto-Lend is a new tool that allows investors to easily build a portfolio of loans using Lending Loop’s technology. Investors can choose a pre-set strategy that matches their risk profile or create a custom strategy to invest. There are no additional fees for using Auto-Lend.
About Lending Loop:
Lending Loop is Canada’s first peer-to-peer lending marketplace, allowing Canadians to invest their money in small business loans. Lending Loop allows businesses to access debt financing at affordable interest rates through a simple online process. They do this by cutting out costly intermediaries, allowing Canadian businesses and investors to prosper together. Lending Loop’s mission is to provide Canadians with access to simple and attractive returns by supporting the growth of Canadian businesses. To find out more visit www.lendingloop.ca
For further information, please contact media@lendingloop.ca
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 1600+ 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 at ncfacanada.org.
Funds to Be Used to Speed Adoption of Free Credit Information and Digital Credit Products and Deepen Use of Artificial Intelligence.
TORONTO, JULY 21, 2017 -- Financial technology company Borrowell announced today it has secured $12 million (CAD) in equity funding and $45 million in new credit facilities. The Series A equity round is being led by Portag3 Ventures LP, Equitable Bank, and White Star Capital, with participation by FirstOntario Credit Union and other new and existing investors, and brings the company’s total equity financing to $16.7 million. The credit facilities are being provided by Concentra and FirstOntario Credit Union for the purpose of funding ‘one click’ loans to prime consumers. This latest round of funding will allow Borrowell to provide free credit information and loans to more people.
With consumer debt at record levels, Borrowell has found significant demand for its products, which empower customers to improve their financial well-being. More than 300,000 Canadians have a Borrowell account, with thousands more signing up each week.
"In just over two years since our launch, we've experienced tremendous growth, centered around our mission of helping consumers make great decisions about credit," said Andrew Graham, co-founder and CEO of Borrowell. "Over three hundred thousand Canadians have used Borrowell to learn their credit score or check their rate on a loan. This doesn’t include the many more we’ve served through our partnership with CIBC.”
“Fintech companies like Borrowell are essential to improving the well-being of Canadians. With its groundbreaking technology, Borrowell is providing customers with access to products and services that otherwise would not be available to them,” said Adam Felesky, president of Portag3 Ventures.
“We’re very happy with the progress Borrowell has made in such a short period of time,” added Andrew Moor, president, and CEO of Equitable Bank. Equitable Bank is one of Borrowell’s original investors. “They’ve demonstrated a strong ability to execute and forge strategic partnerships.”
“We’re excited about Borrowell’s ability to use data to generate deep consumer insights,” said Jean-François Marcoux, managing partner of White Star Capital. “We look forward to using our global network and resources to help Borrowell scale more quickly, both in Canada and abroad.”
Dave Schurman, FirstOntario’s divisional CEO of corporate investments, said, “We are pleased to establish a funding partnership with Borrowell, both as an equity investor and by providing capital for making consumer loans across Canada that are fast, easy, and a cheaper alternative for consumers than carrying a balance on a higher priced credit card.”
Ryan Graham, executive vice president of Wholesale Banking with Concentra added, “Building on our expertise as a funder of alternative consumer assets, we’ve tapped into the growth and innovation happening in the fintech industry. This investment helps drive Concentra’s business strategy with credit unions, and strengthens our consumer lending portfolio, enabling Concentra to deliver a wider range of investment options.”
The funds will be used to drive Borrowell's mission of financial empowerment. The company started by offering smart borrowing solutions to manage consumer debt and has since expanded to help Canadians through free credit score monitoring and financial recommendations. Borrowell is making significant investments in data science and artificial intelligence to better predict and build the financial tools and products that consumers will need to improve their financial well-being.
About Borrowell
Borrowell helps consumers make great choices about their credit. With its free credit score monitoring, personal loans and product recommendations, Borrowell empowers Canadians to improve their financial well-being and be the hero of their credit. Borrowell was named by LendIt as one of six emerging companies globally "that has demonstrated the greatest potential to impact the future of consumer lending," and was shortlisted as a top "disruptor" in PwC's 2017 Vision to Reality awards. For more information, visit www.borrowell.com
About Portag3 Ventures
Portag3 Ventures is an early-stage investor dedicated to backing innovating financial services companies working to benefit all consumers. Exclusively sponsored by Power Financial Corporation, IGM Financial Inc. and Great West-Lifeco Inc., Portag3 gives new ideas a unique environment to grow. Portag3 makes longer-term commitments, and combined with its industry intelligence is an ideal partner for the ambitious and creative entrepreneur. For more information, visit www.p3vc.com
About Equitable Bank
Equitable Bank is Canada's ninth largest independent Schedule I bank and offers a diverse suite of residential lending, commercial lending and savings solutions to Canadians. Through its proven branchless approach and customer service focus, Equitable Bank has grown to almost $23 billion of Assets Under Management. Equitable Bank also recently launched EQ Bank, a mobile-first digital bank, with the EQ Bank Savings Plus Account as its flagship product. Equitable Bank employs nearly 600 dedicated professionals across the country, and is a 2017 recipient of Canada's Best Employer Platinum Award, the highest bestowed by AON. For more information, visit www.equitablebank.ca
About White Star Capital
White Star Capital is an early-stage Venture Capital firm investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building the iconic companies of tomorrow. With offices in London, New York and Montreal and a team with deep operational expertise, we partner closely with the teams we back to help them scale globally. For more information, visit www.whitestarvc.com
About Concentra
Concentra is the wholesale bank and trust company for Canada's credit unions. We bring national connections to local credit unions, helping to serve nearly 6 million members across Canada. Concentra specializes in lending and investment solutions for credit unions to improve performance, manage risk, and grow member relationships. For more information, visit www.concentra.ca
About FirstOntario Credit Union
FirstOntario has been serving Members in the Golden Horseshoe, including Hamilton, Halton, the Niagara Region and Southwestern regions of Ontario since1939. FirstOntario is the province’s second largest credit union with more than 115,000 Members and $4.7 billion in assets under management. Everyone is welcome to be part of FirstOntario for financial services including daily transactions, mortgages, lines of credit, loans and investments. FirstOntario profits are invested into the communities we serve through support for entrepreneurs, competitive rates and charitable pursuits including our award-winning student nutrition program. Learn more about us today at FirstOntario.com
For further information, please contact Britt Aharoni at media@borrowell.com or 647-716-5113.
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 1600+ 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 at ncfacanada.org.
New report shows that while more men use seed crowdfunding than women, women are more successful in reaching their finance goals than men in all sectors and geographic regions across the globe.
This analysis of over 450,000 seed crowdfunding campaigns from nine of the largest global crowdfunding platforms shows that female-led campaigns were 32% more successful at reaching their funding target than male-led campaigns
While men typically seek higher funding targets, female-led projects achieve a greater average pledge amount than male-led projects: on average each individual backer contributes $87 to women and $83 to men (a difference of almost 5%)
Even in more male dominated sectors, such as the technology sector, where there are nine male-led campaigns to every one female-led campaign, female-led campaigns are more successful, 13% to 10% respectively
The US and the UK are the most thriving countries for seed crowdfunding with the largest volumes of campaigns. In both countries, 20% of male-led campaigns reached their targets compared with 24% and 26% of female-led campaigns respectively
However, men continue to use seed crowdfunding substantially more than women and raise substantially more finance than female-led campaigns; 89% of campaigns raising over $1 million were male-led campaigns compared with 11% of female-led
PwC and The Crowdfunding Centre today launched their joint report, Women Unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential, which explores the experience of women in achieving finance raising success through seed crowdfunding compared with more traditional finance raising routes.
The report findings, which are based on two full years of seed crowdfunding data (2015-16) tracked by The Crowdfunding Centre, include the results of over 465,000 seed crowdfunding campaigns from nine of the largest crowdfunding platforms globally.
The report finds that while men clearly use seed crowdfunding more than women, women are more successful at crowdfunding than men. Seventeen percent of male-led campaigns reach their finance target, compared with 22% of female-led campaigns. Overall campaigns led by women were 32% more successful at reaching their funding target than those led by men across a wide range of sectors, geography, and cultures.
Crowdfunding is a disruptive innovation which has provided new routes to funding for individuals, startups and growing businesses. It enables them to engage and interact directly with the market and with thousands of backers, supporters, customers and potential partners like never before. Seed crowdfunding is the use of ‘rewards based’ crowdfunding platforms to fund the creation, launch or development of new businesses, products, and services where backers pay upfront for a product, service or project. Since its inception, seed crowdfunding's footprint has continued to spread with the levels of finance raised through the nine platforms analysed in this report jumping from $10 million in 2009 to over $767 million in 2016, with backers from over 200 countries.
Women-led campaigns performed better in terms of securing their funding goals than campaigns led by men when we segregate the data for every sector and every country. In countries with the largest volumes of seed crowdfunding, the UK, and the US, 20% of male-led campaigns reached their targets. Yet female-led campaigns outperformed, with 24% of women in the US and 26% of women in the UK successfully reaching their campaign funding target.
This trend continues in countries where seed crowdfunding is not yet as wide-scale or successful. For example, 11% of female-led campaigns in Africa were successful compared with 3% of male. And in E7 countries (China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, and Turkey), 10% of female-led campaigns reached their goals compared to 4% of male-led campaigns.
Even in what some consider to be more masculine sectors, for example, technology, where we see nine male seed crowdfunders for technology ventures to every one female crowdfunder, 13% of women were successful in achieving their funding goal compared to just 10% of men. Similarly, in the digital technology sector, where there are three male-led campaigns to every one female-led, women achieved a 16% success rate compared to just 9% for men.
The Crowdfunding Centre is crowdfunding's global observatory, founded by Barry James and his team in 2013 which now provides the world's largest repository of data on crowdfunds harnessed to provide data and evidence based reports and tools for business, government, entrepreneurs, investors, and academia. Find out more and get reports and data for your sector, country or city by visiting TheCrowdfundingCentre.com
About PwC
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.
PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
The Boston based company Fintech Sandbox and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together to bring the Fintech Sandbox model into Ontario and eventually the rest of Canada.
The President and CEO of OCE, Dr. Tom Corr, spoke on this MOU:
“This new partnership between FinTech Sandbox and OCE is a unique opportunity that will give the growing fintech ecosystem in Ontario access to data, networks, platforms and events that will help accelerate growth and support the creation of high-quality jobs in the province. Signing this MOU with FinTech Sandbox will allow OCE to continue building on our programs and offerings in fintech innovation in Ontario.”
Fintech Sandbox is a nonprofit organization concerned with the promotion of global financial technology innovation. They provide Fintech startups with free critical data and resources to assist them with their business development. By providing this service for free, new Fintech companies can avoid the expensive cost of accessing large, relevant data. In return for this free information, startups collaborate and share what they learn in order to benefit the whole Fintech market.
OCE is a government funded organization that works with the commercialization of new and relevant innovations that can potentially shape future markets, thus ensuring that Ontario will be a global competitor. They work closely with industries, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors, and governments in order to help cultivate these new ideas. OCE’s investments include advanced health, digital media and information communications, advanced manufacturing and materials, and cleantech energy, environment, and water.
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 1500+ 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 at ncfacanada.org.
TORONTO, May 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Getting the most competitive interest rate and finding the right financial provider becomes easier thanks to InterestPiggy.com, a new online interest rate marketplace that empowers consumers to find the best rates for their mortgages, savings, loans or GICs.
"With a steady rise in interest rates, consumers will be looking for the best deal to purchase a home, apply for loans, or even set up a savings account," says Manny Kandola, founder and CEO of InterestPiggy.com.
"This new platform saves consumers time and allows them to connect with multiple financial providers, so they're left feeling confident that they've received the best possible rate available."
There is no charge for consumers to sign up on InterestPiggy.com and input their requirements on the platform. Their posting is immediately delivered to a network of providers including banks, credit unions, alternative lenders and brokers who put forward competitive interest rates. Consumers also have the option of inviting their current financial provider to join the competition.
The identity and contact information of both consumers and providers is masked during the 48 to 72-hour timeframe, with information shared only after the competition closes and a match is made. With a competitive rate established, providers and consumers simply connect to finalize the deal.
For financial providers, InterestPiggy becomes a tactical sales tool that can widen their scope of new clients.
As an added feature, InterestPiggy has a two-way rating system that enables both consumers and providers to learn from their peers' previous experiences.
About InterestPiggy.com InterestPiggy is a Toronto-based FinTech company dedicated to revolutionizing the process of shopping for financial products. Visit interestpiggy.com for more details.
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 1500+ 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 at ncfacanada.org.
Mylo Financial Technologies (Mylo), a Montreal-based FinTech startup that offers a mobile personal finance platform to help Canadians achieve their financial goals, has successfully raised $750K and completed its pre-seed financing round. This latest raise brings Mylo's current financing to $1.25M, led by Ferst Capital Partners (FCP) with the participation of leading FinTech angel investors.
"I founded my first company fresh out of university, so I experienced first-hand the challenges of managing my money on an entrepreneur's budget," says Philip Barrar, CEO, and Founder of Mylo. "Many Canadians have difficulty achieving their financial goals because managing one's personal finances is complicated, time-consuming and for many, inaccessible. Mylo is working hard to change this."
The company raised $500K at the ideation stage from Ferst Capital Partners in January 2016 as one of its Foundry startups. It has raised an additional $750K in May 2017, closing its pre-seed round of $1.25 million.
"Mylo is solving a fundamental problem and providing financial inclusion through a complete re-imagination of what the future of personal finance management will be. They have put together an incredible team, developed the technological foundation and are innovating in an important way," says Jay Ferst, Managing Partner at Ferst Capital Partners.
Mylo, which launched its iOS beta version in February 2017 and is currently onboarding its 11,000+ waitlist users onto the platform, plans to use this funding to grow its technical and operations teams, expand its user base and complete the acquisition of a registered asset management firm.
About Mylo Financial Technologies:
Mylo is a mobile platform that automatically rounds up every purchase that users make and invests the spare change so that they can achieve their financial goals. Then, once plugged in, Mylo uses artificial intelligence to provide personalized insights and recommendations so that the users can make better financial decisions. Mylo helps optimize users' insurance coverage, significantly reduce interest payments, maximize travel points and more. www.mylo.ai
About Ferst Capital Partners:
Ferst Capital Partners (FCP) is an investment firm on the forefront of change. As investors, we provide strategic capital and support to FinTech startups. As a startup studio, we support the next generation of emerging FinTech entrepreneurs who are working hard to improve the financial lives of all Canadians. We focus on how Canadians spend, save, borrow, insure and invest their hard-earned money because we believe these things are important. www.ferstcapital.com
To schedule interviews, please contact:
Philip Barrar
Chief Executive Officer
Mylo Financial Technologies
pbarrar@mylo.ai
Laviva Mazhar
Senior Analyst
Ferst Capital Partners
lmazhar@ferstcapital.com
The Boston based company 
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Mylo Financial Technologies (Mylo)
