Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Press Releases
Lending Loop Launches Online Business Lending Marketplace on Back of Seed Funding
Lending Loop Release | June 11, 2015
TORONTO, June 11, 2015 /CNW/ - Lending Loop has opened its doors to businesses across Canada, aiming to be the first Canadian platform that connects businesses seeking capital with Canadian lenders. The financial technology start-up received its first round of financing from the Kirsh Group, and intends on using the seed capital to kick-start a Canadian peer-to-peer lending marketplace.
Lending Loop has been quietly developing its technology over the past year, with an intense focus on both simplifying and optimizing business financing for lenders and borrowers alike. As of today, businesses across Canada are able to complete a loan application on Lending Loop's website. The company says the lending component of its marketplace will be rolled-out in the coming weeks, and interested investors are encouraged to sign up for updates at www.lendingloop.ca.
The past five years have witnessed the dramatic global ascent of an industry commonly referred to as "marketplace" or "peer-to-peer" lending. While many platforms have gained traction internationally, the Canadian market remains untapped. Lending Loop hopes to bridge that gap, helping promising and rapidly growing businesses to obtain flexible financing at fair rates, while giving lenders the opportunity to earn attractive and transparent fixed income returns through a diverse set of lending opportunities.
"We are confident that our platform will prove to be a compelling alternative to high-cost private lenders and overly conservative Canadian banks for small businesses that are looking for flexible financing at fair rates," says Cato Pastoll, CEO of Lending Loop. "We are starting to witness the displacement of the traditional high-cost and highly cumbersome lending model by a twenty-first century online structure that can both stimulate local economies and put money back into the pockets of all Canadians. Small businesses are the backbone of every healthy economy worldwide and our goal at Lending Loop is to champion their growth across Canada through our innovative and user-friendly platform."
About Lending Loop:
Lending Loop is an online marketplace for Canadians to lend money to growing local businesses. The company was born after the founders became frustrated with the inefficiencies and imbalances of traditional banking which has created an environment where small businesses struggle to access affordable financing. Having observed these issues in business borrowing, the domestic need for new technology became readily apparent.
Lending Loop aims to solve this problem through its innovative marketplace that efficiently connects lenders and borrowers, resulting in a fairer outcome for both. The online model allows businesses' loan applications to be evaluated using sophisticated decision models supported by hundreds of data points. Using this technology, Lending Loop aims to advance the Canadian lending ecosystem into the twenty-first century by providing accessible capital at fair rates to promising SMEs while simultaneously improving fixed income returns for lenders. More information is available at www.lendingloop.ca
SOURCE Loop Financial Inc. 
For further information: please contact media@lendingloop.ca; Cato Pastoll, 647-501-5747
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 950+ 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.
Thrinacia Opens for Public and Leaves BETA Phase
Thrinacia PR | June 4, 2015
Over the last few months there have been a lot of changes happening at Thrinacia Inc. The Thrinacia team is very excited about the progress that has been made and is eager to share these updates with the crowdfunding community.
Thrinacia is a hybrid open source crowdfunding solution. This means that the Web UI is still 100% open source and customizable. Thrinacia's Web UI is written in AngularJS with Semantic UI frontend framework. Thrinacia Web UI is fully responsive and supports variety of mobile devices and operating systems including iOS and Android. In addition this modern desktop support is also included for various browsers such as IE, FireFox, Safari and Chrome.
Thrinacia's team has also been working hard on a proprietary REST API. This REST API is well documented and exposed publicly. Thrinacia is a SaaS service that is offered to customers on month-to-month basis as a turn key whitelabel crowdfunding solution. Some clients are currently developing their crowdfunding websites with mobile and third party application integration that is allowed via the REST API. Information on the services offered through our monthly plans can be found here: www.thrinacia.com/pricing.
Thrinacia is now offering powerful portal administration tools. The portal reports provides hourly updates and detailed overviews of campaigns. The portal settings allow campaign managers to fully customize and control all aspects of the crowdfunding websites. The advanced email notification management interface gives administrators the ability to adjust email notification on the website. In addition; Thrinacia has strong management tools such as advanced campaign management, user management and campaign creator management to control crowdfunding websites and campaigns at different levels.
In the coming months Thrinacia will be increasing the number of crowdfunding organizations that it supports on its network. The team is excited to share some of the websites that are currently supported by Thrinacia with the crowdfunding community. Cruzu helps customers directly purchase wholesale wine from the wineries that they love. Funders end up saving 50%-70% on bottle purchases through the website compared to store prices. JusticeInvestor allows individuals to rally behind social justice cases and become the financial backers to issues that truly matter. JusticeInvestor was recently featured in the National Law Journal and Tech.co. Challenge a Student is a crowdfunding organization that helps bring interesting projects involving science, technology, engineering and math into classroom. Funders get the satisfaction of knowing that supporting a project will directly impact the lives of students.
Dedicated to innovative payment options, Thrinacia supports credit card and bitcoin payments through Stripe Connect. With Thrinacia's portal administration tools managers can control Stripe payment settings.
Thrinacia's team and the crowdfunding community have also been adding a lot of helpful posts to the Thrinacia Blog. For information on crowdfunding, campaign management tips, tutorials and more, visit www.thrinacia.com/blog.
Thrinacia's team of developers has been working hard to make the versatile crowdfunding engine seamless. The team is excited to see the fruits of there labour put into action as more and more crowdfunding campaigns are conducted through Thrinacia.
For more info:
Thrinacia Inc.
Press Contact: Casey Sampson
Telephone: 1-888-857-6337 ext. 523
Email: casey.sampson@thrinacia.com
Source: Thrinacia
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 950+ 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 launches to provide investors and companies access to a new capital market
FrontFundr Release | Peter-Paul Van Hoeken | May 27, 2015
FrontFundr empowers regular people to act as ancillary ‘dragons’ in the private-sector investment den
VANCOUVER, BC (May 27, 2015) – May 27 will mark the launch of the much-anticipated financial technology platform, FrontFundr, which will unlock a new capital market and allow regular people to invest in private companies.
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.
“We’re giving regular people a chance to sit in the pitch seat and act as ancillary dragons,” 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.”
In traditional investment models entrepreneurs were limited to approaching angels and venture capital firms in hopes of finding much needed capital. This process of getting access to informal networks of a relatively small investor group requires a heavy investment of time and money. What’s more, it taps only a fraction of the world’s willing investors. FrontFundr is disrupting private-sector investing and bridging that gap. “We are offering an open market connecting seasoned investors and retail investors with stringently screened companies and supporting the entire investment process from pitch to securities purchase. Delivering better capital and better deals to all parties,” says Van Hoeken.
Regulators around the world are adopting new rules to allow companies to raise funds from investors through crowdfunding. The US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules this year allowing companies to sell as much as US$50 million of securities via the Internet. 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 existing and new capital raising rules to offer its clients a broad range of funding and investment solutions.
FrontFundr’s investment opportunities are typically early-stage, mission-driven ventures seeking $200,000 to $2 million in capital investment. They have positive social impact and are predominantly from one of three key sectors: arts & entertainment, energy & environment, and technology. FrontFundr has already registered three businesses to raise capital through its platform, including RentMoola, InterLock, and Emergent Waste Solutions.
View: 6 Provincial Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Crowdfunding
“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) 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 to set up an interview, contact Jeannine Bartz at jeannine@frontfundr.com or 604-306-0207.
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.
Crowdfunding Site Partners With CanadaHelps.org To Bridge Gap For Charities
RaiseHope | Sabrina Nicosia | April 15, 2015
Canadian crowdfunding site RaiseHope.org has partnered with CanadaHelps.org to help charities capitalize on the booming crowdfunding phenomenon.
CanadaHelps, a donation portal for the more than 86,000 registered charities in Canada, has partnered to provide charitable tax receipts for anyone that crowdfunds for a charity on RaiseHope.org.
“This partnership further strengthens our offering for charities,” explains Apostolos Sigalas, Founder of RaiseHope, “Now anyone can crowdfund for any charity in Canada and offer their contributors tax receipts at no additional charge. No other rewards-based crowdfunding platform in Canada is offering this service. It’s pretty amazing.”
“Traditional forms of donor engagement can be time consuming, labour intensive & costly. continues Sigalas, “Charities now can encourage their networks to crowdfund for them in their own unique way - and it’s all done virtually through their online social networks.”
For many Canadians fundraising for their favourite charity meant waiting for the annual walk or gala. Now do-gooders can create an online crowdfunding campaign in just minutes & customize it so that it’s a reflection of their personality by adding fun Perks like “Give $30 to my campaign and I’ll bake you a dozen of my famous cookies”.
This partnership also adds a layer of security for crowdfunders & contributors alike. All of the funds raised for a verified charity on RaiseHope are given directly to the charity. This eliminates the risk of fraud - which has been a rising concern for charities & their supporters.
“Crowdfunding represents a significant opportunity for traditional charities,” says Craig Asano from the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada. “It allows them to stay current with the latest online fundraising tools that are unlocking channels to new donor markets including millennials.”
In addition to providing an automated tax receipting process through CanadaHelps, RaiseHope also allows charities to register as a Partner Charity for free. By doing so, charities get access to exclusive features like detailed donor data & analytics, 3rd party campaign tracking, and a customizable profile page from which all of their supporter’s crowdfunding campaigns are launched.
For more information or to register your charity for free visit RaiseHope.org or contact fundraising@RaiseHope.org
CONTACT INFO
Sabrina Nicosia Shannon Craig
nicosia@raisehope.org shannonc@canadahelps.org
416.840.9800 x24 416.722.8768
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 950+ 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.
OSC Adopts Family, Friends and Business Associates Prospectus Exemption
OSC News Release | February 19, 2015
TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today published a family, friends and business associates prospectus exemption which is expected to provide a cost-effective way for issuers (other than investment funds) to raise capital from their networks of family, close personal friends and close business associates. Subject to Ministerial approval, the exemption comes into effect on May 5, 2015.
The exemption is largely harmonized with an exemption that is currently available in other Canadian jurisdictions. It allows for the sale of securities by a selling security holder or an issuer to principals of the issuer as well as certain family members, close personal friends and close business associates. The exemption is based on investors having a sufficiently close relationship with a principal of the issuer to assess the capabilities and trustworthiness of the principals and access information about their investment. As a condition to the exemption, a signed risk acknowledgement form must be obtained, setting out the key risks related to the investment and confirming how the investor qualifies to make the investment.
“Early stage issuers will benefit from this exemption as it will provide them with greater access to capital at a critical stage,” said Howard Wetston, OSC Chair and Chief Executive Officer. “Investors will also benefit through greater access to opportunities at the ground level, and everyone benefits from greater harmonization across Canada.”
The exemption is one of four new exemptions to facilitate capital raising by businesses at different stages of development that were published for comment in March 2014 as part of the OSC’s exempt market reform initiative. The comment period for the proposed exemptions closed on June 18, 2014 and the OSC received approximately 815 comment letters. The existing security holder prospectus exemption came into effect in Ontario on February 11, 2015.
An update on the remaining exemptions – a crowdfunding exemption and an offering memorandum exemption – is being issued in connection with this publication.
The OSC is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing Ontario’s capital markets. The OSC administers and enforces Ontario’s securities and commodity futures laws. Its mandate is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in capital markets.
The objective of the exempt market reform initiative is to facilitate capital raising for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises and to modernize Ontario’s exempt market regulatory regime, while providing adequate protections to investors.
View the news release --> here
- SEE YOU AT THE SUMMIT! 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit on March 3 at MaRS Discover!
- Looking for funding? Need help navigating the landscape? Seeking regulatory updates?
- Learn from successful crowdfunders who have raised millions of dollars for their new ventures.
- Looking for new early stage investment opportunities?
- Connect with this dynamic and growing industry today - see you at the Summit (#CCS2015)!
Buy now to receive 10% discount on #CCS2015 Summit Tickets!
Equity Crowdfunding Québec to promote new ways of investment in province’s small businesses
ITbusiness.ca by Candice So | February 17, 2015
A group of Quebec-based crowdfunding supporters have banded together to create a new non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting equity-based crowdfunding from within the province.
On Tuesday, the group launched Equity Crowdfunding Québec (ECQ), a new organization that will represent SMBs, startups, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders in the province as regulators draft equity-based crowdfunding legislation. Its core group is made up of legal professionals, financial professionals, and business-owners.
Up until this point, ECQ had been largely an informal group, with little more than a website containing news and resources on crowdfunding. But as a formal, not-for-profit organization, ECQ hopes to be able to have a say in the process of drafting equity-based crowdfunding legislation, said Gil Michel-Garcia, one of the leaders of the new association.
“In Canada, [regulators are] working on legislation across all the Canadian provinces to have a standardized set of rules that is going to govern how you allow crowdfunding to be done over the Internet to a mom and pop investor,” he said, adding that it’s important for Quebec to have a voice in any legislation that could affect Quebec-based businesses.
“That’s why you need an organization that’s able to, from a local Quebec perspective, to represent views.”
Related: Two Equity Crowdfunding Specific Exemptions Taking Hold in Canada
For example, ECQ would encourage regulators to remember that Quebec’s companies would do most of their business in French, and that they would also be using Canadian dollars. That can be can be an issue for cross-border investments, especially if an anglophone investor from a different province wants to invest, or a U.S.-based individual wants to invest, he said.
Tackling all of these complicated issues may be a thorny task, but Michel-Garcia has seen first-hand how crowdfunding can help businesses grow.
Aside from leading ECQ, he’s also the CEO of Wafu Inc., a Montreal-based company that creates Japanese mayonnaise for sandwiches and burgers. In 2013, Wafu closed the first accredited investor equity crowdfunding round by a Canadian company within the U.S. through CircleUp, a U.S.-based equity crowdfunding platform aiming to connect investors with companies creating consumer products.
Related: WAFU Inc. Launches First Ever Simultaneous Cross-Border Equity Crowdfunding offering
Thanks to his own experience in crowdfunding, Michel-Garcia said he knows how hard it can be for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to raise capital without help. His own company was originally made up of just two people – himself and Mari Toyoda, a former restauranteur who helped create Wafu’s Japanese vinaigrettes.
“What allowed us to grow was my ability to be able to access capital internationally, locally, and obviously I’m familiar with how to do this,” he said, adding that other SMBs typically rely on small business loans, or on friends and family, to help them get started. But nowadays, given SMBs have the power to market themselves through their websites and social media channels, it only makes sense to allow them to turn their most supportive customers into investors.
“I truly believe that equity crowdfunding will be transformational for small businesses in Canada. It will absolutely allow the people that have good ideas, good businesses, good products, good services, to be able to access the capital they need and grow,” Michel-Garcia said.
For Craig Asano, executive director of the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA), the ECQ is a step forward for equity-based crowdfunding in Quebec.
“We think it’s great they have their own community, and obviously constituents in the French language to service,” he said. “We think they can add tremendous value representing the Quebec needs and perspectives … It’s early days, and we’re here to assist them and work collaboratively to build out, in a positive manner, all forms of crowdfunding.”
So far, only the province of Saskatchewan has an exemption in place for equity-based crowdfunding. The Ontario Securities Commission has said it intends to publish a crowdfunding-specific prospectus exemption, with its last introduction of potential regulations released in March 2014, while British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia are also looking at creating their own rules for raising equity for businesses.
Michel-Garcia will be one of the speakers at the NCFA’s Canadian Crowdfunding Summit in Toronto, set to be held March 3.
View the original article on itbusiness.ca --> here
Join us at the upcoming 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit on March 3 at MaRS Discovery District!
- Looking for funding? Need help navigating the landscape? Seeking regulatory updates?
- Learn from successful crowdfunders who have raised millions of dollars for their new ventures.
- Looking for new early stage investment opportunities?
- Connect with this dynamic and growing industry today - see you at the Summit (#CCS2015)!
Announcing the #CCS2015 Pitching and Showcase Finalists
NCFA Press Release | February 10, 2015
TORONTO - Feb. 10, 2015 – The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) today announced the top 12 finalists selected to pitch and showcase during the 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit to be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. The Summit is the first Crowdfunding conference in Canada, attracting entrepreneurs, investors, SMEs and crowdfunding leaders from Canada and internationally.
Startups and small businesses from a variety of industries applied to pitch at the Summit, from consumer goods to technology apps to social enterprises. Many of the companies have crowdfunded or intend to launch crowdfunding campaigns in the near future, and will have an opportunity to pitch their campaigns in front of judges from Startup Canada, National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), and the Digital Media Zone (DMZ) at Ryerson University. Each of the finalists will also have a chance to win one of three sponsored prize packages. The event will be held at MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto, and will feature startups listed in MaRS Impact Investing’s accredited investor platform, The SVX.
Congratulations to these 12 companies!
- A Film Monkey Production Inc
- ArtsFunding.ca
- Highlander Brew Co
- JUMP Math
- MakerBloks
- Pigeon
- Pinch VR
- Qoints
- Revelo Electric Corp
- Textbooks for Change
- Wipebook
- ZooShare
A Film Monkey Production Inc. is a feature film production company that is dedicated to making films that touch, move and inspire audiences around the world, leaving viewers with an experience that will keep them talking long after the credits roll.
Artsfunding.ca is a unique crowdfunding platform for arts in Canada. It is unique in that it includes a community networking system for collaboration on works and projects, among artists, that can also be crowdfunded or crowdsourced.
Highlander Brew Co. is located in South River, Ontario, in the Almaguin Highlands from which Highlander takes its name. The brewery began operations in 2009 when Brewmaster Brian Wilson made the brewery’s first beer, a traditional Scottish Ale.
JUMP Math is a numeracy program that encourages an understanding and love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically.
MakerBloks is a Montreal based company that aims to enable kids to build their ideas with real tools and materials; our goal is to inspire and empower kids to think, design, experiment and create. MakerBloks are small, reactive, color-coded building blocks that allow anyone to learn the world of electronics.
Pigeon is a smart, auto-updating, wi-fi digital frame and app that allows users to share any photo on their smart phone to a Pigeon frame anywhere in the world in under a minute. Pigeon is positioned to become a go-to gift for technology-challenged grandparents.
Pinch is the first and only smartphone-powered VR headset that fits in your pocket allowing anytime anywhere virtual reality, ushering in the new era of immersive advertising and e-commerce experience. Integrated index finger rings allow multi-touch interaction to allow user generated spaces via simple pinching action.
Qoints is a collaborative repository for digital marketing data; it allows marketers to monitor the success of their campaigns against their competition in real time and gain actionable intelligence from the data they collect. The insights and predictions Qoints generates are used by brand marketers and agencies to justify tactical decisions before, during and after a campaign and get maximum ROI from a marketing budget.
Revelo Electric applies innovative design to develop personal electric transportation vehicles that are stylish, lightweight, easy to use and emmission-free. Our mission is to inspire people to use clean and efficient electric transportation to improve their personal mobility and to make cities friendlier to live in.
Textbooks for Change provides affordable and accessible educational materials to students both locally and abroad. We donate thousands of books to African universities annually, as well as allocate 50% of proceeds from all books sold to entrepreneurs across the world in the form of microfinance loans. We also help fund socially purposed student clubs across Canada through our textbook collection drives.
Wipebook manufactures and sells reusable dry erase notebooks that help individuals brainstorm, solve problems and generate innovative ideas and help change the world in a sustainable way. After obtaining some success with the original version of Wipebook, the team launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Within 30 days, sales exceeded $420,000, more than a 1000% of their initial $4000 goal.
When manure and food waste end up in landfills, they create greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change. ZooShare recycles manure from the Toronto Zoo and food waste from local grocery stores into renewable power for the Ontario grid.
To learn more about the 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit (#CCS2015), visit the conference website.
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About the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada crowdfunding hub providing education, advocacy and networking opportunities in the rapidly evolving crowdfunding industry. NCFA Canada is a community-based, membership-driven entity that was formed at the grass roots level to fill a national need in the market place. Join our growing network of industry stakeholders, fundraisers and investors. Increase your organization’s profile and gain access to a dynamic group of industry front runners.
For more information, please contact:
Media Inquiries:
Craig Asano
416-618-0254
Sponsorship and Partnership Inquiries:
Lauren Linton
416-569-4349
