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
Toronto Fringe Launches National Crowdfunding Platform for Indie Artists
FWYC | claire.wynveen | March 10, 2014
Toronto, ON – On March 7, 2014 the Toronto Fringe launched Fund What You Can (FWYC), a crowdfunding platform for independent artists across Canada. FWYC is a fundraising resource for indie artists from any discipline who are looking to generate revenue for their artistic projects. Like Indiegogo or Kickstarter, FWYC allows artists to create and manage their own crowdfunding campaigns at www.fwyc.ca. But unlike other crowdfunding platforms, FWYC has been tailor-made for indie artists and will offer a more targeted reach to campaigners and zero platform fees for the first six months of operation (until August 31st, 2014).
FWYC is accessible to any indie artist or collective, in any artistic discipline – not just theatre. FWYC has been designed to suit the needs of aspiring indie filmmakers, choreographers, musicians and other artists as well as those in theatre. The Fringe has been expanding its reach to disciplines other than theatre in the past five years, reaching out to visual artists via the Visual Fringe art market, dance companies via the lottery dance categories, and showcasing indie musicians and buskers at the Fringe Club every summer.
FWYC has also been designed to work in tandem with our three anchor programs at the Toronto Fringe (Fringe Festival, Next Stage, Creation Lab). Artists interacting with these programs will find that FWYC provides an ideal support system throughout their journey with the Fringe, whether they are raising funds for a free workshop in the Creation Lab, mounting their first Fringe show, or crafting a more professional production at Next Stage.
The FWYC initiative is funded by the Metcalf Foundation through the Creative Strategies Incubator Program, which is focused on developing alternative sources of revenue. Toronto Fringe Executive Director Kelly Straughan believes “crowdfunding platforms have quickly become an essential part of raising money for the indie arts community. FWYC is a natural extension of what we do at the Fringe and part of our overall mission to give back to artists. We are thrilled to partner with the Metcalf Foundation and Hivewire to bring this vital resource to Canadian artists.” The FWYC platform rivals any on the market today. It has been designed by BF Designs and is powered by HiveWire who are leading experts in the crowdfunding industry.
Related: View Canadian Crowdfunding Ambassadors
In 2011, Toronto Fringe transformed the indie theatre ecology in the city by launching the Creation Lab – a subsidised studio space that independent artists can rent for as low as $6/hr. The Creation Lab has seen incredible success in its first three years, offering over 12,500 subsidised hours. The launch of the Creation Lab in 2011 ushered the Toronto Fringe into a new era in its history, shifting the Fringe into a year-round organization.
With Fund What You Can, the Fringe is expanding its year-round operations, and renewing its position as a leading advocate of indie artists in the city.
For more information, or to sign up for a campaign, visit www.fwyc.ca
Media inquiries: Please contact Toronto Fringe Communications Manager Claire Wynveen
communications@fringetoronto.com 416-966-1062 x 8
Crowdfunding and angels could combine
New Zealand Venture Investment Fund | March 2014 Newsletter
The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund says new rules permitting equity crowd-funding investments for start-ups could allow angel investors to develop platforms to integrate crowd-funding with their investments.
“The Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013’s provisions permitting crowd-funding in New Zealand come into effect on 1 April. We have watched the development of crowd-funding investment in the United States and believe it could have a positive impact on New Zealand start-ups,” says Franceska Banga, NZVIF’s chief executive.
“The early stage investment community, and particularly angel networks and investors, need to consider how crowd-funding can be integrated with existing investment platforms in order to increase the capital available to young start-up companies.
“Angel investment has become, over the past decade, an important source of capital for start-ups. At the same time, non-equity crowd-funding platforms, like Kickstarter, have seen exponential growth, especially in music, design and consumer products.
Related: Crowdfunding and angels could combine
“These new rules provide the opportunity to design new platforms which bring together the best of angel investing with the best of crowd-funding.
“The United States is leading the way. Angel List, for example, has developed a platform which enables start-ups which have received a certain level of angel investment to then be able to seek further capital from crowd-funding.
“The benefit of this sort of structure is that it opens up angel-backed companies to a much broader pool of investors. People keen to invest through a crowd-funding platform might be more attracted to an investment proposition which has already attracted angel investors and due diligence has been done. They might also want the assurance that the investment is properly executed, and includes appropriate investor protections.
“This type of crowd-funded investing will be high risk – just as all early stage investment is high risk. But if it allows new start-up companies with a good business opportunity to attract both angel investors and crowd-funding, that should be positive for their development.”
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Overregulation in crowdfunding will hurt Canadian startups, small biz
Canadian Manufacturing | ©The Canadian Press | January 30, 2014
TORONTO – Canadian startups are in a prime position to cash in on the growing popularity of crowdfunding, but regulators need to ensure that incoming rules do not hinder that potential, TD Economics warns.
According to the 13-page report, the global crowdfunding market is estimated to be worth $3.25 billion, with the majority of the funds coming from North America and Europe.
But as other jurisdictions, mainly the US, move to set rules on how crowdfunding can operate, Canada has only taken tentative steps towards a regulatory framework. In doing so, it runs the risk of losing investments for startups and small businesses.
“Due diligence and getting it right is likely the prudent course of action _ there is an advantage to letting others go first and refine the best practices. However, Canadian regulators cannot drag their feet too long,” wrote senior economist Sonya Gulati. “If they do, there is the potential for entrepreneurs and enterprise owners to shift to jurisdictions which embrace crowdfunding. This leads to the potential loss of economic opportunities here in Canada. It also reduces the scope for startups and entrepreneurs.”
Related: Crowdfunding is essential for SME job creation and innovation
For instance, the report noted that the US has already loosened the rules over equity funding, as have other countries such as Australia, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Currently, in Canada, crowdfunding is used only to solicit one-time donations whereas elsewhwere ongoing equity funding is possible.
Although crowdfunding accounts for a small fraction of overall business funding, Canada needs to act quickly on rules to govern the growing industry, TD says.
Crowdfunding has gained momentum in recent years with the popularity of websites like Kickstarter, which arrived in Canada in September 2013.
Since its founding in 2009, more than 5.5 million people have made $960 million in donations on the Kickstarter site to 55,000 projects ranging from a human-powered helicopter to the upcoming Veronica Mars movie by the creators of the now defunct cult TV hit.
According to the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA), there were 45 crowdfunding platforms in Canada as of Jan. 2013, said the report.
Gulati noted that rules are needed to address a variety of concerns related to the industry, such as the potential for fraud, patent infringement and copyright concerns. But in doing so, regulators need to ensure they do not overregulate the crowdfunding industry.
Download the TD Economics’ crowdfunding report --> here
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How FundRazr is Turning Websites into Crowdfunding Platforms
FundRazr Release | Roy Gong | Jan 18, 2014
2013 saw crowdfunding reach new heights as the industry raised record values.
Hundreds of new platforms emerged to target different niche markets, ranging from dog lovers to sports fans to the party goers. With an estimated $5 Billion plus in total market value already, where does crowdfunding go in 2014?
Apart from the expected growth stemming from equity crowdfunding, industry insiders also predict a change in the fundamental crowdfunding model. Conventionally, crowdfunding has been done on destination sites. Anyone who wish to start or donate to a crowdfunding campaign must do so on a destination site. There are various inbounding methods such as links and widgets, but the campaign creation and donation process all took place on the destination site.
Attend: Waterloo Event (Feb 5, 2014): Titan Leaning - All About Crowdfunding
2014 will change convention as many platforms adapt to allow users to set up mirrored crowdfunding campaigns on their own sites. The idea is to let users with high traffic websites (predominantly businesses and organizations) take advantage of their existing traffic and crowdfund right on their site.
Although the concept seems new, Canada’s largest crowdfunding platform, FundRazr has been using this model for years. FundRazr began adopting the mirrored crowdfunding campaigns model all the way back in 2012. Through utilizing a lightbox technology on their widgets, and by embedding these widgets to websites, FundRazr allowed donors to donate to campaigns straight on third-party sites.
Recognizing the potential of the model, FundRazr further refined the technology and developed CFaaST ( Crowdfunding as a Service Technology). Unlike the light box technology, where only donations can be made on third party sites, CFaaST allowed branded sites to essentially become crowdfunding platforms; complete with the ability to create campaigns, host campaigns, and donate to campaigns.
The new technology comes with no additional costs and uses an easy to implement embedding technology similar to those used by Facebook. It also supports the use of third party software such as Google Analytics to further enhance the user experience. After successful collaborations with Save the Children, an international NGO, and the SETI Institute in California through CFaaST, FundRazr officially announced CFaaST under the brand name PoweredBy FundRazr in August 2013.
View: Healthline introduces medical crowdfunding powered by Fundrazr
FundRazr CEO Daryl Hatton believes that the change in model would bring plenty of benefits to its partners as he emphasize, “It’s about building your brand rather than building a platform’s brand”. He also added, “the numerous benefits for partner brands include the brand halo of public good enabled, new content, repeat traffic and heightened community and loyalty. Plus partner campaigns will also receive bonus visibility on FundRazr.com.
With the announcement of partnership with Healthline Networks Inc. (a major U.S.-based health information portal) and several partnerships in the works, FundRazr has gotten a head start on the industry in 2014. With over $20 million raised in 2013, FundRazr is expecting tremendous growth as its industry leading technology branch the business into new markets.
Source: Fundrazr
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. Learn more About Us | Prezi or contact us at casano@ncfacanada.org.
Katipult, white-label crowdfunding software waives all setup fees in holiday promotion!
Katipult (A Division of Joi Media) | Hafiz Mitha | Jan 16, 2014
Niche crowdfunding portals allow groups to affect change in their communities.
CALGARY, AB Jan 16, 2014 – Katipult, a white-label crowdfunding software provider is making available its donations and rewards based crowdfunding software for no setup cost until February 1st, 2014. The proprietary software allows organizations to leverage the power of crowdfunding for their fundraising efforts, while maintaining corporate brand and messaging.
Organizations from across the globe have taken advantage of the white-label solution since 2012 with many experiencing massive success. InvestYYC, a legacy platform of Calgary 2012 created with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and ATB Financial, launched in late 2012 and is now administered by Calgary Arts Development.
In a city dominated by Oil and Gas, platforms like InvestYYC have proven that with passion and the right tools, anything is possible. Emiko Muraki, Director of Impact & Engagement at Calgary Arts Development states, “InvestYYC has provided Calgary-based artists and arts organizations a tool to raise funds, find volunteers and develop a tribe of supporters.” Commenting on the success of InvestYYC, Emiko says “To date, the platform has raised over $650,000 in support of 45 local artistic projects and arts-specific flood recovery efforts. More importantly, the site has attracted close to 2000 donors who now have a direct and personal connection with arts projects they are passionate about."
Crowdfunding is the raising of funds through the collection of small contributions from the general public (known as the crowd) using the Internet and social media. Crowdfunding has its origins in the concept of crowdsourcing, which is the broader concept of an individual reaching a goal by receiving and leveraging small contributions from many parties.
“We developed Katipult in response to a profound need for organizations to bring like-minded people together, effectively raise funds all while providing project administrators with the tools for maximum reach. Platform owners are utilizing our software to really make a difference in their communities. Our objective is to work with community leaders and help to positively impact as many people as possible.” - Hafiz Mitha, Katipult co-founder and COO.
About Katipult
A product of JOI Media, based in Calgary AB Canada, Katipult is a global leader in providing a white-label crowdfunding solution. Katipult is a founding sponsor of the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada, Canada’s crowdfunding advocate.
Source: Katipult
For more information please contact:
Hafiz Mitha, COO
Katipult
info@katipult.com
403-457-8008
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. Learn more About Us | Prezi or contact us at casano@ncfacanada.org.
Myles Harding, President of Inline Reference Check Joins National Crowdfunding Association of Canada Advisory Board
NCFA Canada | Craig Asano | January 3, 2013
TORONTO, ON Jan 3, 2014 – The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) today announced that Myles Harding, CEO/President of Inline Reference Check has joined the Association’s Board of Advisors.
Myles Harding is the CEO/President of Inline Reference Check, the premier pre-employment screening and background checking company in Canada. Formed in 1997, and with over 35,000 completed files, Inline Reference Check’s veteran staff perform in depth, professional, reference, retention, exit interviews and due diligence at the highest level of service. Inline Reference Check specializes in Reference Interviews, Criminal Record Checks, Credit Inquiries, Education Verification, and Employment Verification throughout North America.
While in its infancy, the growth and impact of equity crowdfunding is steadily advancing in Canada, the U.S. and many international jurisdictions, and is bound to have a significant impact on how small-to-midsize-businesses (SMEs) raise early rounds of seed and expansion capital resulting in a new pipeline of crowdfunded ventures.
"We believe that crowdfunding will have a transformational effect on the ability of emerging technology companies to grow their businesses, said Harding. NCFA Canada is working tirelessly to build and nurture the crowdfunding community in Canada and Inline Reference Check is excited to be a part of that effort".
On December 6, 2013, the Financial Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) approved Canada’s first equity crowdfunding specific exemption in the province of Saskatchewan legally permitting SMEs the ability to raise small amounts of capital (up to $300,000 annually) from non-accredited investors via online equity crowdfunding portals.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced on December 4th that they will publish a proposed equity crowdfunding exemption including a framework for portal registration for public comment by the end of Q1-2014.
Source: Inline Reference Check, NCFA Canada
For more information please contact:
Media Contact
Craig Asano
NCFA Canada
Executive Director
p. (416) 618-0254
e. casano@ncfacanada.org
Myles Harding
President/CEO
Inline Reference Check
p. (416) 410-4881
e. myles@inlinereference.com
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About Inline Reference Check
Based in Toronto, Inline Reference Check is Canada's most experienced background checking company. Inline enables knowledge-based companies to make better decisions about their workplace environment. Inline provides management with timely and actionable information sourced from reference and background checks as well as exit and retention interviews. www.inlinereferencecheck.com.
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. Learn more eBrochure | Prezi or contact us at casano@ncfacanada.org.
EQUITY CROWDFUNDING AVAILABLE IN SASKATCHEWAN!!
FCAA (Saskatchewan) | Press Release | December 6, 2013
Starting today, Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) will allow small businesses and start-ups in Saskatchewan to sell stakes in their companies to residents of the province through the Saskatchewan Equity Crowdfunding Exemption.
The government’s Plan for Growth: Vision 2020 and Beyond highlights the importance of helping Saskatchewan small businesses and start-ups meet the challenges of growth.
“Small businesses play a central role in our economy,” Minister responsible for FCAA Gordon Wyant said. “Our government’s goal is to make sure that Saskatchewan continues to be one of the best places in Canada to start and grow a small business through competitive taxes, a continued reduction of red tape, measures to address the province’s labour shortage, and now through an additional source of funding.”
Related: NCFA Canada response to FCAA consultation on equity crowdfunding (general order 45-925)
“We know that the current rules for selling a stake in a company can be expensive, complicated and time consuming for small businesses or start-ups,” FCAA Chair and CEO Dave Wild said. “Equity crowdfunding will help fill the fundraising gap for these businesses so that they can compete in our market. This is also an opportunity for Saskatchewan people to invest in Saskatchewan businesses – it’s a unique opportunity to help grow our provincial economy.”
Protecting the public interest is at the top of FCAA’s priorities. In addition to other precautions, the Equity Crowdfunding Exemption limits the amount of money individual investors can risk and how much individual companies can raise.
To learn more about equity crowdfunding, visit www.fcaa.gov.sk.ca/SKEC.
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For more information, contact:
Daniela Machuca
Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority
Regina
Phone: 306-798-4160
Email: daniela.machuca@gov.sk.ca
Source: FCAA Press Release
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. Learn more eBrochure | Prezi or contact us at casano@ncfacanada.org.
