Paul Schulte, Advisor, Banking and Financial Services
August 22nd, 2019
Paul Schulte is the Founder and Managing Editor of Shulte Research based in Singapore. Paul's roles[...]
Gender Bias Contributes to Blocking Female Founders Out of Investment & Venture Capital. We Need to Fix This.
Crowdfund Insider | | Feb 20, 2019
The world of business equity raising is still dominated by men. Melinda Gates wrote in ReCode back in 2017:
“We like to think that venture capital is driven by the power of good ideas. But by the numbers, it’s men who have the keys.”
Gates argued that this was “more to do with historical inequalities than it does with innate ability.”
At the time of Gates’ comments, a U.S. analysis found that just 2% of venture capital finance went to start-ups founded by women, and with women comprising just 9% of the decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms, the lack of female VC representation seemed a compelling reason as to why. The situation a year on shows no sign of improving.
Recently, a UK VC & Female Founders report for the Treasury discovered that for every £1 of VC investment, all-female founder teams get less than 1p.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss said it was “incredible” that in 2019 men had a “virtual monopoly on venture capital.”
See: Meet the women who are making sure blockchain is inclusive
Even within the more disruptive, and arguably progressive, realms of crowdfunding, women are underrepresented – Crowdcube found that only 18% of their funded pitches are led by females or a joint team which includes a female.
As well as being hard to believe in this day and age, this status quo also makes terrible business sense.
Businesses largely led by women do better than male-dominated ones. And this isn’t a new discovery.
Multiple studies have shown this, and just recently, a report from US accelerator Mass Challenge found that for every dollar invested, a company founded by men generated 31 cents – compared to 78 cents produced by start-ups with women on the board.
Truss says she wants to see more women starting up businesses to “supercharge economic growth”. Whether our economy can be “supercharged” given the uncertain times we face, I’m certain that investing in female-founded or female-led businesses is one of the smartest things investors can do.
Endemic sexism
I understand the raising investment challenges start-ups face, particularly female-led start-ups, because I’ve experienced them first-hand – both in my identity as an entrepreneur in my past business, and now in my investment consultancy role – and I would say there are a few factors at play.
Firstly, investment is not really an industry many women tend to enter. It is viewed as a bit of an old boy’s club and has a reputation for not being female friendly. People don’t tend to want to go to a party that they’ve pointedly not been invited to or where they will be in the minority.
There is also an unhealthy dose of old-fashioned sexism still at play here.
See: Slowly but surely, women are changing fintech
I’ve been to several board and investor meetings at investment and law firms across the city and on more than one occasion people assumed I was there as the PA or the stand-in receptionist. Not the person presenting in the boardroom to the partners of the firm. I’ve also recently been in an office filled with men whose artwork on the walls included paintings of naked women!
The gender bias of the industry is also causing a vicious circle which is contributing to locking female founders out of investment. There are very few female investors in the UK, and at the same time, investors tend to invest in sectors that they know or intrinsically “get” which makes good, solid sense. Yet if all the investors are male it makes it that much harder for female-led and female-focused businesses to secure investment.
Female-led brilliance
But in the two years of raising £18 million for businesses of all sizes, including those with female founders, I have seen flashes of brilliance from the female-led camp – both in terms of women getting behind investment propositions and in how women are turning the situation to their advantage.
We recently managed The Baukjen Group’s crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. The brand, built on its premium Isabella Oliver maternity range and its contemporary womenswear offer, is understood by women. Its wife and husband founding team also offers the gender mix which we have found works incredibly powerfully for investors. Their raise achieved the highest number of female investors ever to invest in a company via crowdfunding – 77% of investors were women, compared to an average of 31% (Crowdcube.) It showed that women are ready to invest, and with a more democratic crowdfunding platform, they are able to play a bigger role and respond to brands they believe in.
While a lack of confidence and reticence in their approach to equity raising is holding female founders back, it is also driving them to approach investors with a more thorough and robust style.
See: Women & Minorities in Regulation Crowdfunding: High Success Rate Despite Low Representation & Lower Funding Levels
We have found in our experience with businesses that women tend to get down to the numbers, hard facts and proof-points much quicker than men when seeking investment. Female founders should play on this trait – especially when pitching a product that male investors wouldn’t intrinsically understand.
When Trinny Woodall pitched her beauty brand to investors, she knew that women would love her brand and would recognise the benefits of her make-up and the pain points it solved. However, looking around the room she recognised that she was pitching a female-focused product to a room full of men. So instead of pitching her product, she pitched purely the numbers, the margins, the market and the size of the opportunity.
In contrast, when we are dealing with an all-male founding team it can take us weeks to cut through the bravado, whereas women often take a more grounded approach – setting forth figures and projections plainly. The irony of this is that women are less likely to pursue investment in the first place, and when they do, are less likely to ask for what they need. This is a problem.
The solution? Education
One of the biggest solutions to the inequality of raising investment is around education. Female founders can be wary of investment because they view it as taking on debt but there are different forms of funding and it’s important to understand what funding actually means for your business. Equity funding is not debt and you won’t owe investors that money. You do have an obligation to do your best and use that funding wisely, with the aim to give a return but if it all goes wrong, investors lose their capital and know the risks involved.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
 |  |  |
  |
TechTalks | Andrey Sergeenkov | Feb 12, 2020 As 2018 drew to a close, crypto skeptics were ready to write obituaries after the devastating bear market that year. Talk of blockchain and cryptocurrency demise was rife among seasoned analysts. Just over twelve months later, the industry has shown remarkable resilience to rebound back. Regulators are a segment of stakeholders who seem to be appreciating that crypto is here to stay, with Federal agencies in the US and Chinese authorities praising the potential of this technology in their respective countries’ digital future. Blockchain technology has gained independent credibility over and above its application in cryptocurrency. The opportunities are endless as the emerging enterprise sector continues to draw plaudits. So far, this technology has grown in spite of regulatory infrastructure rather than because of it. A suitable regulatory climate is essential for widespread adoption. See: The Decade in Blockchain — 2010 to 2020 in Review This is how Jason Lee, Vice President of NEM Foundation, describes the industry’s evolution: “2017 was the year of the blockchain craze. In 2018, we hit the brakes towards the end of the year. For 2019 and the start of 2020, Don Tapscott at the World Economic ...
Read More
Betakit | Isabelle Kirkwood | Feb 10, 2020 PwC Canada and CB Insights have released the MoneyTree report on Canadian investment trends for the second half and full year of 2019 (all figures in USD). “Increased competition for funding from global investors has created a healthy funding environment for Canadian startups.” Last year saw Canadian venture capital (VC) funding rise to a record-setting $4.1 billion. Although Canadian funding experienced an 11 percent decline in deal count last year, the report tracked a 16 percent increase in year-over-year funding. Some massive rounds from last year were not included in this year’s report, including Verafin’s round, as the company did not disclose the debt and equity break out, and Sonder’s $210 million raise as the company is now headquartered in the United States. A strong year for AI, FinTech, cybersecurity Artificial intelligence companies saw increased investor attention in 2019, investment in Canadian AI companies more than doubled in the second half of 2019. Last year’s funding to Canadian AI companies saw a 49 percent year-over-year increase in 2019 to $658 million with deal count reaching a new record at 57 deals. See: The paradox of 2020 VC is that the largest funds ...
Read More
Forbes | Billy Bambrough | Feb 18, 2020 Samsung, the South Korean technology giant and creator of the Galaxy smartphone range, could soon become one of the biggest drivers of bitcoin, crypto and blockchain adoption. While bitcoin traders and investors are focused on the upcoming bitcoin halving, a looming U.S. bitcoin crackdown, and rocky crypto trading volume, Samsung is putting the power of bitcoin, crypto and blockchain in people's hands. Last week, Samsung, which makes up 19% of global smartphone sales and last year sold almost 300 million phones according to data site Statista, unveiled it latest Galaxy smartphone range with its new flagships the S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra models. These new 5G enabled smartphones build on the Galaxy S10 ranges' bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain support, which last year was revealed to boast a built-in bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallet. "We created a secure processor dedicated to protecting your PIN, password, pattern, and Blockchain Private Key," Samsung wrote on its website, announcing the new S20 Galaxy phones. "Combined with the Knox platform, security is infused into every part of your phone, from hardware to software. So private data stays private." Samsung's so-called Blockchain Keystore was introduced last year, initially with ...
Read More
Bank Innovation | Rick Morgan | Jan 22, 2020 HSBC is improving payments for its business clients through a suite of tools launched last week called Treasury APIs, which are designed to speed up payments for small businesses and large corporate clients alike. HSBC’s Treasury APIs embed payment capabilities into other workflows. According to the bank, this allows treasurers to make payments from their own workstations without logging into a proprietary bank platform. Clients receive confirmation that a payment request has been received and can track payments from their accounts to recipients. Nadya Hijazi, head of digital, global liquidity and cash management at HSBC, said clients using the tool include e-commerce platforms, treasury teams and mutual fund teams. The new products let HSBC business clients pay suppliers more quickly; Hijazi said payments that used to take anywhere from one or two days in the past now take about 10 or 20 seconds. HSBC, which is headquartered in London, has $2.7 trillion in assets. Treasury APIs are now available in 27 markets throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The bank piloted the tools in India last summer. See: HSBC Canada Breaks from Big Six Banks in Call to Encourage Fintechs In addition to paying suppliers, HSBC business customers can also issue ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Feb 12, 2020 Regulators grapple with crypto trading Global securities regulators are monitoring the emerging crypto asset sector, but aren’t yet seeking to establish global standards for crypto trading platforms. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has issued a report detailing the risks associated with crypto trading, including concerns about platform access, asset safekeeping, price discovery, transparency and conflicts of interest. See: SEC Commissioner Speech: A Proposal to Fill the Gap Between Regulation and Decentralization Many of these same issues arise in the regulation of traditional securities trading too, the report noted. So, to the extent that particular crypto assets are considered to be securities, “the basic principles…of securities regulation should apply,” the report said. However, crypto trading platforms may also raise novel regulatory concerns due to their particular business models, IOSCO warned. The report said that some regulators have determined that their existing frameworks for overseeing traditional trading venues will also apply to crypto trading, but that some are also considering new requirements “to account for the novel and unique characteristics” of crypto trading. The group’s report — which was prepared by an IOSCO committee led by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) — ...
Read More
Wharton Knowledge | Kalin Anev Janse | Oct 10, 2019 Can Fintech Make the World More Inclusive? The potential gains for the start-ups driving fintech (financial technology) are obvious. But the possibilities for extending financial services to the underserved – or those without services at all – are already being realized. With proper oversight and regulation even more is possible, notes this opinion piece by Kalin Anev Janse, secretary general and a member of the management board of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the Eurozone’s lender of last resort, and Gong Cheng, senior economist and policy strategist at the ESM. “It is thus essential for researchers and technical experts to shed light on the considerable social impact and promise fintech is offering and to find solutions to contain potential risks.” Financial inclusion – making banking services accessible and affordable to everyone globally – has been a buzzword for the last few years. Technology-based financial services have propelled innovation to “bank the unbanked” making daily financial operations accessible and user friendly for almost everyone – especially people who had no access to banks before. Emerging markets like China, Kenya and Indonesia are leapfrogging the developed world. So – how is fintech making the ...
Read More
Coindesk | Nathan DiCamillo | Feb 13, 2020 Fresh on the heels of an $18.3 million Series A funding round in August, crypto lending startup BlockFi has secured a $30 million Series B. Announced Thursday, the new funding will help the firm expand both its product offering and geographic footprint. “We decided to opportunistically raise the Series B to expand the balance sheet and give ourselves the ability to invest in the things we’re doing this year,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said in an interview. The Series B was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures with participation from repeat investors Morgan Creek Digital, PJC, Akuna Capital, CMT Digital, Winklevoss Capital and Avon Ventures. New investors included Castle Island Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Arrington XRP Capital and HashKey Capital. Having Hong Kong-based HashKey as an investor will help BlockFi expand into Singapore later this year, Prince said. While the company has been serving customers in the region, this would be its first physical presence there. See: Why DeFi’s Billion-Dollar Milestone Matters In the Asia-Pacific region, BlockFi expects to attract a lot of institutional customers, Prince said, given the number of mining companies, asset managers, exchanges and market makers that ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Jason Coates | Feb 11, 2020 It seems that climate change awareness and interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues among investors, politicians, millennials and society at large has reached a tipping point. This has led to new pressures and subsequent regulations, but also to new opportunities for all stakeholders involved. The Gowling WLG ESG Working Group has been established to help our pension trustee clients understand the law relating to ESG and to help them navigate the landscape, including the social and political backdrop, as it evolves. This is the first of a series of ESG-focused Insights to be published by our ESG Working Group. In this Insight, we highlight recent remarks by Guy Opperman and Mark Carney on climate change and pension schemes, we touch on new reporting and disclosure requirements for pension scheme trustees, and we finish by summarising key issues and questions for trustees to consider. See: ESG ratings are confounding. For CSOs, that’s good news In future Insights, we will consider further the legal position for trustees in terms of statute and case law, for both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, and discuss the practical implementation of compliance for schemes ...
Read More
DevEx | William Worley | Feb 11, 2020 OXFORD, England — The head of the United Nations Development Programme has outlined four key factors he says will define the future of development. In a speech at the Oxford Forum for International Development, Achim Steiner — the UNDP administrator who previously led the U.N. Environment Programme and the U.N. Office at Nairobi — highlighted how rapid global changes will affect development and should be embraced by professionals in the sector. e argued that the Sustainable Development Goals already encapsulate these challenges, describing them as a “manifestation of wisdom about the great risks of the 21st century.” 1. Inequality Steiner said the economic paradigm of the last century, while imperfect, was “incredibly successful.” See: Social equity must be central to urban tech innovations “Deficiencies should not mask the story of development success … We live in a world today that I think nobody in the 1850s would wish to trade in terms of possibilities,” he said. “But the era of the 20th century is over now — that period where we thought that science and technology allows us to exploit planet Earth … to create extraordinary wealth … but at what price?” Steiner said recent ...
Read More
NCFA - KABN Release | Feb 13, 2020 Digital Identity program to be launched at 20: RISE TORONTO, ON (February 13, 2020): The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) and KABN Systems North America Inc. (KABN NA) announced today they have formed a collaborative partnership to promote Digital Identity management and usage in Canada through a 3 year exclusive partnership launching at the 2020 Fintech and Financing Conference and Expo (FFCON20) to be held in downtown Toronto on March 23-24, 2020. With finance and fintech touching virtually every business and entity of people’s lives, the NCFA and KABN NA will be embarking on awareness and education programs on the value of having a secure, re-usable online identity that can reduce identity fraud and replace the need to show credentials every time you need to prove your online identity. KABN Systems North America Inc. is a Canadian Fintech company tha specializes in continuous online Identity Verification, Identity Management and Monetization and is currently in the launch phase of its digital banking and financial services platform, Pegasus Flyte. See: Davos 2020: Financial inclusion and fintech is key to meeting the UN SDGs KABN NA recently announced that it has executed ...
Read More
TechTalks | Andrey Sergeenkov | Feb 12, 2020 As 2018 drew to a close, crypto skeptics were ready to write obituaries after the devastating bear market that year. Talk of blockchain and cryptocurrency demise was rife among seasoned analysts. Just over twelve months later, the industry has shown remarkable resilience to rebound back. Regulators are a segment of stakeholders who seem to be appreciating that crypto is here to stay, with Federal agencies in the US and Chinese authorities praising the potential of this technology in their respective countries’ digital future. Blockchain technology has gained independent credibility over and above its application in cryptocurrency. The opportunities are endless as the emerging enterprise sector continues to draw plaudits. So far, this technology has grown in spite of regulatory infrastructure rather than because of it. A suitable regulatory climate is essential for widespread adoption. See: The Decade in Blockchain — 2010 to 2020 in Review This is how Jason Lee, Vice President of NEM Foundation, describes the industry’s evolution: “2017 was the year of the blockchain craze. In 2018, we hit the brakes towards the end of the year. For 2019 and the start of 2020, Don Tapscott at the World Economic ...
Read More
Read More
Betakit | Isabelle Kirkwood | Feb 10, 2020 PwC Canada and CB Insights have released the MoneyTree report on Canadian investment trends for the second half and full year of 2019 (all figures in USD). “Increased competition for funding from global investors has created a healthy funding environment for Canadian startups.” Last year saw Canadian venture capital (VC) funding rise to a record-setting $4.1 billion. Although Canadian funding experienced an 11 percent decline in deal count last year, the report tracked a 16 percent increase in year-over-year funding. Some massive rounds from last year were not included in this year’s report, including Verafin’s round, as the company did not disclose the debt and equity break out, and Sonder’s $210 million raise as the company is now headquartered in the United States. A strong year for AI, FinTech, cybersecurity Artificial intelligence companies saw increased investor attention in 2019, investment in Canadian AI companies more than doubled in the second half of 2019. Last year’s funding to Canadian AI companies saw a 49 percent year-over-year increase in 2019 to $658 million with deal count reaching a new record at 57 deals. See: The paradox of 2020 VC is that the largest funds ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Billy Bambrough | Feb 18, 2020 Samsung, the South Korean technology giant and creator of the Galaxy smartphone range, could soon become one of the biggest drivers of bitcoin, crypto and blockchain adoption. While bitcoin traders and investors are focused on the upcoming bitcoin halving, a looming U.S. bitcoin crackdown, and rocky crypto trading volume, Samsung is putting the power of bitcoin, crypto and blockchain in people's hands. Last week, Samsung, which makes up 19% of global smartphone sales and last year sold almost 300 million phones according to data site Statista, unveiled it latest Galaxy smartphone range with its new flagships the S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra models. These new 5G enabled smartphones build on the Galaxy S10 ranges' bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain support, which last year was revealed to boast a built-in bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallet. "We created a secure processor dedicated to protecting your PIN, password, pattern, and Blockchain Private Key," Samsung wrote on its website, announcing the new S20 Galaxy phones. "Combined with the Knox platform, security is infused into every part of your phone, from hardware to software. So private data stays private." Samsung's so-called Blockchain Keystore was introduced last year, initially with ...
Read More
Read More
Bank Innovation | Rick Morgan | Jan 22, 2020 HSBC is improving payments for its business clients through a suite of tools launched last week called Treasury APIs, which are designed to speed up payments for small businesses and large corporate clients alike. HSBC’s Treasury APIs embed payment capabilities into other workflows. According to the bank, this allows treasurers to make payments from their own workstations without logging into a proprietary bank platform. Clients receive confirmation that a payment request has been received and can track payments from their accounts to recipients. Nadya Hijazi, head of digital, global liquidity and cash management at HSBC, said clients using the tool include e-commerce platforms, treasury teams and mutual fund teams. The new products let HSBC business clients pay suppliers more quickly; Hijazi said payments that used to take anywhere from one or two days in the past now take about 10 or 20 seconds. HSBC, which is headquartered in London, has $2.7 trillion in assets. Treasury APIs are now available in 27 markets throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The bank piloted the tools in India last summer. See: HSBC Canada Breaks from Big Six Banks in Call to Encourage Fintechs In addition to paying suppliers, HSBC business customers can also issue ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Feb 12, 2020 Regulators grapple with crypto trading Global securities regulators are monitoring the emerging crypto asset sector, but aren’t yet seeking to establish global standards for crypto trading platforms. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has issued a report detailing the risks associated with crypto trading, including concerns about platform access, asset safekeeping, price discovery, transparency and conflicts of interest. See: SEC Commissioner Speech: A Proposal to Fill the Gap Between Regulation and Decentralization Many of these same issues arise in the regulation of traditional securities trading too, the report noted. So, to the extent that particular crypto assets are considered to be securities, “the basic principles…of securities regulation should apply,” the report said. However, crypto trading platforms may also raise novel regulatory concerns due to their particular business models, IOSCO warned. The report said that some regulators have determined that their existing frameworks for overseeing traditional trading venues will also apply to crypto trading, but that some are also considering new requirements “to account for the novel and unique characteristics” of crypto trading. The group’s report — which was prepared by an IOSCO committee led by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) — ...
Read More
Read More
Wharton Knowledge | Kalin Anev Janse | Oct 10, 2019 Can Fintech Make the World More Inclusive? The potential gains for the start-ups driving fintech (financial technology) are obvious. But the possibilities for extending financial services to the underserved – or those without services at all – are already being realized. With proper oversight and regulation even more is possible, notes this opinion piece by Kalin Anev Janse, secretary general and a member of the management board of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the Eurozone’s lender of last resort, and Gong Cheng, senior economist and policy strategist at the ESM. “It is thus essential for researchers and technical experts to shed light on the considerable social impact and promise fintech is offering and to find solutions to contain potential risks.” Financial inclusion – making banking services accessible and affordable to everyone globally – has been a buzzword for the last few years. Technology-based financial services have propelled innovation to “bank the unbanked” making daily financial operations accessible and user friendly for almost everyone – especially people who had no access to banks before. Emerging markets like China, Kenya and Indonesia are leapfrogging the developed world. So – how is fintech making the ...
Read More
Read More
Coindesk | Nathan DiCamillo | Feb 13, 2020 Fresh on the heels of an $18.3 million Series A funding round in August, crypto lending startup BlockFi has secured a $30 million Series B. Announced Thursday, the new funding will help the firm expand both its product offering and geographic footprint. “We decided to opportunistically raise the Series B to expand the balance sheet and give ourselves the ability to invest in the things we’re doing this year,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said in an interview. The Series B was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures with participation from repeat investors Morgan Creek Digital, PJC, Akuna Capital, CMT Digital, Winklevoss Capital and Avon Ventures. New investors included Castle Island Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Arrington XRP Capital and HashKey Capital. Having Hong Kong-based HashKey as an investor will help BlockFi expand into Singapore later this year, Prince said. While the company has been serving customers in the region, this would be its first physical presence there. See: Why DeFi’s Billion-Dollar Milestone Matters In the Asia-Pacific region, BlockFi expects to attract a lot of institutional customers, Prince said, given the number of mining companies, asset managers, exchanges and market makers that ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Jason Coates | Feb 11, 2020 It seems that climate change awareness and interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues among investors, politicians, millennials and society at large has reached a tipping point. This has led to new pressures and subsequent regulations, but also to new opportunities for all stakeholders involved. The Gowling WLG ESG Working Group has been established to help our pension trustee clients understand the law relating to ESG and to help them navigate the landscape, including the social and political backdrop, as it evolves. This is the first of a series of ESG-focused Insights to be published by our ESG Working Group. In this Insight, we highlight recent remarks by Guy Opperman and Mark Carney on climate change and pension schemes, we touch on new reporting and disclosure requirements for pension scheme trustees, and we finish by summarising key issues and questions for trustees to consider. See: ESG ratings are confounding. For CSOs, that’s good news In future Insights, we will consider further the legal position for trustees in terms of statute and case law, for both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, and discuss the practical implementation of compliance for schemes ...
Read More
Read More
DevEx | William Worley | Feb 11, 2020 OXFORD, England — The head of the United Nations Development Programme has outlined four key factors he says will define the future of development. In a speech at the Oxford Forum for International Development, Achim Steiner — the UNDP administrator who previously led the U.N. Environment Programme and the U.N. Office at Nairobi — highlighted how rapid global changes will affect development and should be embraced by professionals in the sector. e argued that the Sustainable Development Goals already encapsulate these challenges, describing them as a “manifestation of wisdom about the great risks of the 21st century.” 1. Inequality Steiner said the economic paradigm of the last century, while imperfect, was “incredibly successful.” See: Social equity must be central to urban tech innovations “Deficiencies should not mask the story of development success … We live in a world today that I think nobody in the 1850s would wish to trade in terms of possibilities,” he said. “But the era of the 20th century is over now — that period where we thought that science and technology allows us to exploit planet Earth … to create extraordinary wealth … but at what price?” Steiner said recent ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA - KABN Release | Feb 13, 2020 Digital Identity program to be launched at 20: RISE TORONTO, ON (February 13, 2020): The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) and KABN Systems North America Inc. (KABN NA) announced today they have formed a collaborative partnership to promote Digital Identity management and usage in Canada through a 3 year exclusive partnership launching at the 2020 Fintech and Financing Conference and Expo (FFCON20) to be held in downtown Toronto on March 23-24, 2020. With finance and fintech touching virtually every business and entity of people’s lives, the NCFA and KABN NA will be embarking on awareness and education programs on the value of having a secure, re-usable online identity that can reduce identity fraud and replace the need to show credentials every time you need to prove your online identity. KABN Systems North America Inc. is a Canadian Fintech company tha specializes in continuous online Identity Verification, Identity Management and Monetization and is currently in the launch phase of its digital banking and financial services platform, Pegasus Flyte. See: Davos 2020: Financial inclusion and fintech is key to meeting the UN SDGs KABN NA recently announced that it has executed ...
Read More
Read More
Related Posts
Where top VCs are investing in fintech?
Crowdfunding To Narrow The Gender Gap in Venture Capital
When fintech met crowdfunding
Sep 22, 2019: NCFA Response to ASC Consultation Paper 11-701: Energizing Alberta’s Capital Market
Bitcoin’s gender divide could be a bad sign, experts say
SGX, VC firm to launch equity crowdfunding platform for SMEs, entrepreneurs
