Canada

October 7, 2015 @ 10:18 am By Bret Conkin and Alixe Cormick  |  

Real estate investment is a consistently hot news topic.  Open any newspaper or news website in Canada and coverage of the real estate market is easy to find, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto.  Fortunes are made investing in residential and commercial properties. Speculation, offshore investors,… Read More

September 28, 2015 @ 2:07 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Kicking off the new school year with a competition, crowdfunding platform Tilt announced the Top Party Schools in Canada Challenge. The Tilt team shared in a recent blog post: “Last month we announced the top 10 party schools in Canada with Queen’s taking top spot…. Read More

September 18, 2015 @ 9:51 am By JD Alois  |  

All aspects of finance are quickly moving online capitalizing on the intrinsic efficiencies of the internet. Reviewing and completing financial transactions, be they large or small, are far more easily managed in a single repository where documents may be housed and progress tracked.  OfferingPoint is… Read More

September 17, 2015 @ 2:03 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Avant, a fast-growing marketplace lending platform, announced on Thursday that it is expanding to Canada, the company’s newest international market. Headquartered in Chicago, Avant has empowered more than 300,000 consumers in the United States and United Kingdom. The recent launch of AvantCredit in Canada will bring… Read More

September 10, 2015 @ 1:29 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

After being diagnosed with several medical conditions, Epicured Market Founder and President Jillian Bowman discovered the challenge of eating well, finding the correct ingredients for delicious recipes and preparing meals.  She searched for recipes and meal plans for hours every day, then spent just as long… Read More

September 2, 2015 @ 5:00 pm By Bret Conkin and Alixe Cormick  |  

Causes and Lessons to be learned from more Developed Markets In this three-part series, we examine whether “conservative” Canadian business culture is having a negative effect on equity crowdfunding taking hold in Canada.  In Part I of this series we took a snapshot of equity… Read More

August 26, 2015 @ 10:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The investment crowdfunding push is a global movement. In the US multiple platforms have cropped up to take advantage of the evolving regulatory environment regarding general solicitation.  Across the border in Canada things have moved a bit slowly.  But earlier this year Canada took a… Read More

August 24, 2015 @ 5:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last month, President of  C.Y.C.I  (The Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq) and Québec resident, Steve Maman, took to crowdfunding platform GoFundMe with a mission to raise $2 million to free the Christian and Yazidi children in Iraq from the horrifying conditions they are… Read More

August 20, 2015 @ 3:20 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, Colborne Communications announced that it has acquired Pubslush. This acquisition will go into effect on Monday, August 24th, and crowdfunding platform will continue to take submissions for book funding and pre-order campaigns. Since 1977, Colborne Communications has provided a variety of editing, design… Read More

August 19, 2015 @ 11:09 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Grouplend, Canada’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, announced on Wednesday that it has closed an additional round of financing, having raised $10.2 million since launching ten months ago. The round is being led by Markus Frind, CEO of PlentyofFish, and Lance Tracey, founder of Peer 1… Read More

August 17, 2015 @ 12:30 pm By Bret Conkin  |  

  American culture is known for celebrating “winners.”  Canadians are known for being modest and risk averse.  Could this cultural difference explain why Canadian equity crowdfunding appears to be relatively underdeveloped so far?  We checked out the funds actually raised in 2015 and talked to some of Canada’s… Read More

August 11, 2015 @ 1:13 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  While shares of Mogo Finance Technology Inc. have slid from $10 to $6 since the IPO–the company was the first Canadian online lender to go public–all is far from lost. After the $50-million IPO on June 25, Cormark research analysts Jeff Fenwick and Richard Tse believe the stock will… Read More

July 20, 2015 @ 5:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

In an effort to fund their way to the Pan Am games, a group of Canadian handballers reportedly launched crowdfunding campaigns to help with the rather expensive trip. According to Yahoo! Sports, the handballers decided to looking into the funding method because of the high… Read More

July 20, 2015 @ 9:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) compiled historical data for the past few years and published a report on the growing early stage investing scene in Canada.  Authored by Paul Schure at the University of Victoria and NACO staffer Melissa Dodaro, the document provides… Read More

July 17, 2015 @ 12:34 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last month, organizers of the This Lighthouse Matters contest launched the crowdfunding competition to give Canadian residences the chance to contribute to lighthouse preservation campaigns in Nova Scotia. According to CBC, the contest was created by National Trust for Canada and the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society as… Read More

July 14, 2015 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Global equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has continued its international expansion with the opening of an office in Toronto, Ontario.  The new location will be managed by David Shore, an established Canadian VC executive with over 20 years of experience in the investment industry.  OurCrowd has… Read More

June 29, 2015 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

SeedUps Canada, a leading equity crowdfunding platform operating out of Calgary, is joining a growing number of platforms that are leveraging their own technology to self-crowdfund their company. SeedUps is reaching out to their growing number of users, and beyond, to capitalize on their first… Read More

June 11, 2015 @ 1:11 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Lending Loop, a new business lending marketplace, has opened its doors to businesses across Canada, aiming to be the first 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… Read More

May 30, 2015 @ 9:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Back in the 1980’s, consumers in North America as well as Scandinavia, parts of Europe and Japan rejoiced as sparkling flavored water, Clearly Canadian, hit the market and became a super popular beverage. The drink’s production ran for 22 years before it came to a screeching… Read More

May 27, 2015 @ 2:23 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Bookstores at each of Simon Fraser University’s three campuses in Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey, will now accept bitcoin for the payment of retail transactions, and virtual currency machines will be installed in these locations, allowing the student body to purchase the virtual currency. “As a… Read More