Fintech Showdown: Introducing the Top 25 Contenders for the Digital Commerce Calgary Fintech Award
Drumroll, please! After sifting through 150 exceptional applications, we're thrilled to unveil the crème de la crème - the Top 25 companies competing for the prestigious Digital Commerce Calgary Fintech Award.
These companies have risen above the competition and secured their spot to compete for over $300,000 in non-dilutive cash. The exceptional contenders have impressed us with their innovative fintech solutions and ideas, showcasing their potential to disrupt and reshape the financial technology landscape. With an expanded scope that now includes startups from across Canada, we’re proud to introduce the companies that have emerged as frontrunners in this highly anticipated award competition. Let’s dive in!
Accelerate Financial Technologies:
Calgary, AB
CEO, Chief Investment Officer, Founder - Julian Klymochko
Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc. ("Accelerate") is a leading provider of alternative investment solutions. Accelerate helps investment advisors, institutions and individual investors diversify their investment portfolios, manage risk, and improve their portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns. Accelerate is powering diversification.Bidmii:
Toronto, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Jon Christensen
CTO & Co-Founder - Phillip Stack
Bidmii is a renovation marketplace that guarantees payment security for each party by holding payments in trust, eliminating stolen deposits for homeowners and reducing contractor accounts receivable by 98%.Blossom:
Vancouver, BC
CEO & Co-Founder - Maxwell Nicholson
Co-Founders - Kartik Bhutani, Annika Ng
Blossom is a social app for investors with over 30,000 Canadians sharing their portfolios, trades, and investing ideas in an inclusive and welcoming community. Blossom is working to become Canada's first social brokerage, combining the app's social features with a mobile-first investing platform.Calefy:
Calgary, AB
President & Co-founder - Simon Hlywa
Chief Insurance Officer & Co-founder - Kevin Lea
Technical Sales Specialist & Co-founder - Phillip Obiora
Software Developer & Co-founder - Eric Campbell
Calefy helps quote and bind insurance digitally. Calefy helps increase annual revenue for insurance brokerages, insurers and MGAs by $15k per employee by saving time on tasks that are highly manual and currently done "the old fashioned way."Chata.ai:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Founder - Kelly Cherniwchan
Chata.ai builds an API-first solution that empowers financial industry users with easy-to-use self-service analytics. Through dynamic translation of natural language into database query language, users receive instant data responses, empowering them to make informed data-driven decisions.Credit App Technologies:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Founder - Evan Ferguson
At Credit App, we are building a credit application platform to challenge the monopolistic industry that connects Canada’s 4,000 automotive dealerships with over 60 lenders and 2.4 million finance consumers annually. Our modern infrastructure drives operational efficiencies and powers omni-channel financing for Canada’s largest lenders.Datz Solutions:
Kelowna, BC
Co-Founder, Head of Product - Marc Sykes
Co-Founder, Head of Sales - David Lofthaug
Co-Founder, Director - David Harper
Broker technology is broken technology! We created the Datz RMS as a complete, connected brokerage operating system – replacing endless emails and phone calls. Our clients reduce admin burden by as much as 50%, and compliance is built in.DealPoint:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Founder - Sandi Gilbert
If you are raising private capital, you need DealPoint. Companies, venture funds, angel networks, investment dealers and securities lawyers all use our platform to digitize investor onboarding and investment execution, bringing efficiency to the complicated, paper-based process of fundraising.Elev:
Edmonton, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Kevin Mpunga
COO & Co-Founder - Jean Bruce Koua
CTO & Co-Founder - Kwasi Boateng
Elev streamlines the off-campus living experience for students and landlords. Students can book a viewing, sign their lease and pay their rent through the platform. From screening potential candidates to managing rent payments, landlords can rely on Elev to host the best tenants.Expedier:
Hamilton, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Kingsley Madu
CTO & Co-Founder - Michael Obembe
There are over 200 banks and financial institutes in Canada. There are almost 2 million blacks in Canada, but not one bank for the demographic. Meet Expedier, the first Black led BIPOC focused digital bank in Canada.Green Apple:
Hamilton, ON
CEO & Founder - Christopher Tufford
Pandemic inflation continues to squeeze charities and small businesses alike. Green Apple Gives helps drive new revenues for both by connecting donors to cashback rewards from local brands.InTuition Pay:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Tinashe Mutamangira
CFO & Co-Founder - Cedric Madondo
CTO & Co-Founder - Tapiwa Kundishora
Software Engineer & Co-Founder - Blessing Musungate
CIO & Co-Founder - Ibrahim Shehu
InTuitionPay is a secure and convenient platform for international students to pay for their tuition fees and connect with other students studying in Canada, Australia, UK and USA.LenderBidding:
Toronto, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Jason Geall
COO & Co-Founder - Oscar Salvendy
Leveraging over 50 of Canada's top private lenders, LenderBidding is the country's only mortgage auction platform. This encourages competition, ensuring optimal rates for borrowers and expanded deal access for lenders. We also offer a B2B service where we proudly partner with credit unions rejected customers to help get them back and approved with the credit union after a temporary private mortgage to fix their financial issues.Marmot Benefits:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Founder - John Kenny
Marmot Benefits develops employee benefits to help fix today’s debt crisis so people can worry less and retire in peace. Our debt relief solutions for Canada's workforce enable employer help for the repayment of student loans and mortgages.Padder:
Toronto, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Daniel MossCTO & Co-Founder - Claire Lam
Padder is making renting better for everyone. Landlords can manage and grow their real estate portfolios while their tenants build their credit.Periculum:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Michael Tope Collins
Periculum is a Calgary-based, African-focused artificial intelligence and machine learning company that builds data analytic software solutions to help African organizations make better decisions.Propra:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Al-Karim Khimji
CTO & Co-Founder - Craig Adam
Propra is building autonomous property management. The software goes beyond streamlining and simplifying tasks. We are building an autonomous, hands-free platform so technology can take care of administrative tasks and financials so owners can focus on growth.Quickly Technologies:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Kyle Friedman
COO & Co-Founder - Ammar Memon
Quickly is an "Earned Revenue Access" technology that lets small and medium businesses take control of their working capital by solving credit terms and getting them paid for their verified invoices within 1 business day.Remitbee:
Mississauga, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Pratheepan Yoganathan
Chairman & Co-Founder - Yogi Yoganathan
Remitbee is the largest Canadian headquartered for online international money transfers and currency exchange. As a Fintech, Remitbee leverages its leading security technology to improve the lives of its customers and their loved ones worldwide.Seedwell:
Richmond Hill, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Matthew Tsang
Director & Co-Founder - Douglas Belford
Head of Engineering, Design & Co-Founder - Brian Du
Richmond Hill,Seedwell is an employee benefit focused on financial health. Integrated with payroll, we empower users to make smarter decisions and ensure follow-through with automation directly from the source, placing them in full control of their financial future.Standard Carbon:
Winnipeg, MB
CEO & Co-Founder - Alex Stuart
COO & Co-Founder - Justin Phillips
Canadian banking, insurance and global accounting laws have changed, requiring small-medium businesses to produce carbon footprint reports. Standard Carbon is an ISO 14065:2020 accredited GHG verifier that has developed SCOP3, a SaaS, for quick and easy compliance with these new, complex regulations.Tenure:
Collingwood, ON
CEO & Founder - Jonathan Hillis
Tenure transforms employee rewards, recognition, and savings. Elevate your workforce, attract top talent, and foster a positive DEI culture of growth with our personalized solutions. Power up your employee experience with Tenure.Vambora:
Waterloo, ON
CEO & Co-Founder - Amadeu Ferreira
CSO & Co-Founder - Mark Dickens
COO & Co-Founder - Laura Ferreira
CTO & Co-Founder - Alessandro Santos
Vambora disrupts traditional credit bureaus by offering an alternative form of credit assessment. Leveraging open banking and digital identity verification, it empowers 'credit invisible' consumers with a comprehensive financial profile. This innovative approach not only promotes financial inclusion but also unlocks a significant $30B market opportunity. By challenging conventional norms, Vambora transforms the way creditworthiness is determined, making it accessible and fair for all individuals.Village Wellth:
Calgary, AB
CEO & Co-Founder - Robert Irwin
President & Co-Founder - Elizabeth MacRae
Director & Co-Founder - Gisele Savoie
Village Wellth is an all-in-one business acquisition platform, disrupting the business brokerage industry. We are creating meaningful access for buyers and sellers,to transact with confidence, making informed decisions every step of the way. We are making acquisitions, accessible.Yield Exchange:
Burnaby, BC
CEO & Co-Founder - Yvette Wu
Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder - Sampath Ekanayake
COO & Co-Founder - Ravi Sumal
Yield Exchange revolutionizes wholesale deposits with a frictionless GIC marketplace, providing speed, transparency, and access to competitive rates. With over 20 Canadian Financial Institutions on the platform, Yield Exchange has facilitated over $250 million in posted GIC requests.
And there you have it - our Top 25 contenders for the Digital Commerce Calgary Fintech Award! These impressive startups are about to embark on an exciting journey. Over the next six weeks, these companies will participate in workshops covering everything from investment readiness and software delivery, to market strategy, growth planning, and pitching — leveling up their game like never before.
The top 10 will be unveiled in September, and will start their preparations for a live pitch to our esteemed judges panel on October 3, 2023 in Calgary, Alberta.
Finally, circle October 4, 2023 on your calendars for the Digital Commerce Calgary Fintech Award Ceremony, an unforgettable evening where the winners will showcase their hard work and captivate the spotlight while taking home the top prizes.
The future of fintech in Canada is beaming with potential, and we can't wait to witness the game-changing solutions that these Top 25 contenders will unleash upon the world of finance. The stage is set, let the innovation begin!