Agenda:

*Only interested in the Networking Reception? Tickets may be purchased separately for $25 each.

Seeking volunteers for VanFUNDING 2015 - sign up here!

Speakers:

Alex Alexandrov, CEO, CoinPayments.net

Alex Alexandrov is a pioneer in the crypto-currency community and is well versed in financial markets where his history includes five years as a technical Forex and Options trader and EA developer before taking the helm of CoinPayments.  Alex was also an early participant in the mining ecosystem with Coincable.com, an online BitCoin mining hardware supply store based out of Vancouver – which took BitCoin payments — and thus, the early path for creating a Crypto-Payment Processing business was set.  Alex brings over 15 years of combined experience in IT and business management to his latest venture as CEO of Coinpayments.net, the largest payment processor of Alt. Coins (Bitcoin, Litcoin, and other alternative crypto-currency) and the 3^rd largest Crypto Payment processor globally.  Coinpayments’ services are used by over 16,000 vendors across 152 countries and offer price calculations in 23 fiat (national) currencies via it’s simple “Pay” buttons, open source shopping cart plugins or API.

Alixe Cormick, President/Founder, Venture Law Corporation

Alixe Cormick is the founder of Venture Law Corporation in Vancouver, BC. Alixe concentrates her legal practice in the areas of initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, reverse takeovers, capital pool corporations, qualifying transactions, mergers & acquisitions, secondary listings and exempt market financings.Alixe has assisted over 150 companies listing on stock exchanges and trading boards in North America. Alixe has registered four broker dealers in Canada and has acted as outside legal counsel to three Canadian mutual funds. Alixe is also an active angel investor. Alixe has been a speaker at several conferences in Canada discussing the legal aspects of crowdfunding.

f 

Bernd Petak, Co-founder and COO, Finstripe

Bernd Petak is an entrepreneur, advisor, mentor, corporate director and investment professional to early and mid-stage internet-driven technology companies and their investors. Bernd is a former Deloitte partner, due diligence officer, investor and two-time startup founder. He is co-founder and COO of Finstripe, a network for global enterprise-level financing professionals and sits on the board of directors for Screenscape, a leading provider of internet-delivered digital signage technology.

Bret Conkin, CEO/Founder, Crowdfund Suite

A visionary in alternative funding, Bret started Canada’s first crowdfunding platform in 2008 and then helped FundRazr become a top 10 global platform. He has been frequently quoted in the press on crowdfunding and marketing and he blogs for IT Business.ca. Bret has founded and collaborated on several technology start-ups and his clients have included: Small Business BC, New Ventures BC, BC Innovation Council, Community Futures, Vancouver Enterprise Forum, NSERC, Strategic Exits and Angel Forum. As Ambassador to the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada, Bret has produced numerous events, assisted in advocacy efforts and futhered the interests of the burgeoning alternative funding sector. Recent speaking engagements have included: VIATEC, Innovation Guelph, Net Tuesday and Funding Road Show events across Canada. Bret has 25 years of software, start-up and consumer brand expertise including roles with Procter & Gamble and BC Lottery Corp.

Bryan Buggey, Director Strategic Initiatives & Sector Development, Vancouver Economic Commission

Bryan is responsible for economic and business development at the City of Vancouver’s Economic Commission. In his role as Director, he is guiding several initiatives with respect to the City’s Greenest City Action Plan, Digital Strategy and its Economic Action Strategy. These initiatives include the creation of an innovation hub for technology start-up and social innovators; a clean-tech demonstration program leveraging municipal assets and infrastructure; and supporting the creation of a Green Enterprise Zone and a Digital District. Bryan also heads up the business development team that is responsible for strengthening the key sectors that support the so-called Green Economy, Digital Economy and the Innovation Economy. This includes business retention and expansion, as well as trade, foreign direct investment and business attraction. Bryan is passionate about the transformation of the local economy leveraging innovative technologies, clean energy and sustainable urban design as important tools to achieve that goal.

Cato Pastoll, CEO/Co-founder, Lending Loop

Cato Pastoll is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lending Loop, Canada's first peer-to-peer lending marketplace for business lending.  Prior to starting Lending Loop, Cato served as the Executive Vice President of a medium sized software consulting business.  In addition to holding a senior management position, he attained experience building and managing robust commercial applications.  Cato also brings relevant industry experience from his time developing a loan evaluation and management solution for a private mortgage lender.

Craig Asano, CEO/Founder, NCFA Canada

Craig has amassed over 15+ years of experience as a marketing strategist, software technologist and start-up entrepreneur in technology, finance, manufacturing and real estate sectors. He is a leader, advocate and development professional of interactive web, data, CRM, campaign management, BI and marketing automation and new venture development projects. He is actively involved in developing the Canadian Crowdfunding industry at a grass-roots level connecting with industry stakeholders, crowdfunding leaders and key participants across the country. He has has spearheaded multiple programs and initiatives such as the inaugural 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit, National Ambassadors outreach program, and NCFA Canada’s advocacy efforts to advance equity-based Crowdfunding regulations in Canada.

Daryl Hatton, CEO/Founder, FundRazr

Daryl Hatton, founder and CEO of FundRazr, loves the challenge of building companies from scratch. In 30 years software industry experience, Daryl has founded multiple start-ups and helped bring one, Optio, to a successful NASDAQ IPO in 1999. He actively serves as board member or advisor to multiple other start-ups in BC and Silicon Valley. Last year FundRazr was awarded a Technology Innovation Award as Most Promising Startup by the BC Technology Industry Association and was included in the Profit Magazine Hot 50 as one of the fastest growing startups across all industries in Canada.

f

Heather Gordon, Program Manager Social Finance Solutions, Vancity

Heather’s current focus at Vancity is exploring the potential for community investment co-operatives that empower communities to take ownership over their own economic development. She is an MBA in Community Economic Development candidate and has worked in finance for more than 10 years, including roles in microcredit, financial literacy program development, and commercial finance.

Ian Heine, Lead Tax Partner, PwC

Ian is a Tax Partner and since 1995 has provided tax consulting and compliance services to organizations that are entrepreneurial and growing. He has extensive experience with emerging companies that are expanding globally, and has a keen eye for tax opportunities, and a mind for developing creative tax solutions. Ian frequently connects clients to global firm experts, and has close ties to PwC’s Technology teams in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Shanghai and London. Ian serves as a Treasurer and Director for LifeSciencesBC and the Vancouver Enterprise Forum, as a member of the Selection Committee for the Canadian Financing Forum and previously led PwC’s SR&ED practice.

d

Kevin Clark, President, Lendified

Spanning over 30 years in domestic and international banking, Kevin brings extensive business development and leadership skills from his experiences across all customer segments to his position as President of Lendified.  His passionate views for economic growth and business development in Canada positions him well in delivering Lendified’s products and services to the small business marketplace.  Previous to co-founding Lendified, Kevin held a number of executive roles at Scotiabank, most recently as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Sales of the Bank's Global  Transaction Banking business, responsible for the delivery of trade finance and cash management products to the Small Business, Commercial and Corporate segments both domestically in Canada and internationally.

Kevin Sandhu, CEO/Founder, Grouplend

A former investment banker and private equity investor. He left Bay Street to found Grouplend out of a deeply rooted belief that Canadians deserve better financial services. The existing landscape of banks and financial institutions fail to provide the quality of service that people expect. Watching from afar as consumer debt levels in Canada continued to rise, he devised a way to employ modern technology to deliver financial products that solved the problem, not exacerbated it. He graduated from Simon Fraser University on the Dean’s List with a degree in Finance and is a CFA charterholder.

f

Les Schaevitz, CEO/Founder, CanaDragon Enterprise

Les Schaevitz is an entrepreneur from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who became enchanted with the Saskatchewan equity crowdfunding model due to its incredible simplicity and consummate free-market orientation. While working to equity crowdfund iPosition LLC, his own states-side high technology startup, he became totally frustrated with the delays and complications bedeviling the US equity crowdfunding model. Les started to look around the world for alternatives…the best of which he found in Saskatchewan which, it turned out, did not have an operating portal. Even though he would not be permitted to finance iPosition via his own SK portal, he decided that the opportunity to do the first SK equity crowdfunding portal was irresistible. Les is a staunch advocate for a “holistic,” entrepreneur centric approach to equity crowdfunding which essentially treats this sort of financing as a real IPO, just on a micro-scale. Les is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (W74).

Lukas Svec, CEO, Sansaire

Lukas is co-founder and CEO of Sansaire. Prior to starting the company, Lukas was a doctoral candidate in theoretical physics working on quantum computers at the University of Washington, with collaborations at Microsoft Research and MIT. In 2013, the Sansaire home sous vide machine launched on Kickstarter, setting a new funding record. He now leads a small team working on bringing new cooking tools and techniques to kitchens worldwide.

f 

Marcus New, CEO/Founder, InvestX

As founder and CEO of InvestX, Marcus New is actively engaged in all aspects of the crowdfunding marketplace, from hand-picking the management team to sourcing deals with private equity partners. His experience launching Stockhouse, a leading financial community for affluent investors that attracts up to one million unique monthly visitors, provided him with the momentum, connections and support to create InvestX. Mr. New has personally attracted a variety of private equity firms to the InvestX crowdfunding marketplace, and he plans to continue to grow the platform. Mr. New has also launched (and previously served as the Chairman and CEO) Stockgroup Media, an online financial information platform that counted the majority of Canada’s top brokerage firms, global institutional sales desks and hedge funds as clients.

Matthew McGrath, CEO/Founder, The OCMX / Optimize Capital Markets

Following on a 12 year career at the RBC Financial Group, Matthew McGrath successfully launched the Optimize Financial Group™ 4 years ago with offices now in both Toronto and New York City.
Optimize Capital Markets™ is building the Largest Institutional Crowdfunding Marketplace in North America where Institutional and Accredited Investors can discover and trade in Private Investment Opportunities.

Typical deals include Infrastructure Projects, Large Real Estate Developments, and Proven Technology Companies. Since launching out of Toronto in September of 2009, Optimize Capital Markets™ has since expanded its operations to include Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Michael Stephens, Partner, Dentons

Mike Stephens practices corporate finance and securities law, with an emphasis on securities offerings including stock exchange listings, mergers & acquisitions and private equity transactions, as well as other aspects of corporate law. His experience extends to the mining, oil and gas and IT sectors, acting for a wide range of Canadian and international clients. He assists issuers, investment dealers, and institutional and private investors on complex equity and debt financing transactions ranging from start-up investments, venture capital and private equity investments, to larger public offerings.

 d

Mike Volker, Director at SFU & WUTIF Capital & GREENANGEL; VANTEC

Michael Volker is an Entrepreneur active in the development of new high technology ventures. He is president of Simon Fraser University’s SFU Univentures Corp, chairman of Greenangel Energy Corp, [GAE.V] and CEO of WUTIF Capital - an "angel" fund. Mike runs the Vancouver Angel Network, VANTEC and is President of the Vancouver chapter of the Keiretsu Forum. In 2009, He was named 'Angel of the Year' Nationally and Provincially (BC).

f

Penny Green, CEO, Bacchus Law Corporation

Penny Green is the CEO of Bacchus Law Corporation, and is known to be a deal catalyst, making important introductions for many of her clients.  Over the past few decades, Penny has developed an extensive network of dealmakers, brokers, investors, bankers and service professionals throughout the world.  Bacchus’ team has been involved in hundreds of public company transactions.  In addition to being a lawyer, Penny is also an entrepreneur and has co-founded several successful businesses in various industries, including biofuels and pharmaceuticals. Currently she is the Chairman of the Board of Highbury Energy Inc. and a director of Glance Mobile Inc.

Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, CEO/Co-founder, FrontFundr

Peter-Paul is Founder and CEO of Silver Maple Ventures Inc., a financial & social media company based in Vancouver BC focused on supporting start-ups and young ventures in Canada with access to capital through innovative online investment-based crowdfunding solutions.  Peter-Paul has over 15 years of experience in finance, investment management and business consultancy. He worked in Vancouver as director business development with a finance & investment company in the renewable energy space and as finance director of a real estate investment fund. Prior to that Peter-Paul held a number of positions with several global banks in the areas of corporate strategy, corporate & investment banking and he worked as a senior management consultant in The Netherlands. Peter-Paul is a director of the National Board of the Private Capital Markets Association, PCMA (Canada).

Rubsun Ho, CEO/Founder, Crowdmatrix

Rubsun Ho is Chief Crowdpleaser at Crowdmatrix Inc., an equity crowdfunding platform that will bring efficiency and transparency to the capital raising process for Canadian growth companies. A portfolio company of Extreme Venture Partners, Crowdmatrix plans to launch in late spring, 2015.  Rubsun is also a co-founder and partner of Cognition LLP, a virtual law firm that was created to address the rising costs and inefficiencies of corporate legal services from traditional law firms. Cognition now has over 50 lawyers operating in Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary, and its clients range from growing startups through to some of Canada’s largest companies.  Rubsun began his career as a securities lawyer in the Toronto and New York offices of Stikeman Elliott, one of Canada’s leading business law firms. He left Bay Street to join Wysdom Inc. as VP of Business Development in 1999, where he helped raise US$57 million in financing for the wireless Internet startup. Rubsun has a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Toronto.

Sandi Gilbert, CEO/Co-founder, SeedUps Canada

Sandi is the Founder of SeedUps Canada, a CrowdFinance platform that supports direct equity investments from ordinary investors into privately held small to emerging companies seeking between $250,000 and $2 million in capital. In April of 2014, the platform facilitated North America’s “First Ordinary Investor” to make an online investment in a private company.  She is also the COO of ECN Capital, a Global private equity investment platform that brings together qualified investors, investment firms and corporate issuers to facilitate private offerings ranging from $2 - $150 million. See continues to work diligently to develop technology infrastructures that enhance the private equity investment marketplace by making it easier for investors to find good investments and good companies to find the investment they need.

Skai Dalziel, Co-Founder, Guusto

Skai graduated with distinction from the Ivey School of Business and also holds a degree in engineering. He has over 10 years experience in the marketing, hospitality and tourism industries having co-founded Whistler Tasting Tours, a thriving food tour business in Whistler. His latest venture, Guusto, is a gifting platform that lets you send food and drinks to clients, colleagues and friends. Gifts are super flexible, being redeemable at ANY of the 1000+ restaurant locations across Canada. And for every gift sent, they donate one day of clean drinking water through the One Drop Foundation. He led and closed the first startup exemption equity crowdfunding round in Canada, and were 200% subscribed.  

Thomas Kineshanko, CEO, Klinch

Thomas Kineshanko is the CEO of Fintech Enterprises. Previously he co-founder of Habitat Enterprises (which invested in GHG emission reduction projects and the creation of financial instruments that were tradeable on the carbon market), Gridbid (an online auction that has auctioned over $40 million in roof space for solar), was a co-founding equity partner of publicly traded early stage tech fund TSX.V GAE (when it acquired a stake in Habitat’s founders shares), and was a co-founder of Walkmore (alternative credit scoring using big data, acquired by GTE Financial). Thomas is an alum of Singularity University at NASA AMES Research Centre, The National University of Singapore, and Simon Fraser University, where he was a two-time Academic and Athletic All-American in Track & Field.

Viet Le, Senior Manager Tax Services, PwC

Viet Le is a Senior Manager in the Tax Services practice of PwC based in the Vancouver office. He leads the technology team in all IT, software, hardware and digital media SR&ED claims and has 12 years of industry experience and more than 8 years of dedicated SR&ED experience. He has extensive experience in helping companies strategise, plan, and maximise their SR&ED claims, across such areas of technology as cloud computing, big data, inventory management, supply chain distribution and gaming.  Viet has worked on clients with expenditures ranging from $50K to $30M.  Viet also knows first hand what it is to be a start-up entrepreneur!

And more speakers coming soon…

Networking Reception (5 - 7pm) at Library Square Public House

Register Your Tickets Now

  Seeking volunteers for VanFUNDING 2015 - sign up here!

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.

Hosted By:

Title Sponsor:

d

d

Networking Reception Sponsor:
d

d

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsors:

 d

d

Community and Media Partners:

Register Your Tickets Now

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.

Get Involved!  Would you like to Volunteer at VanFUNDING 2015?

VanFUNDING 2015: Crowdfunding Conference takes place on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at Library Square (Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level) on 350 West Georgia St. Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1 from 1pm - 5pm, followed by the Networking Reception from 5pm - 7pm at Library Square Public House on 300 West Georgia St.

For this event we are looking for a few volunteers to lend a hand, anywhere from managing the conference registration, greeting and directing attendees, arranging speaker tent cards and logistics between sessions, assisting with mentor session setup, assisting event staff with logistics, inquiries, and miscellaneous activities throughout the day, and more.

Outgoing and energetic people who like working as a team are encouraged to submit their names! Selected volunteers will be contacted directly to schedule an orientation call, and will receive free access to the full conference, including the evening Networking Reception.

This event would not be possible without the dedicated help of volunteers, so thank you in advance!

Interested in volunteering for the event?

Please complete the sign-up form:  sign up here! 

SOLD OUT! Limited tickets available at the door:

$60 standard ticket; $35 networking reception only

How to Register

Tickets to VanFUNDING2015 may be purchased by registering your tickets directly below.

• All half-day conference tickets include main day programming (12:30-5PM) + Access to the Networking Reception from 5 - 7 PM
• Networking Reception Only tickets can be purchased separately for $25
• 5% GST will be added at checkout and you will receive an email confirmation with your ticket(s)

d

Questions about tickets? Please contact info@ncfacanada.org. Not yet a NCFA member? Sign up today.

#VanFUNDING2015 Live Twitter Wall (click to view)

HALF-DAY CONFERENCE + NETWORKING

Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Venue: Library Square (Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level)

350 West Georgia St. Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1 (map)

Time: 12:50pm – 7:00pm (Registration opens from 12:30pm)

Registration: $40 Members* / $50 Non-members* / $60 At the door

*All conference tickets include access to the Networking Reception. Add 5% GST.

Tickets are limited (SOLD OUT!!).  Avoid disappointment and register today.

f

Attendee Perks (for half-day conference tickets)!

• Entered to WIN 2/3 Days Weekend Getaway at Quidni Estate Winery, the #2 Tripadvisor B&B in the Okanagan Valley (Penticton, BC) (~$600)
  

• Free comprehensive equity crowdfunding 'investor perspective' e-book download (Venture Law Corp / NCFA)

• Chance for one winning start-up/business to receive their TOP 50 investor matches via Meet Walter (Klinch)

NETWORKING RECEPTION (Includes Mentoring)

Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Venue: Library Square Public House

300 West Georgia St. (map)

Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Registration: $25 per ticket

Includes 1 drink and appetizers. Add 5% GST.

Seeking volunteers for VanFUNDING 2015 - sign up here!

Some attending companies:

Black Press
Optimize Capital Markets
Dreamy Land Home
Vancity
WUTIF Capital
Take It Public Services Inc.
Crowdfund Suite
GeoInvest Enterprises Inc.
University of Chicago Alternative Finance Initiative
Pop! Social Media Solutions
DesignCultureMind
Zi Yang
Dentons
ASC Creative Ltd.
CrowdShot
progressa
InvestX Capital Ltd
elevate vacations
International Royalties Corporation
BCfinestexports
Veritas Nutraceuticals,Inc.
Caesar Elliott Capital Partners
Market One Media Group
GoPage
CrowdGift
Finstripe
Futurpreneur
Premier's Technology Council
E-Fund
DuMoulin Black LLP
RwE Growth Partners, Inc.
Investec Solutions Inc.
The Profile Inc.
GoCrowd.com
Business Model Edge
BC Centre for Social Enterprise
Work In Startups
Pharmacy first
cognitiveVR
CanaDragon
Kickstart Business Catalyst
Butti Cigarette Saver
Robin Ford Consulting
FrontFundr
NRC-IRAP Concierge Service
SeedUps Canada
Concepta Developments Ltd.
FundRazr
Investment Capital Branch, Ministry of International Trade
New Venture Consultants Inc.
Harveen Thauli, Barrister & Solicitor
Frank Tipper
NRC-IRAP
Dockit Marine Software Inc.
Richards Buell Sutton LLP
AFEX - Associated Foreign Exchange
Frank Yeh Photography
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Change Catalyst | SFU
CANADA ASIA BUSINESS NETWORK
Project Manager
Quidni Estate Winery
Startup
Lendified
Hedzup
TSX Venture Exchange
Cambridge House Intl. Inc.
VariableGrid
NCFA Canada
L'Opera Law Corporation
Grouplend
Crowdmatrix
Mantech Activities
Community Futures BC
Capital Investment Network
Kingswood Real Estate Management Inc
Highline
Guusto
Interactio
Thrinacia Inc.
Miller Thomson LLP
Sansaire
Klinch
T-Net
Bacchus Law Corporation
Lazo Management corp.
CFIC
NKF Devencore
Venture Law Corporation
sutton realty
Designathon
Vancouver Opera
Lending Loop
Balley Ventures Inc.
PwC
Project4 Living Systems
Julie Rezler
Pacific King Investments
Capture the Moment Media
jbyj
BCIC
CoinPayments
G-Kup Coffee
Berkley street cap
BC Securities Commission
Fit Assist Medical Inc
Vancouver Economic Commission
.commUNITY
Digital Finance Institute
VERONICA ARMSTRONG LAW CORPORATION
Lotz & Company

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.

Win a free ticket to VanFUNDING 2015!

Here's your chance to attend Western Canada's leading crowdfunding conference on Sep 29 for free! #VanFUNDING 2015 is for ventures and businesses seeking to raise seed and growth capital from online crowdfunding markets, and a chance to connect with investors, funding portals and other third party providers. We're giving away FREE PASSES to VanFUNDING 2015, sponsored by The OCMX and Crowdmatrix.

How to enter:

1. Tweet OR post on Instagram, tagging #VanFUNDING2015 (or simply click the Tweet button below, and customize your tweet)
2. Tell us why you want to attend the conference, your funding story, or funding needs (i.e. We're looking to get VanFUNDED to launch and grow our business! See you at @NCFACanada's #VanFUNDING2015!)
3. Tag @NCFACanada in your post

Giveaway details:

• All entries posted before 11:59pm on Friday, September 27 will be considered
• Winners will be selected by the VanFUNDING 2015 organizing team based on merit and at our discretion
• Winners will be announced and contacted directly
• Winners will receive a free pass to the conference and networking reception

Please send any questions to info@ncfacanada.org.