Rotman School of Business  |  via Christopher Charlesworth

SESSION SPONSOR:  India Innovation Institute at the University of Toronto

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SYNOPSIS:  Crowdfunding is the aggregation of small amounts of capital from a large number of people, usually over the internet, directed to specific projects or companies. With greater than $2.8Bn (2012 projected) being raised globally through crowdfunding (source: Massolution report 2012), this emerging area is poised to have a significant and disruptive effect on start-up financing.  In addition, it is possible that debt and equity based crowdfunding will be legalized in some form in a Canadian securities jurisdiction within 2013/2014.  This panel will discuss the implications and opportunities of this rapidly growing sector from an industry insider perspective. Topics will include current trends, legal issues, and key industry facts and figures. The Centre for Social Innovation is a global leader within the social enterprise space, and successfully utilized a community bond structure to finance its expansion.  Increasingly crowdfunding is being used to enable social enterprises, and the Centre for Social Innovation has partnered with HiveWire Inc. to create a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that supports these organizations. HiveWire is(a Canadian-based crowdfunding solutions provider. Heenan Blaikie is one of Canada’s premier  law firms and provides extensive legal services to businesses, including advising on crowdfunding in support of this effort.

Resources and Links:
India Innovation Institute, University of Toronto
Hivewire
Center of Social Innovation
Heenan Blaikie