NCFA Press Release | February 10, 2015

TORONTO - Feb. 10, 2015 – The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) today announced the top 12 finalists selected to pitch and showcase during the 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit to be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. The Summit is the first Crowdfunding conference in Canada, attracting entrepreneurs, investors, SMEs and crowdfunding leaders from Canada and internationally.

Startups and small businesses from a variety of industries applied to pitch at the Summit, from consumer goods to technology apps to social enterprises. Many of the companies have crowdfunded or intend to launch crowdfunding campaigns in the near future, and will have an opportunity to pitch their campaigns in front of judges from Startup Canada, National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), and the Digital Media Zone (DMZ) at Ryerson University. Each of the finalists will also have a chance to win one of three sponsored prize packages. The event will be held at MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto, and will feature startups listed in MaRS Impact Investing’s accredited investor platform, The SVX.

Congratulations to these 12 companies!

• A Film Monkey Production Inc
• ArtsFunding.ca
• Highlander Brew Co
• JUMP Math
• MakerBloks
• Pigeon
• Pinch VR
• Qoints
• Revelo Electric Corp
• Textbooks for Change
• Wipebook
• ZooShare

A Film Monkey Production Inc

A Film Monkey Production Inc. is a feature film production company that is dedicated to making films that touch, move and inspire audiences around the world, leaving viewers with an experience that will keep them talking long after the credits roll.

ArtsFunding.ca

Artsfunding.ca is a unique crowdfunding platform for arts in Canada. It is unique in that it includes a community networking system for collaboration on works and projects, among artists, that can also be crowdfunded or crowdsourced.

Highlander Brew Co

Highlander Brew Co. is located in South River, Ontario, in the Almaguin Highlands from which Highlander takes its name. The brewery began operations in 2009 when Brewmaster Brian Wilson made the brewery’s first beer, a traditional Scottish Ale.

 JUMP Math

JUMP Math is a numeracy program that encourages an understanding and love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically.

MakerBloks

MakerBloks is a Montreal based company that aims to enable kids to build their ideas with real tools and materials; our goal is to inspire and empower kids to think, design, experiment and create. MakerBloks are small, reactive, color-coded building blocks that allow anyone to learn the world of electronics.

Pigeon

Pigeon is a smart, auto-updating, wi-fi digital frame and app that allows users to share any photo on their smart phone to a Pigeon frame anywhere in the world in under a minute. Pigeon is positioned to become a go-to gift for technology-challenged grandparents.

Pinch VR

Pinch is the first and only smartphone-powered VR headset that fits in your pocket allowing anytime anywhere virtual reality, ushering in the new era of immersive advertising and e-commerce experience. Integrated index finger rings allow multi-touch interaction to allow user generated spaces via simple pinching action.

 Qoints

Qoints is a collaborative repository for digital marketing data; it allows marketers to monitor the success of their campaigns against their competition in real time and gain actionable intelligence from the data they collect. The insights and predictions Qoints generates are used by brand marketers and agencies to justify tactical decisions before, during and after a campaign and get maximum ROI from a marketing budget.

Revelo Electric Corp

Revelo Electric applies innovative design to develop personal electric transportation vehicles that are stylish, lightweight, easy to use and emmission-free. Our mission is to inspire people to use clean and efficient electric transportation to improve their personal mobility and to make cities friendlier to live in.

Textbooks for Change

Textbooks for Change provides affordable and accessible educational materials to students both locally and abroad. We donate thousands of books to African universities annually, as well as allocate 50% of proceeds from all books sold to entrepreneurs across the world in the form of microfinance loans. We also help fund socially purposed student clubs across Canada through our textbook collection drives.

Wipebook

Wipebook manufactures and sells reusable dry erase notebooks that help individuals brainstorm, solve problems and generate innovative ideas and help change the world in a sustainable way. After obtaining some success with the original version of Wipebook, the team launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Within 30 days, sales exceeded $420,000, more than a 1000% of their initial $4000 goal.

ZooShare

When manure and food waste end up in landfills, they create greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change. ZooShare recycles manure from the Toronto Zoo and food waste from local grocery stores into renewable power for the Ontario grid.

To learn more about the 2015 Canadian Crowdfunding Summit (#CCS2015), visit the conference website.

# # #

About the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada

The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada crowdfunding hub providing education, advocacy and networking opportunities in the rapidly evolving crowdfunding industry. NCFA Canada is a community-based, membership-driven entity that was formed at the grass roots level to fill a national need in the market place. Join our growing network of industry stakeholders, fundraisers and investors. Increase your organization’s profile and gain access to a dynamic group of industry front runners.

For more information, please contact: 

Media Inquiries:

Craig Asano

416-618-0254

casano@ncfancanada.org

Sponsorship and Partnership Inquiries:

Lauren Linton

416-569-4349

lauren@ncfacanada.org