Also: Neo Financial credit products will now report to Equifax.

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Bench and Shopify Alumni Announce C$11M to Build ‘the Stripe for Accounting’ with Teal

Led by Bench co-founders Ian Crosby and Adam Saint, Vancouver-based Teal announced approximately C$11 million ($8 million) in seed funding to provide accounting infrastructure to software-as-a-service verticals .

Teal provides ready-to-use tools to help vertical SaaS companies launch their accounting platforms in as little as four weeks, including fully functional app code repositories and native integrations with external data sources.

The aim is to help companies offer their SME end customers the ability to more easily gain insight into aspects such as real-time cash flow, profitability by product and access to tax returns and support from accountants in real time.

(BetaKit)

Neo enhances credit building opportunities for new Canadians with expanded reporting

Calgary-based Neo Financial is helping new Canadians put down financial roots with the announcement that the Neo Secured Credit Card, along with all Neo credit card products, will now report to Equifax Canada.

This new reporting adds to existing reporting at TransUnion, offering Canadians a comprehensive credit profile for broader acceptance by lenders.

(Fintech.ca)

Blossom closes $2.1 million to grow its social investment network in the US

Vancouver-based FinTech startup Blossom Social has secured more than C$2.1 million in seed funding to fuel the growth of its social investment network south of the border.

While the startup’s original goal was to work with Canadian regulators to become the country’s first “social brokerage,” consisting of a social networking app that also allowed Canadians to buy and sell stocks directly, Blossom has abandoned this vision 10 months ago, avoiding the competition. complexities, costs and geographic limitations associated with becoming an intermediary in favor of being a pure-play social platform.

“If you think of LinkedIn as the social network for all things work and career, we’re building the social network for all things money and finance,” CEO Maxwell Nicholson told BetaKit in an exclusive interview.

(BetaKit)

WonderFi Board Games: Inside the Battle for Control of Canada’s Cryptocurrency Contender

Toronto-based cryptocurrency trading firm WonderFi is working to position itself as Canada’s safest blue-chip choice for major cryptocurrency investors. But he also has a penchant for high-profile drama, as evidenced by the recent boardroom brawl.

The Logic took a closer look at this battle and what’s happening at WonderFi, whose shareholders just approved a deal to revamp the company’s board and resolve the dispute between WonderFi, its largest shareholder Mogo and activist hedge fund Kaos Capital.

(The logic)

Paytm and PSP Investments alumni announce $5.25 million to build super app for Canadian immigrants called Beacon

Toronto and Montreal-based FinTech startup Beacon emerged in secret, announced C$5.25 million in previously undisclosed seed funding and launched the first iteration of its planned “super app” for Canadian immigrants.

The startup is developing an app aimed at helping immigrants settle and start building their lives in Canada more easily. Beacon will provide resources, guides and various financial products to newcomers, starting with its newly launched pre-arrival solution.

(BetaKit)

Vitesse, a Payment and Treasury Management Platform for Insurers, Raises $93 Million to Fuel US Expansion

British fintech Vitesse has closed a $93 million Series C funding round led by investment giant KKR.

The platform provides easy access to domestic banking services to eliminate friction from cross-border payments, as well as services such as liquidity management, cash flow forecasting and real-time visibility of cash positions across myriad accounts and currencies .

(TechCrunch)

Startupfest shares the full 2024 tech festival schedule

Montreal tech festival Startupfest has released a detailed schedule for its next event, which will take place at the Grand Quay from July 10 to 12 this summer.

Startupfest speakers and mentors will include Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman, and BetaKit President Satish Kanwar.

As in years past, Startupfest 2024 will feature educational conferences, workshops and networking opportunities for startups, investors and other players from across the Canadian tech ecosystem.

(BetaKit)

Mike Silagadze’s Ether.fi soars as Ether owners flock to cryptocurrency startup

Mike Silagadze had been dabbling with bitcoin for a decade when he decided in 2021 to fully commit to the cryptocurrency. The Toronto tech entrepreneur left Top Hat, the online textbook company he had led, moved to Grand Cayman and started a crypto hedge fund, figuring he’d found a low-risk way to earn solid returns on digital currencies.

Then, in November 2022, cryptocurrency exchange operator FTX Trading Ltd. filed for bankruptcy, tying up $5.4 million in assets managed by Mr. Silagadze’s company.

Now, 18 months later, the Silagadze-reorganized SEZC Ether.fi is one of the hottest things in the recovering cryptocurrency market. He is transforming Ether.fi into a blockchain-based financial services entity that allows users to save and invest cryptocurrencies and spend them on real-life things.

(The globe and the mail)

Pesa focuses on Canadians’ sense of duty

Tolu Osho knows firsthand the sense of responsibility many newcomers to Canada feel when it comes to sending money home.

“I started thinking about how to solve this problem of how to ensure that people can transfer or send money home at a reasonable cost,” Osho said.

In 2021, Oshu teamed up with software engineers Yusuf Yakubu and Adewale Afolabi to launch Pesa, an app that aims to make sending and receiving funds across borders as hassle-free as transferring money locally.

“There is culture shock when it comes to the financial aspects of moving to a new country,” she said. “We want to be able to familiarize people with this experience, even before landing or right after landing, so it feels like you never missed a beat.”

(BetaKit)

Employees of fintech giant Revolut cash in on $500 million stock sale

Executives at Revolut, Britain’s biggest fintech, are drawing up plans to allow employees to cash out by selling shares valued at hundreds of millions of pounds.

Sky News has learned that the banking and payments services provider is deploying investment bankers to coordinate a secondary share sale worth around $500m (£394m).

City sources said Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s co-founder and chief executive, was determined to seek a valuation of at least $33 billion (£26 billion) raised in a primary funding round in 2021.

“It won’t be a negative turn,” said one person familiar with Revolut’s thinking.

(News from heaven)

TXIO’s Daniel Vranesic is on a mission to improve personal finance

You’d think Daniel Vranesic, CEO of Toronto-based TXIO, would be hard to surprise with the numbers.

For years, TXIO has licensed its banking, payments and brokerage platform to a wide range of global customers. But when the company developed Neontra, an app for managing and planning personal finances, Vranesic decided to test the product’s “non-essential spending” category on himself.

“I knew I had made too many non-essential purchases, especially sports equipment for my children,” she said. “But when our AI-generated insights compared my non-essential spending to that of the average Canadian, I was shocked.”

(BetaKit)

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