On October 10 and 11, I attended the 2017 Canada Fintech Forum at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, arguably the largest Fintech-themed conference in Canada. This year’s edition heavily focused on the rise of artificial intelligence and its potential in the financial sector.
The event attracted rougly 1,500 attendees with representation from financial and professional services firms such as Desjardins Group, Societe Generale, Deloitte and KPMG as well as a number of promising Canadian and international startups. Here are 3 highlights from the 2017 edition of “the Forum”.
Michael Denam’s keynote speech on the explosion of AI in Canada
Michael Denham, CEO of the BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada), delivered a great keynote speech on the increased level of AI-related investment in the country. AI attracted $162M in investments via 12 deals in the first half of 2017, the highest amount of funding in the past five years based on a report by PwC Canada and CB Insights. There is much hope such could benefit the financial sector.
.@MichaelDenham , keynote speech: "#Montreal is becoming fintech and #AI hub" #fintechmtl Canada #Fintech Forum by @FinanceMontreal pic.twitter.com/iXazUUi4TJ
Jauntin’ pitching their on-demand insurance concept for travel and... drones
As per the tradition, a select group of Canadian startups pitched their ideas during the event. One of these was Jauntin’, an on-demand insurance platform that likes drones!
.@jauntins pitches their #OnDemand insurance #startup (for #drones / travel) at Canada#Fintech Forum - #fintechmtl pic.twitter.com/vSfQEZPV57
Insurtech panel
Juergen Weiss, world renowned Insurtech expert, moderated a panel elaborating on the many ways to create insurtech companies: from external investments to intrapreneurship.
Juergen Weiss: "#Insurtech ventures inception/funding comes in many forms, smtimes #startups R created within" #fintechmtl @FinanceMontreal pic.twitter.com/GsQaEXGcVU
The event was definitely a manifestation of the growing interest for Fintech in Montreal and Canada.
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National Bank announces the ‘Innovation Competition’
Arguably the biggest Fintech event in the country, the Canada Fintech Forum is back for its 7th edition on October 21-23 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. As usual, one of the highlights of the conference is the Startup Pitch Contest.
After the organizers evaluated 97 applications, 9 North American Fintech startups were selected to present during the pitch. Today, they competed for a $1M CAD investment offer by Portag3, a $25,000 CAD jury prize given by Finance Montreal as well as the audience prize.
Image: FlexPay pitching its solution at the Canada Fintech Forum 2019. Credit: Phil Siarri.
The contestants were:
FlexPay: Based in Montreal, the company built “an AI-Driven software that is able to analyze the varying attributes of transactions” in order to save money in declined payments.
Willful: From Toronto, Willful guides users through creating customized legal documents such as wills (hence the name).
Lexop: Montreal-based Lexop aims to help companies automate their recovery efforts, provide a convenient payment experience, and retain their customers.
Wealthscope: Also from Toronto, Wealthscope offers a suite of portfolio and planning tools with comprehensive analytics to help users better understand and manage your investments.
Flare Systems: This company which is headquartered in Montreal “helps financial institutions understand and prevent cyber attacks by alerting them when threats are identified to save money and protect their reputation.”
Conquest Planning: Hailing from Winnipeg, Conquest Planning offers a “modern, accurate & responsive financial planning software solution.”
TipTap: TipTap aims to provide “a mobile, wireless device enabling contactless acceptance of any digital payment source in preset denominations.”
Elefant: From Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Elefant is an electronic liquidity provider with a “smarter way to serve the marketplaces” in which they operate.
Aya Payments: Based in Toronto, Aya Payments wants to make healthcare payments stress-free for Canadians: “No more out of pocket expenses and reimbursements. Your employees and their dependents’ HSA all in one place”.
