Fundica and Visa Team Up to Help SMEs Secure Working Capital

Fundica and Visa Team Up to Help SMEs Secure Working Capital
  • Funding search engine Fundica announced a collaboration with Visa last week.
  • The partnership will make it easier for entrepreneurs to access government funding.
  • Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fundica made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2023.

A newly announced collaboration between North American funding search engine Fundica and Visa will democratize the process of securing government funding for SMEs, especially those founded and led by members of underrepresented communities. Together Fundica and Visa will offer an intelligent solution that helps SMEs and entrepreneurs find relevant government funding and private sector grants based on their individual business’ needs and goals.

“We are thrilled to be working with Visa to further democratize access to government funding for small businesses across North America,” Fundica co-founder and CEO Mike Lee said. “Visa and Fundica are both deeply committed to fostering accessibility and inclusion in business communities – making this collaboration a great fit.”

Fundica’s platform enables small businesses to identify and apply for relevant government and private sector funding, while giving financial institutions the ability to promote inclusion and serve as a more comprehensive financial advisor to its SME clients. The technology aggregates data from tens of thousands of funding programs, leveraging strategies from discovery and tracking bots to funders, collaboration partners, and its own internal research team.

The search experience for the business customer is straightforward; companies enter basic information about their business and Fundica displays appropriate funding options in order of relevance. The solution presents each opportunity in a detailed, one-page summary, making it easy for business customers to confirm their suitability for the funding and to begin the application process. Funding sources include grants, tax credits, government loans and loan guarantees from federal, state, provincial, and municipal entities – as well as the private sector.

On the backend, FIs can see the profiles of the companies looking for funding and make informed connections with qualified leads and clients. The platform also enables institutions to identify key business behavioral trends. Some of the largest FIs in North America license Fundica’s AI-powered funding search engine to help them acquire and retain business customers.

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and founded in 2017, Fundica made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2023. At the conference, Fundica’s Lee demonstrated new enhancements to the platform’s front- and back-ends. These enhancements included a traffic augmentation solution, improved traffic conversion, and improved user engagement.

A Finovate alum for more than a decade, Visa made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2010 in San Francisco. The company is also an alum of our developers conference, participating in FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2014.

Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.


Photo by Tim Mossholder

Finovate Global: Showcasing International Alums at FinovateFall

Finovate Global: Showcasing International Alums at FinovateFall

FinovateFall is right around the corner (September 11 through September 13). If you still haven’t registered for our annual autumn fintech conference in New York this month, there’s no better time than the present. Visit our FinovateFall 2023 hub today and save your spot.

This week’s edition of Finovate Global highlights companies headquartered outside of the U.S. that will be demoing their latest innovations on the Finovate stage in just a few days. Get to know them here, then join them in New York live and in person for FinovateFall!


Connect Earth

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, Connect Earth enables financial institutions to offer their retail and SME customers insights into the environmental impact of their spending. LinkedIn.


Engage People

Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Engage People is a loyalty network that enables program members to pay with points directly at checkout. The company was founded in 2015. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


eSelf

eSelf is building the next generation of client-financial institution interaction, enabling human-like conversations and efficient personalization. Founded in 2022, eSelf is headquartered in Israel.


FinTech Insights

Fintech Insights offers a comprehensive digital banking research platform. The company’s technology helps FIs build strategies and launch new features faster. Headquartered in London, the company was founded in 2010. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


Flybits

Founded in 2013, Flybits enables FIs to deliver personalized digital banking experiences across mobile, web, and the Metaverse. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


Fundica

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fundica is a government funding platform used by some of the largest FIs in North America to acquire and retain clients at scale. Fundica was founded in 2017. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


Jaid

Jaid is an AI-powered platform build to enable the intelligent automation of business communications. Founded in 2018, Jaid is based in London, U.K. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


LemonadeLXP

Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, LemonadeLXP is a digital growth platform that helps FIs and fintechs create effective training and support tools to maximize their investment in their technology. The company was founded in 2019. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


MacroMicro

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, MacroMicro empowers over three million investors worldwide to make personalized investment decisions through dynamic and insightful charts. X (Twitter).


NayaOne

NayaOne gives banks a single point of access to hundreds of fintechs, digital sandboxes, fintech-as-a-service offerings, and datasets. Headquartered in London, U.K., NayaOne was founded in 2019. LinkedIn.


SESAMm

Headquartered in Metz, France, and founded in 2014, SESAMm is an AI insight and ESG risk detection specialist serving the financial services industry. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).


Zero Bank Design Factory

Zero Bank Design Factory is developing and operating a banking system for Japan’s first digital bank, Minna Bank. Founded in 2019, the company is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan. X (Twitter).


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek: Fundica

FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek: Fundica

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.

Fundica’s funding search engine serves as a business client acquisition and retention tool for FIs and other business-support organizations by enabling them to truly democratize access to funding.

Features

  • Effortlessly generate new business leads and retain clients
  • Gather business firmographics and funding needs
  • Organically promote diversity, equity, and inclusion

Why it’s great

Fundica’s funding search engine makes business-support organizations a more complete, one-stop funding destination for SMBs by effortlessly extending their service offering at scale.

Presenter

Mike Lee, CEO & Co-Founder
Lee has held leadership roles in technology organizations, secured over $350M in government funding, and holds Engineering, MBA, and CFA designations.
LinkedIn

Finovate Global: Showcasing International Alums at FinovateSpring

Finovate Global: Showcasing International Alums at FinovateSpring

With FinovateSpring only days away (May 23 through May 25), this week’s edition of Finovate Global will showcase those innovators demoing at the event that are headquartered outside the United States.

There’s still time to register and join us in San Francisco, California for our annual Spring fintech conference. Visit our FinovateSpring 2023 hub today and get your ticket today!


9Spokes

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New Zealand, 9Spokes unlocks open banking and data, giving financial institutions a powerful set of tools to engage SMB customers. LinkedIn.


FinTech Insights by Scientia

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in London, U.K., FinTech Insights by Scientia offers a competitive analysis tool for banks and fintechs to help them create compelling digital banking experiences. LinkedIn.


FINTEQ

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Poland, FINTEQ removes credit risk from the supply chain, giving suppliers a healthy and sustainable trade finance alternative. LinkedIn.


Flybits

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Flybits offers a personalization platform that enables financial institutions to deliver best-in-class personalized digital banking experiences. LinkedIn.


Fundica

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Fundica is a government funding platform used by some of the largest financial institutions in North America to acquire clients at scale. LinkedIn.


Horizn

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Horizn helps financial institutions maximize the impact of digital and accelerate returns on digital investments with customers and employees. LinkedIn.


HyperSwitch

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in India, HyperSwitch is an open source payments switch designed to make payments fast, reliable, and affordable. LinkedIn.


Kani

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Newcastle, U.K., Kani offers end-to-end reconciliation and reporting, automating the back office for payments companies and fintechs, and ensuring accuracy and compliance. LinkedIn.


Lucinity

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, Lucinity combats financial crime with innovative GenAI technology for smarter and faster FinCrime compliance. LinkedIn.


PayTic

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Charlottetown, Canada, PayTic is a SaaS platform that automates and manages all key aspects of program management: network fees, reconciliation, reporting, and fraud. LinkedIn.


SESAMm

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Metz, France, SESAMm specializes in big data and artificial intelligence, providing analytics from more than 20 billion articles and messages using NLP. LinkedIn.


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

FinovateSpring 2023 Sneak Peek: Fundica

FinovateSpring 2023 Sneak Peek: Fundica

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.

Fundica‘s funding search engine serves as a powerful business client acquisition tool for FIs and other business-support organizations by enabling them to truly democratize access to funding.

Features

  • Effortlessly generate new business leads and retain clients with a complementary funding search engine
  • Gather firmographics and funding needs
  • Automatically promote diversity, equity, and inclusion

Why it’s great

Fundica’s funding search engine makes business-support organization a more complete one-stop funding destination for SMBs by effortlessly extending their service offering at scale.

Presenter

Mike Lee, CEO & Co-Founder
Lee has held leadership roles in technology organizations, secured over $350M in government funding, and holds Engineering, MBA, and CFA designations.
LinkedIn

FinovateSpring 2022 Sneak Peek: Fundica

FinovateSpring 2022 Sneak Peek: Fundica

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 18 and 19. Register today and save your spot.

The Fundica funding search engine serves as a powerful business client acquisition tool for financial institutions by enabling them to truly democratize access to funding.

Features

  • Easily generate new business leads and retain clients with a complementary funding search engine
  • Gather firmographics and funding needs
  • Automatically promote diversity, equity, and inclusion

Why it’s great

Fundica makes financial intuitions a better and more complete funding destination by effortlessly extending their service offering at scale.

Presenter

Mike Lee, CEO & Co-Founder
Lee is the CEO and Co-Founder of Fundica. He has held leadership roles in technology organizations, secured over $350 million in government funding, and holds Engineering, MBA, and CFA designations.
LinkedIn

Fundica Teams Up with Digital Commerce Bank to Help Businesses Find Funding

Fundica Teams Up with Digital Commerce Bank to Help Businesses Find Funding

One month after making its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in New York, AI-powered funding search engine Fundica has partnered with Digital Commerce Bank. The Bank will host Fundica’s online funding search solution on its website for free, making it easier for businesses to search for and secure information on a wide variety of funding sources, including grants, tax credits, government loans, loan guarantees, and accelerators and incubators.

Users of the search engine can personalize results quickly and choose from among 35+ different search criteria. The solution is updated in real time, helping ensure that companies and business owners have access to the most up-to-date, accurate information on funding opportunities that are relevant to them.

“Digital Commerce Bank is proud to offer Fundica’s funding search technology as part of our commitment to support and promote business in Canada,” Digital Commerce Bank President and CEO Jeffrey Smith said. A privately held, Schedule 1 Canadian chartered bank headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Digital Commerce Bank offers payment and banking experiences, as well as card services, digital wallets, and loan origination and management tools.

The institution is regulated by OSFI (the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada), is a member of Payments Canada, and is a principle member of Interac, Visa, and Mastercard. Digital Commerce Bank changed its name from DirectCash Bank in November of last year in a move Smith said would allow the institution to “unify (its) branding, technology, and offering. The firm reported total assets of $94 million (C$117 million) this summer.

“We are delighted to partner with an innovative group like DCBank who shares our mutual commitment to make finding and applying for funding easier for entrepreneurs across Canada,” Fundica President and co-founder Mike Lee said.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Fundica leverages machine learning, crowdsourcing, web crawlers, and its own data science team to offer business owners and entrepreneurs dynamic, relevant funding data. In addition to Fundica’s funding search engine for businesses, the company’s white label and API-based solutions enhance the ability of its partners to help its customers better navigate the funding landscape. Companies have successfully leveraged Fundica’s technology to drive traffic to their websites and capture leads in search of funding, better engage customers with a “one-stop-shop” for current and relevant funding information, as well as generate data-driven insights.

In addition to its online white label service, Fundica also offers two other licensed services: AdvisorPro and Automated Funding Alerts. AdvisorPro is designed for financial advisors to use the Fundica database directly to better serve their clients. Automated Funding Alerts service sends funding opportunities to a mailing list of businesses provided by the subscribing firm. For its role in playing “matchmaker” between businesses and funding entities, Fundica has earned the nickname “the eHarmony of the funding world.”

“Fundica is the most useful tool entrepreneurs can use when it comes to funding,” former, eight-year Intuit Canada President and CEO Jeff Cates said. “Having their white-label solution on our website increased signups to Intuit’s products tremendously.”

An award-winning innovator that has earned recognition from the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation, Startup Canada, and CFO Canada, Fundica also organizes and runs the Fundica Roadshow. The annual event is held in cities across both Canada and the U.S., and is geared toward helping business owners understand the range of funding opportunities available to them, as well as help make connections between entrepreneurs seeking funding and the funding sources themselves.


Photo by Andre Furtado from Pexels

FinovateFall 2021 Sneak Peek: Fundica

FinovateFall 2021 Sneak Peek: Fundica

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall on September 13-15, 2021. Register today and save your spot.

Fundica’s award-winning, AI-powered, funding search engine helps financial institutions elevate their small business advisory services and acquire valuable insights on their prospects and clients.

Features

  • Retain and engage customers with a licensed funding search engine
  • Generate a regular flow of new business leads
  • Help your small business customers prosper

Why it’s great
Fundica will make you a better and more complete funding advisor by effortlessly extending your service offering at scale.

Presenter

Mike Lee, CEO and Co-Founder
Lee has held leadership roles in technology organizations, secured over $300 million in government funding, and holds Engineering, MBA and CFA designations.
LinkedIn