About Us The Digital Finance Institute is a think tank for financial technology and artificial intelligence. We represent a strategic link in digital finance between the financial services industry, NGOs, academia, financial regulators and policy makers to promote financial innovation and vibrancy through thought leadership, engagement, advocacy, research and education.
digitalfinanceinstitute.org
Awards The Canadian FinTech & AI Awards were launched five years ago to recognize and celebrate Canadian innovation in financial technology and artificial intelligence. The Awards bring together Canada’s leaders in finance to celebrate and support Canadian technology from coast to coast to coast, and help build bridges across the country through innovation.
fintechawards.org
Canada FinTech Week Canada FinTech Week was launched by the Digital Finance Institute to bring the financial services sector together to showcase Canadian innovation with a full week of investment opportunities, leadership sessions, networking, meetups and much more, created around our flagship FinTech Canada Conference. Canada FinTech Week acts as the vehicle for the engagement of FinTech, enabling key connections and supporting financial innovation in Canada. Join us for 2020!
fintechweek.ca
Sponsors
In Partnership with
Master of Ceremonies
Geoffrey Cher – Wildeboer Dellelce LLP Geoff Cher is a partner at the law firm of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP in Toronto and a well known lawyer in the FinTech sector. He practices in the areas of corporate and securities law.
Welcoming Remarks
Ellis Odynn – Digital Finance Institute Ellis Odynn is the Executive Director and Chief AI Officer at the Digital Finance Institute. She is also the Executive Producer of the Canadian FinTech & AI Awards and Canada FinTech Week.
Accounting Firm Amar Joshi – RSM Canada Amar Joshi is the Director of Management Consulting at RSM Canada. He has over 14 years of consulting experience delivering revenue uplift, cost reduction and risk avoidance engagements to clients across industries.
A G E N D A
7:00 Award Ceremony Starts 7:15 Opening Entertainment 7:26 Welcoming Remarks Salad Served 7:37 Advisory Firm of the Year Award Presentation 7:43 HSBC Diversity & Inclusion in Innovation Award Presentation 7:50 Accelerator / Incubator of the Year Award Presentation 7:56 Blockchain Company of the Year Award Presentation 8:02 Judges' Choice Award: Technology Impact Award Presentation 8:08 Central 1 Credit Union of the Year Award Presentation Main Course Served 8:16 Investment Firm of the Year Award Presentation 8:22 Law Firm of the Year Award Presentation Networking Break 8:49 Responsible Innovation in Financial Services Award Presentation 8:55 RegTech Solution of the Year Award Presentation 9:01 Visa Entrepreneur / Innovation Leader of the Year Award Presentation Dessert Served 9:09 Scotiabank FemTech Leader of the Year Award Presentation 9:16 Judges' Choice Award: Leadership Award Presentation 9:22 Payments Company of the Year Award Presentation 9:28 ATB AI Company of the Year Award Presentation 9:35 CIBC FinTech Startup of the Year Award Presentation 9:42 Closing Entertainment 9:50 ICICI Bank FinTech Company of the Year Award Presentation 9:57 Canadian Bankers Association Bank Innovator of the Year Award Presentation 10:04 Closing Remarks Awards VIP After Party
[MENU] Fresh Bread & Butter SALAD Baby Arugula & Frisee Salad Toasted Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds, Grapes & Sundried Cherries, Roasted Heirloom Squash, White Balsamic Dressing ENTRÉE Honey Glazed Local Chicken Breast Roasted Herb Potatoes, Merlot Chicken Glaze DESSERT Banoffee Tart Caramel Mousse, Banana, Torched Meringue, Ganache, Fleur de sel, Micro Mint Freshly Brewed Coffee - Regular & Decaffeinated LOT 35 Teas
E N T E R T A I N M E N T
OPENING PERFORMANCE Gavin McLeod
CLOSING PERFORMANCE DAAM Dance Group
18 AWARDS
CIBC FinTech Startup of the Year ICICI Bank FinTech Company of the Year Canadian Bankers Association Bank Innovator of the Year ATB AI Company of the Year HSBC Diversity & Inclusion in Innovation Award Visa Entrepreneur / Innovation Leader of the Year Scotiabank FemTech Leader of the Year Central 1 Credit Union of the Year
Accelerator / Incubator of the Year Law Firm of the Year Payments Company of the Year Advisory Firm of the Year Investment Firm of the Year RegTech Solution of the Year Blockchain Company of the Year Responsible Innovation in Financial Services Judges‘ Choice Award: Leadership Judges‘ Choice Award: Technology Impact
Award Presenters
Alice Li, Miss Global International
Brian Weiner, Visa Canada
Dan Semmens, ATB Financial
Elizabeth Duke, Central 1
Geoff Smith, EllisDon
Lori Fazaa, HSBC Bank Canada
Malcolm Mercer, Law Society of Ontario
Marina Mandal, Canadian Bankers Association
Pamela Hilborn, Scotiabank
Perry Dellelce, Wildeboer Dellelce LLP
Sandeep Goel, ICICI Bank Canada
Scarlett Sieber, CCG Catalyst Consulting Group
Stephen Krajinovic, ET Canada
Stephen Maher, Maclean's Magazine
Terry Hickey, CIBC
Vivene Salmon, Canadian Bar Association
Geoffrey Cher, Wildeboer Dellelce LLP
Ellis Odynn, Digital Finance Institute
Tongtong Xu, Digital Finance Institute
Eunji Lee, Digital Finance Institute
Nominees in House CIBC FinTech Startup of the Year
Ryan Yates ryan.yates@apaylo.com
Tiffany T Johnston Tiffany@blockerts.com
David Kantanka david@finaeo.com
Megan Harris mharris@fispan.com
Omar Kaywan omar@gooseinsurance.com
Julien Brault julien@hardbacon.com
Paul Birkness paul@pungle.ca
Michael Rabkin michael@sigone.capital
Ben Abbasi b.abbasi@quadfi.com
Tiffany Kaminsky tiffany@symend.com
media@tua.ca
Robert Kirwin rkirwin@vigilantcs.com
Nominees in House ICICI Bank FinTech Company of the Year
Karen Lourdes klourdes@blockstation.com
media@borrowell.com
Chris McLellan chris.mclellan@cinchy.com
Tobi Adam tobi.adam@coinsquare.com
Daniel Whiting daniel.whiting@ethoca.com
Elisabeth Laett elisabeth.laett@exagens.com
Michael Barr michael.barr@ficanex.ca
Kathryn Barban kbarban@flexiti.com
Justine Melman justine.melman@flybits.com
Jonathan Hoyles Jonathan@glancepay.com
Stacey Brown SBrown@goeasy.com
Brian Smith bsmith@inovatec.com
Adrienne Vaughan avaughan@interac.ca
Andrew Kirkland andrew@justwealth.com
Brock Murray bmurray@katipult.com
marketing@lendesk.com
John Shmuel john@lowestrates.ca
media@merrco.ca
Roy Sarkar roy.sarkar@mindbridge.ai
Tolu Aibana tolu.aibana@lendified.com
Matt DeMargel MDemargel@919Marketing.com
Nominees in House Kevin Wallace kevin.wallace@nanopay.net
Jon Aikman jaikman@nordai.co
Donna Galloway donna.galloway@portfolioplus.com
Saba Shariff sshariff@symcor.com
Courtney Wattie courtney@paybright.com
Sarah Douglas Sarah.Douglas@securekey.com
Michael Rabkin michael@sigone.capital
John Mcleod john.mcleod@versapay.com
Chantelle Bianchi chantelle@wysdom.ai
Canadian Bankers Association Bank Innovator of the Year
Deborah Chatterton Deborah.Chatterton@concentra.ca
Teresa Pagnutti Teresa.Pagnutti@meridiancu.ca
Julie Wainwright julie.wainwright@scotiabank.com
Shabeen Hanifa Shabeen_Hanifa@manulife.com
Nominees in House Canadian Bankers Association Bank Innovator of the Year
Deborah Chatterton Deborah.Chatterton@concentra.ca
Teresa Pagnutti Teresa.Pagnutti@meridiancu.ca
Julie Wainwright julie.wainwright@scotiabank.com
Shabeen Hanifa Shabeen_Hanifa@manulife.com
Nominees in House ATB AI Company of the Year
Peter Suma peter.suma@appliedbrainresearch.com
Kelly Cherniwchan kelly@chata.ai
Naheed Kurji naheed.kurji@cyclicarx.com
Mark Evans mevans@daisyintel.com
Mehdi Merai mehdi@dataperformers.com
Andrew Peek Andrew@delphia.com
Jon Lipinski jon@ecopiatech.com.
Lisa Seguin lisa.seguin@elementai.com
Elisabeth Laett elisabeth.laett@exagens.com
Kody Gurfein kgurfein@exiger.com
Justine Melman justine.melman@flybits.com
Steven Jast Steven@gazelle.ai
Shelley Fraser sfraser@lixar.com
Philip Poulidis philip@odaia.ai
Monica Hovsepian mhovsepi@opentext.com
Roy Sarkar roy.sarkar@mindbridge.ai
press@plyzer.com
Ben Abbasi b.abbasi@quadfi.com
Kundan Joshi kundan@theapplabb.com
Evan Chrapko evan.chrapko@trustscience.com
Chantelle Bianchi chantelle@wysdom.ai
Kailah Bharath kailah@zoom.ai
Michael Filion michaelf@stradigi.ai
Dani Mario dmario@vendasta.com
Dr. Paul Kruszewski paul@wrnch.ai
Nominees in House HSBC Diversity & Inclusion in Innovation Award
Vincent Jackson vjackson@blg.com
Adrienne Vaughan avaughan@interac.ca
Sue Hutchinson Mastercard
Victoria Pelletier IBM
Nominees in House Visa Entrepreneur / Innovation Leader of the Year Alex Conconi Lendesk
Aly Dhalla Finaeo
Andrew Graham Borrowell
Andrew Kirkland Justwealth
Cole Diamond Coinsquare
Darrell MacMullin Securekey
Jose Ribau Cadillac Fairview
Kate Arthur Kids Code Jeunesse
Kundan Joshi TheAppLabb
Mark O'Connell Interac Corp.
Marwan Forzley Veem
Michael Rabkin SigOne Capital
Mo Nikjoo QuadFi Inc.
Rojin Nair Celero
Stuart Davis Scotiabank
Sue Britton FinTech Growth Syndicate
Nominees in House Scotiabank FemTech Leader of the Year Aimee Gagnon Lendesk
Andrea Fiederer Goeasy Ltd.
Carolina Bessega Stradigi AI
Charley Butler Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Debbie Gamble Interac Corp.
Donna Galloway Portfolio+ Inc.
Eva Wong Borrowell
Fatema Pirone CIBC
Jane Yuen CIBC
Jennifer Stott RBC
Jenny Hui Element AI
Kashmera Self Interac Corp.
Laviva Mazhar Luge Capital
Louanne Gemin Linedata
Malini Mitra Paypal
Michelle Joliat BMO Financial Group
Miyo Yamashita Mindbridge AI
Nora Curic CIBC
Rania Llewellyn Scotiabank
Saba Shariff Symcor Inc.
Sarah Bevan UBS Bank
Sue Britton FinTech Growth Syndicate
Tiffany Kaminsky Symend
Nominees in House Central 1 Credit Union of the Year
Erin McKinley erin.mckinley@coastcapitalsavings.com
Lori Walsh lori.walsh@cornerstonecu.com
Ken Shea ken.shea@creditu.ca
Teresa Pagnutti Teresa.Pagnutti@meridiancu.ca
Accelerator / Incubator of the Year
Laura Elvidge lelvidge@acceleratorcentre.com
Michelle Peng Greenberg mpgreenberg@marsdd.com
Sarah Spagnuolo sarah@holtaccelerator.ai
Mike Tremblay mtremblay@investottawa.ca
Law Firm of the Year Vincent Jackson vjackson@blg.com
Lindsay Amadio lamadio@mcleod-law.com
James Hatch James.Hatch@gowlingwlg.com
Nominees in House Payments Company of the Year Josh Knotek johnknotek@clearpaycanada.com
Ryan Yates ryan.yates@apaylo.com
Gaurav Sharda gaurav.sharda@trucash.com
Chris Minos Chris.Minos@everlink.ca
Jonathan Hoyles Jonathan@glancepay.com
Adrienne Vaughan avaughan@interac.ca
Mani Singh mani.singh@expertus.ca
media@merrco.ca
Maxime Doucet-Benoit mdoucet-benoit@mobeewave.com
Kevin Wallace kevin.wallace@nanopay.net
Courtney Wattie courtney@paybright.com
Malini Mitra Malini.mitra@paypal.com
Paul Birkness paul@pungle.ca
Julie Wainwright julie.wainwright@scotiabank.com
Saba Shariff sshariff@symcor.com
Shawn Abrishami shawn@techpos.ca
Kathryn Barban kbarban@flexiti.com
Laura Gillis laura@smooth.tech
John Mcleod john.mcleod@versapay.com
Nominees in House Advisory Firm of the Year
Ainsley Murray amurray@fintechgrowthsyndicate.com
Investment Firm of the Year
Cristin Gray cristin@informationvp.com
media@luge.vc
RegTech Solution of the Year
Karen Lourdes klourdes@blockstation.com
Anu Sood anu.sood@caseware.com
Monica Hovsepian mhovsepi@opentext.com
Ariadna Larrea Ariadna.Larrea@fenergo.com
Sarah Douglas Sarah.Douglas@securekey.com
Kody Gurfein kgurfein@exiger.com
Robert Kirwin rkirwin@vigilantcs.com
Nominees in House Blockchain Company of the Year marketing@bidali.com
SĂŠbastien DiMichele sdimichele@blockchainfoundry.com
Lance Morginn lance@blockchaingroup.io
Karen Lourdes klourdes@blockstation.com
Tobi Adam tobi.adam@coinsquare.com
Jonathan Hoyles Jonathan@glancepay.com
Michael Rabkin michael@sigone.capital
Tiffany T Johnston Tiffany@blockerts.com
Kevin Wallace kevin.wallace@nanopay.net
Building Bridges with Innovation In 2015, we started the Awards to recognize Canadians excelling in financial services, to celebrate innovation leadership and to build bridges across the country with an event where the innovation community could come together to celebrate each other and Canadian innovation.
The very first year, a hundred or so people attended and we had 3 awards. Now, the Awards attract hundreds of attendees and we recognize a wide spectrum of participants who contribute to creating amazing Canadian innovation. Our Awards recognize financial institutions, FinTechs, AI companies, law firms, investment firms, advisory firms, innovators and many others, all of whom help drive Canadian innovation leadership. Our financial services sector is full of stories of incredible vision, ground breaking innovation and timeless hard work that tonight, we recognize. We believe innovation, and AI, are the future of global finance and by working together and supporting each others' successes, Canada will reach that future faster. On behalf of the Digital Finance Institute, thank you for joining our Awards Gala Dinner to celebrate Canadian Innovation. Christine Duhaime, BA, JD Founder