Canadian Fintech Summit 2022: An Enriching In-Person Experience

It was an amazing experience to be out in person at the Canadian Fintech Summit earlier this month connecting with founders, investors, and fintech professionals, and listening to some fascinating speakers. It was a first-class event organized by the amazing team from Framework Ventures and I believe it was the first full scale event at the MaRS Discovery District. Mathieu Lambert from Finance Montreal also rallied up and organized a fun crew from Montreal for the event, which we were thrilled to travel to Toronto with.

Networking

What I loved best was just serendipitously meeting and talking with interesting individuals – something I had not done in any real way in so long. As a result, I spent a lot of time connecting with various people in the lounge area. It was refreshing and enriching.

The speakers that I listened to were very interesting, and they were only made that much more compelling from being present there with us in three-dimensions. Peter Misek from Framework Ventures led talks that pushed us to imagine what the future will be like and how fintech can help transform the world in a positive way.

Marshall Self from Google presented some interesting consumer habits and needs with respect to financial services and how “helpfulness” was a key element to keep in mind. The other speakers from a wide range of areas were also very interesting, but all of them had to compete with interesting individuals looking for one-on-one conversations in the lounge.

Pitch Competition

I was also fortunate and honored to have been selected to pitch in front of the audience. Carol Misek and the rest of the organizing team were amazing to work with leading up to the event in preparing us for it. As fate would have it, the morning that I was to pitch the fire alarm went off in the hotel building and I had to evacuate with what I could grab, scurry down 24 dizzying flights of stairs, fix myself up in the bathroom at the event with what clothes I had. Fortunately, I was able to watch some other pitchers tell some great stories and present some incredible solutions before jumping on stage myself. The pitch went well, but there was a sense of relief once it was over. I received some excellent feedback and connected with some new individuals after the pitch. The immersive winners were Zelros (day 1) and F8th (day 2).

Again this was an excellent event that brought together in person, for the first time in at least two years, the fintech ecosystem in Canada. It was an outstanding occasion to share ideas and opportunities so we can improve the lives of Canadians and so many others across the world.