I recently attended the 2019 Funding & Fintech conference as part of my goal to staying on top of the evolution of blockchain technologies and industries facing disruption. I was only able to attend the 2nd day of the conference but I hope my review gives you some insights into what is going on in the Fintech sector and how blockchain plays a role. Lots of the content presented has been shared on the FFCON19 website which I really appreciate, it allows everyone who was not able to attend to determine if attending the conference next year would be valuable experience.
Speakers & Panel Discussions
Overall the conference executed on a very tight schedule and the organizers ensured that the speakers and panel discussions were moving on schedule. I had the opportunity to hear Eli Fathi, CEO from MindBridge.Ai talk about embracing change as it relates to AI. Very interesting talk on the challenges of AI adoption, you can see his slide deck here.
The panel discussions were well represented as well, I really enjoyed the VC investor panel with Luge Capital (Karim Gillani), Impression Ventures (Christian Lassonde) and Information Venture Partners (Robert Antoniades). Here are some of the insights as to what the VCs look for in a startup they are evaluating for a potential investment.
Startup Pitch Competition
The startup pitch competition was lots of fun to watch, lots of great ideas and pitches not just in fintech as you can tell from the winner, Book & Brunch walked away with the top honors.
Blockchain
There was plenty of representation from the blockchain community in Toronto, you were able to connect with some established and brand new startups in the space. Here is a list of a few of them
What I took away
IF you’re not travelling up to Toronto for conferences, you’re missing out as the startup and conference scene in Toronto moves at break neck speed. You don’t have to be there every month but do attend one or two conferences per year just to stay in touch with the community. Congrats to the organizers of FFCON19, you guys did a great job. Keep it up!
Here is a picture of the people that did all the hard work.
