2014 Funding Roadshow announces initial list of participating investors and funders plus details on winners' prizes

The winner in each participating city will receive $10,000 in prizes, airfare to San Francisco and the opportunity to pitch to VCs in California

MONTREAL, March 25, 2014 /CNW/ - The 2014 Funding Roadshow, a national event with 10 city stops across Canada, today announced an initial list of participating private investors and public funders – plus details on winners' prizes.

To date, the following financial institutions, venture capitalists, angel investors, government organizations and private lenders have registered to participate in the 2014 Funding Roadshow (in alphabetical order): Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF), Credit Union Atlantic (CUA), First Angel Network (FAN), Growthworks, Innovacorp, Maple Leaf Angels, Mitacs, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Omers Ventures, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), R&D Capital, Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII), Wavefront and Women's Enterprise Centre. Additional investors and funders are expected to join the Funding Roadshow in the coming weeks.

In addition to receiving funding, the winning entrepreneur in each city will receive round-trip airfare to San Francisco, the opportunity to pitch to VCs in northern California, a cloud infrastructure services package (courtesy of CANARIE) valued at $6,000 and a $4,000 value R&D tax credit financing solution (courtesy of R&D Capital).

"With a few days remaining before our first deadline, we are very pleased with the high degree of interest and commitment made by private investors, public funders and entrepreneurs across Canada," says Mike Lee, President, Fundica. "In addition to the obvious benefits of potentially securing traditional funding, the Funding Roadshow offers a remarkable networking opportunity, workshops delivered by industry experts, online crowdfunding campaigns with a leaderboard and additional prizes. Anyone still interested in participating in the Toronto/Mississauga, Guelph/Waterloo, Ottawa and Halifax stops is welcome to do so, but should note that the deadline of April 1^st is fast approaching. I would again like to stress that the Funding Roadshow is a team effort that is made possible thanks to the support of more than 50 national, hosting and community partners across the country," adds Mr. Lee.

2014 Funding Roadshow Schedule

• Toronto/Mississauga, April 9
• Guelph/Waterloo, April 11
• Ottawa, April 15
• Halifax, April 17
• Winnipeg, May 21
• Vancouver, May 23
• Edmonton, May 26
• Calgary, May 28
• Victoria, May 30
• Montreal, June 2

To register, please visit www.fundingroadshow.com. The deadline for registration is April 1, for April events and May 4 for later events.

2014 Funding Roadshow National Partners

National partners include: Canadian Youth Business Foundation, CANARIE, R&D Capital, BCIC and FundRazr. For a complete list of all hosting and community partners, please visit www.fundingroadshow.com/partners.

About the 2014 Funding Roadshow

Organized by Fundica, the 2014 Funding Roadshow gives start-ups and SMEs the opportunity to pitch their businesses and potentially secure financing from a panel of private investors and public funders. Funders benefit from exposure to emerging opportunities and the chance to invest before the rest of the market. The objective of the Funding Roadshow is to better educate entrepreneurs and facilitate connections with investors and funders. With stops in 10 Canadian cities, 20 select entrepreneurs will pitch to a panel of eight funders, per stop. Pitches are limited to five minutes, followed by a seven-minute Q&A session. All participating entrepreneurs must present a strong technological element in their vision. Entrepreneurs are divided into two streams: 1) young entrepreneurs (under 40), with or without existing revenues, and 2) start-ups and SMEs, no age restrictions with revenues of at least $150,000.

About Fundica

Fundica, Canada's most successful traditional funding identification and connection platform, matches entrepreneurs, private investors, public funders and advisors. Through unique crowdsourcing/crawler technology, Fundica provides an up-to-date, comprehensive and intuitive platform. Additionally, Fundica manages the Funding Roadshow, an annual cross-Canada event. In 2013, Fundica earned a Bronfman Foundation Top 25 Emerging Entrepreneurs Award and was named an Intuit Financial Literacy Startup Finalist. For more information, visit www.fundica.com.

Note to Editors

To schedule an interview with Mike Lee or to attend the Funding Roadshow in any participating city, please contact Mark Lowe at [email protected] or [phone].

SOURCE: Fundica

Mark Lowe, PRagmatic Communications for Fundica, [email protected], [phone], [phone]