CAARY closes $4.1 million late-seed equity round to bring innovative corporate credit card and payments platform to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada

TORONTO, June 29, 2021 /CNW/ - CAARY Capital Ltd. ("CAARY" or the "company") today announced the closing of its oversubscribed, late-seed equity round, with more than $4.1 million raised. Leading with the CAARY Business Mastercard, the company is the first to bring an entirely digital credit and payments platform to SMEs in Canada. CAARY saw overwhelming interest in the crowdfunded component of its raise, closing the round 20 days early and surpassing its target raise by more than 100%, with over 150 Canadian investors participating in the crowdfund alongside accredited investors.

"Investor response to CAARY has been fantastic," said John MacKinlay, Chief Executive Officer of CAARY. "Equity crowdfunding has created significant opportunities for everyone to invest in exciting companies that historically would have been financed by venture capital firms. We are so pleased to participate in the democratization of this asset class through our latest funding round. The principle of accessibility ties perfectly into the game-changing credit card offering CAARY is about to introduce for SMEs in Canada."

CAARY, which will launch its full platform offering this fall following a private beta over the summer, is a first-of-its-kind corporate credit card solution for SMEs in Canada. It features same-day credit card approval, no personal guarantee requirements, and near-instant virtual card issuance with physical cards to follow on demand. The roster of former senior banking executives that make up the CAARY senior leadership team have developed a model for assessing and offering credit to SMEs based on cash-flow and assets as opposed to credit history, a novel approach that is expected to significantly benefit this greatly under-served market in Canada.

"We knew there was demand for this type of service and that was validated in both our practical market analysis and now by vigorous investor interest in CAARY. In Canada alone there are more than 1.2 million SMEs and yet it's rare for them to have corporate credit cards. Employees and founders are putting large sums on their personal credit cards, which exposes them to personal liability, among other risks, and creates enormous time burden and inefficiencies when it comes to month-end reconciliation. This isn't by choice - it's currently extremely difficult for SMEs in Canada to get corporate credit. But, it doesn't have to be that way," said MacKinlay.

The company's initial seed raise of $1.6 million in early 2021 enabled the recruitment of specialized technology, card product, credit and fintech talent and subject matter expertise, including CEO John MacKinlay. The company will use the latest round of funding to expand the product suite, add enhanced functionality, support the go-to-market strategy, and continue to build internal capacity to onboard and support new customers.

CAARY will leverage the trusted Mastercard network to launch with early clients across multiple business sizes and types, including in the information technology, health care, transportation & logistics, legal and professional services, to name a few. CAARY will roll out more advanced platform functionality, including a series of value-added partnerships, in the fall. Canadian SMEs can request early-stage access by joining CAARY's wait list or visit caary.com for more information.

About CAARY Capital Ltd.

CAARY has developed a suite of financial services products for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to include: a business Mastercard with rapid approval and near-instant card issuance, unprecedented flexibility in client-side card management, broader credit availability for installment loans, and an AI-driven expense reporting engine in which CAARY cardholders can submit receipts or invoices by simply texting or emailing a picture. Developed under the leadership of a senior team of industry and technical experts as well as entrepreneurs, CAARY is launching in 2021 to avail new opportunities for over 1.2 million SMEs who could benefit from these offerings and underlying technologies. With product development more than 95% complete, CAARY launched a late-seed equity financing round in May 2021 which included a crowd funding campaign, shortly after fintech investment strategist John MacKinlay (formerly of OMERS, PwC, IBM) was appointed CEO to oversee the commercialization of CAARY in the Canadian market.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur, or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the anticipated performance of CAARY in the financial services industry, in addition to the following: Potential performance of CAARY's equity crowdfunding campaigns, potential outcomes of the Company's development and launch of CAARY to SME clients in Canada. The forward-looking information reflects management's current expectations based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) changes to the growth and size of the financial services markets; and (iii) other factors beyond the control of the Company. The Company operates in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is impossible for the Company's management to predict all risk factors, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This news release may contain trademarked names of third-party entities (or their respective offerings with trademarked names) typically in reference to (i) relationships had by the Company with such third-party entities as referred to in this release and/or (ii) client/vendor/service provider parties whose relationship with the Company is/are referred to in this release. All rights to such trademarks are reserved by their respective owners or licensees.

© 2021 CAARY Capital - "CAARY" and the CAARY logo are trademarks of the Company. The CAARY Mastercard® Business Card is issued by Peoples Trust Company under license from Mastercard International Incorporated or its Affiliates. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

SOURCE CAARY

For more information or to schedule an interview: Tricia Weagant, 613.806.5168, [email protected]