Together with

PROFILE

Today, we meet Ron Benegbi, who chats about his journey building Uplinq Financial Technologies.

What is Uplinq?

Uplinq leverages billions of data sets to deliver credit decision support technology for small business lenders worldwide.

What was your inspiration to build this?

I’m an immigrant. My family migrated to Canada in the early 70’s with only a few dollars in our pockets. My dad baked bread on a night shift to put food on the table. In 1973, he approached a bank and applied for a small business loan, to which the branch manager replied “Mr. Benegbi, you don’t meet the bank's criteria for this loan. However, I believe in people so here’s $5,000.”

My dad took this money and started a small business. A year later my mom followed a similar path. That $5,000 became the springboard for our family’s lives in Canada.

I grew up in a small business family, and my professional successes and failures have come as a small business owner. Small businesses have traditionally been an underserved market within financial services. With the impact and devastation all small business owners have felt through the pandemic, and now entering this uncertain economic climate, access to fair and ethical credit has never been more difficult to attain.

How do you think it’s been received by the market?

Very well.

Most banks/lenders recognize the need to underwrite small businesses better, especially minority and protected class segments.

What is the one thing you wish you knew early on in your career?

How to manage investor conversations and the nuances around them.

Who are the Canadian companies you admire in your market? 

Koho - reloadable prepaid master cards and money management tool

Wealthsimple - smart investment products build for everyone

Synctera - easily build banking for your customers

Fundthrough - helping you get paid faster

More from Ron

Ron joined us on a past episode of our Founders Journey series, to dive into his inspiring career journey as an entrepreneur

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