July 14, 2023: The DeFi strategy that should be on your radar

What is Storspay?

We are building an embedded DeFi lending infrastructure for the Internet.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

Millions of small businesses globally cannot access capital easily and at fair prices.

In Canada, immigrants, minorities, and natives face systemic barriers to capital to finance their businesses. On the other hand, banks do not pay decent rates on savings deposits. Our platform automates retail lending to small businesses globally using stablecoin. Now everyday savers can earn higher yields on their deposits by investing it as working capital to curate high-quality businesses across Canada and the rest of the world.

These small businesses benefit from faster easier access to lower cost capital than they would otherwise be able to get from traditional finance.

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

We are processing $3.6M+ in annualized gross loan volume to 100+ small businesses and are backed by 300+ retail lenders. We have 2K+ merchants and 600+ retail lenders on the waitlist.

It has been well received because we offer higher yields to retail investors and more affordable capital to small businesses. Our platform is easy to use. Retail lenders make a deposit with just a debit or credit card and this is minted into stablecoin that is now immediately distributed by the DeFi protocol to qualified high-quality businesses globally.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

I am a 2x founder and in my first company digitizing small businesses, I saw them struggle with financing to grow their business. My 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, finance, consulting, and sales prepared me to start and grow this company.

What has been the hardest thing on your journey so far?

Talent hiring - finding the right team members with grit and self-leadership has been tough but we have gotten better at sourcing and now can more easily identify the talent we need.

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

The immense demand for our solution led to a massive waitlist of more than 2K+ within our first 3 months.

Who is the unsung hero on the team? Why?

Our Peoples Operations Lead - because he finds all the great people to help power our growth.

What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?

Onboard our 2K+ waitlist and get to $30M+ in annualized gross loan volume.

Who are the Canadian startups you like in your market?

Newton - the crypto trading platform you can trust

Bitgo - the strongest foundation in crypto

Bitaccess - Canada’s blockchain company

Coinchange - boost your earnings with their risked-managed DeFi products, all in one place

Learn more about Starspay and other companies to watch here

TechTO's Founders Journey Series gives you unparalleled access to some of today's top Founders and Leaders from across the Canadian Tech Ecosystem. We chat with our guests about their journeys to building their current business and the lessons they learned along the way.

Our most recent episode of The Founders Journey features Alex Rink, CEO of Rink Ventures.

Alex is the CEO of Rink Ventures, where he works as a Strategic Advisor for high-growth companies and VCs/PEs.

He has over 20 years of experience as a SaaS/DaaS CEO/co-founder and executive and most recently led an M&A and merger integration for a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company.

In today's podcast, we discuss:

• Alex’s early years

• What inspired him to enter the technology space

• His years working at Bain as a Consultant

• How his dad inspired his entrepreneurial journey

• Best lessons learned as an early entrepreneur

• Joining a startup as a CEO and non-co-founder

• Getting product market fit

• Getting your first customer

• Advice he wishes he knew when he was first starting out

• What inspired him to change paths to investing/advising

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts

Where can you connect with Alex?

Find Alex on LinkedInggested Media

Another episode of Founders Journey just dropped! Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you are listening

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Why is this cool? Backed by world-class investors and partners, Kento Health is pioneering the future of heart health. They’re looking for a Full-Stack Software Engineering Manager with the ability to think strategically and write top-quality code. In this role, you will oversee all aspects of software development, and eventually build an in-house tech team.

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