Vancouver-based SaaS startup Yield Exchange, which provides an online marketplace for guaranteed investment certificates (GIC), won both pitch competitions at SAAS NORTH this year.
Named as the winner of the AWS PitchFest, Yield Exchange beat out the other finalists who were Happly, LearnExperts, and Epipresto. Yield Exchange was selected from a group of top 10 finalists that pitched to The Firehood.
Taking home a total of $110,000, the company was awarded $10,000 from AWS (Amazon Web Services) PitchFest and $100,000 from The Firehood, an angel network launched by the founders of Phoenix Fire.
Founded in 2019 by Yvette Wu (CEO), Sampath Ekanayake (CPO), Ravi Sumal (COO), Yield Exchange wants to modernize the way depositors access and negotiate GIC rates.
Congratulations to Yield Exchange for winning both the $10k @AWSstartups and $100k @thefirehood Camp investment @SAASNORTH
đŸ¥³đŸ¥³ investment powered by women Angels pic.twitter.com/OeiMwW4dCg
— Capital Angel Network (@CapitalAngels) November 19, 2022
A GIC is a savings product sold by Canadian banks and trust companies that offers a guaranteed rate of return over a fixed period of time. Through its online platform, Yield Exchange said it enables depositors to place funds at the going rate, while completing due diligence. As a two-sided marketplace, it also allows financial institutions to be notified on market activity to let them focus on requests that align with their liquidity needs.
The platform launched in the fourth quarter of last year, and Yield Exchange claims that as of July this year, it has processed over $42 million in posted GIC transactions.
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New Ventures BC named Yield Exchange as a top 25 startup this year. The company told New Ventures BC it has onboarded 17 financial institutions, including credit union Vancity. Prior to leading Yield Exchange as CEO, Wu worked for Vancity for seven years, leaving in 2020 as director of enterprise risk management.
SAAS NORTH had its second consecutive in-person event this year after it made the shift to a digital experience in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the pitch competitions, the two-day conference also included a tradeshow, networking opportunities, as well as panels and keynote presentations from the likes of Coveo CEO Louis TĂªtu, Two Small Fish Ventures’ Eva Lau, and Paddle founder Christian Owens, among others.
Featured image courtesy The Firehood.