There isn’t much an entrepreneur in Edmonton, a branding specialist in Toronto, and the owner of a comics and games store in Halifax have in common. But when they recently sought capital for their growing businesses, all three arrived at the same answer — alternative financing.
“Alternative finance has really bubbled up into the mainstream in the U.S., in the U.K., in Australia – and in Canada it is now starting, finally, to bubble up,” said Steven Uster, who co-founded Toronto-based lending firm FundThrough.
More accessible than a bank loan and less complicated than crowdfunding, these online marketplace lenders use proprietary software to quickly assess a client’s loan eligibility, day or night. Like almost everything else today, it’s as easy as pointing and clicking.
“It’s pretty seamless,” Uster said. “Once you’ve filled in the application, you can get funded sometime between 24 and 72 hours later.”
Clearly there’s a lot of pent-up demand, a lot of Canadians looking for better solutions
Uster knows firsthand that time is money for entrepreneurs. Back when he launched his first online company, Zillidy, the only funding option was “bootstrapping.” But those days are finally coming to a close.
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