With $1.6mm Seed Raise, CAARY Appoints Senior Fintech Investment Strategist John MacKinlay as CEO to Lead U.S./Canada Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns

Fintech startup CAARY has unveiled a corporate credit card for SMEs which is the first of its kind in the Canadian finance industry, allowing businesses to qualify based on funding and revenue as opposed to credit history. The Company has appointed former OMERS investor John MacKinlay as its CEO to lead equity crowdfunding initiatives in the U.S. and Canada, leveraging his 25 years of experience as a senior fintech investment strategist.

CAARY Card

CAARY offers a unique value proposition to Canadian SMEs, many of whom do not use business credit cards due to the many barriers for qualification.

TORONTO, May 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CAARY CAPITAL LTD. (“CAARY” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that after raising a total of CAD $1,600,000 from accredited investors in Canada in an equity seed round, the Company has launched equity crowdfunding campaigns for Canadian and U.S. investors on FrontFundr and Fundable. In January 2021, senior fintech investment strategist John MacKinlay was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company to drive development of the product, its market, and partners, as well as to lead investment rounds and oversee early-stage commercialization of CAARY to build market share in the Canadian SME payments category, in which over CAD $40 billion is transacted annually. CAARY’s minimum viable product (“MVP”) is set to launch in July 2021, and has been developed to help Canada’s more than 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses (“SMEs”) overcome common hurdles in business credit, expense management, and payments.

Mr. MacKinlay has over 25 years of experience in the banking sector, acting as a strategic advisor, senior executive, investor, and entrepreneur. After several years as a banker and Strategy Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”), Mr. MacKinlay led the Banking Strategy Practice for IBM after they acquired PwC Consulting in 2002. Subsequently, he joined National Australia Bank (“NAB”) to lead Strategy & Corporate Development in the Americas. Subsequently, Mr. MacKinlay returned to PwC where he led and developed its Canadian Financial Services Advisory practice. In 2016, Mr. MacKinlay joined OMERS Platform Investments (“OPI”, the innovation arm of the OMERS pension fund) where he created the investment strategy for OPI’s Financial Services division and led their investments.

An overview of the CAARY solution (set to fully launch in September 2021) and its value proposition to Canadian SMEs is provided below.

Innovative Application Process: Canadian SMEs are often discouraged by the “black box” business credit card application process, which can take weeks to complete and generally requires a personal guarantee. CAARY primarily considers a SME’s cashflow and assets and never requires a personal guarantee, but can deliver same-day approval.

CAARY Mastercard®: Upon approval, virtual CAARY cards can be issued near-instantly for immediate use with unlimited supplementary cards. Physical cards are also available upon request.

Self-Serve Administration: SMEs will have the option to add/lock/remove cards at any time of day through an online dashboard. Permissions can also be adjusted for individual cards to include card-specific spending limits and merchant restrictions (e.g., by category or named merchants).

AI/ML-Driven Expense Management: Obviating the need to retain receipts and reconcile expenses each month, cardholders receive a notification via SMS, email, or the CAARY app each time a transaction is posted to their card. By responding to this notification with a picture of the receipt or invoice for that charge, CAARY uses an artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) system which extracts the data and can transmit it to accounting platforms such as QuickBooks and Xero.

Near-Instant Money Transfers up to USD $50,000: As an alternative to cheques and wire transfers, CAARY will offer SMEs the option to make near-instant transfers of up to USD $50,000 (~CAD $60,000) to business or consumer recipients through a linked bank account, even outside of Canada.

For more details on the CAARY card and fintech platform, please visit www.caary.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c606289a-d38f-477e-a2be-ba396926edc1

CAARY offers a unique value proposition to Canadian SMEs, many of whom do not use business credit cards due to the many barriers for qualification.

Readers using news aggregation services may be unable to view the media above. Please access the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website for a version of this press release containing all published media.

CAARY’s equity crowdfunding campaigns are currently open to Canadian and U.S. investors with a minimum investment of CAD $250 or USD $1,000, respectively. Please refer to FrontFundr or Fundable for more information.

Canadian Investors (FrontFundr): https://www.frontfundr.com/caary

U.S. Investors (Fundable): https://www.fundable.com/caary

John MacKinlay commented, “CAARY has curated a top-tier group of experts in the banking ecosystem, particularly in the payments and credit arena, who have held roles across the globe as senior strategists, senior operators, deep technical advisors, entrepreneurs, and market builders. It has always been remarkable to me that so many of the Canadian growth-stage firms, who I have worked with over the past 25 years, use the personal credit cards of founders and employees to remit hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars’ worth of expenses monthly. This most commonly comes down to the fact that Canadian financial institutions do not tend to offer viable options to SMEs for business credit cards, which limits their incentive to pursue these products.”

Mr. MacKinlay continued, “Exciting times are ahead for CAARY as we complete our product development to reveal the CAARY MVP in July 2021, with our launch to the general public set to occur in September 2021. Our fintech solution is the first of its kind in Canada, and we are thrilled to offer Canadian SMEs the functionality of CAARY, in addition to providing investors in both Canada and the U.S. the opportunity to join us as equity partners. We are appreciative of both FrontFundr (Canada) and Fundable (United States) for their leadership in driving the democratization of the venture capital asset class and availing exciting venture investment opportunities to individual investors.”

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

CAARY CAPITAL LTD.

“John MacKinlay”

John MacKinlay, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

CAARY Investor Relations
1-833-962-2279
[email protected]

About CAARY Capital Ltd.

CAARY has developed a suite of financial services products for Canadian 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 85% complete, CAARY launched equity crowdfunding campaigns in the United States and Canada in May 2021, 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