New crowdsourced fund, for entrepreneurs [canada] | Hacker News Reader

New crowdsourced fund, for entrepreneurs [canada]

colektivo.com

11 pointsmtw23 comments

Awesome idea. Typically entrepreneurs in Canada have had a hard time finding money to fund their ideas. Hopefully this solves the problem for some of them.

yes, there are much less investment funds and also less banks in Canada, compared to the US. This is going to be introduced as an viable and trusted source of capital for new & growing businesses.

This looks great. The number one question for me is: Will it operate outside of Canada? I'm from Israel, will I be able to invest/borrow?

We will first start in Canada. Regulations are different in every country. If we could we would target the world, unfortunately we cannot afford it for the moment.

I can see why it's a trouble to let non-Canadians borrow; But what about investing? What's the legal trouble with letting foreigners invest through the internet? Isn't it just like opening an internet store, except the product is "Colektivo credits" or something?

there are many problems, one of them is money laundering, like criminals who could use the service to get "clean" money. which means Colektivo need to track individual investors and make sure they are in Canada.

Actually nothing keep Colektivo from lending to foreign companies, but it's another thing to accept foreign investors.

I'm also in Montreal. It's good to know that some people here are doing interesting stuff.

if anybody has questions, leave a comment, we'll try to answer them

Is it legal?

Yes it is.. We will give you more details shortly.

Keep in mind that it's not a P2C lending website, but rather an investment fund (2 separate companies) managed on the Internet. It makes a huge difference.

Is shortly in the next couple days or next couple months?

Months

Smells like a con, I explain why here:

http://www.danielharan.com/2009/01/04/colektivo-another-mont...

And I commented here: http://www.danielharan.com/2009/01/04/colektivo-another-mont...

I can't see how this is a con.

I work on this project btw. We just didn't see the use of a "who are we?" page, but it's no secret.

I have also commented..

It's legal but don't think it's easy to start up this kind of project.. A lot of work and lawyer's fees.

It looks pretty awesome but I can't imagine it being legal.

Maybe in Canada. Probably not in the US.

Probably in Canada. Maybe not in the US.

it's a matter of negotiating with the right authorities and regulators. Of course, you can't just open up shop and take investment money.

in this case, colektivo is separated from colektivo capital, which funds entrepreneurs and businesses (2 different corporations)

It's debt, not equity.

In US it doesn't make a difference - a "security" is any promise to enrich a person by work of others. Fixed-income vs. equity distinction is immaterial.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com