Image Source: Coopérathon.
Next week marks the launch of Coopérathon 2019, the third annual instalment of what its organisers refer to as Canada’s “largest open innovation challenge.” Part of an international “marathon of cooperation” which unites entrepreneurs, researchers, and large institutions across Belgium, Canada, Chile, and France, the competition was conceived by Desjardins with support from Deloitte to address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The series of introductory events held across Canada beginning on September 10th will culminate in a kick-off event held at Montréal’s Olympic Stadium on October 2nd. With 4,000 attendees expected, participants from five Canadian cities will compete across six tracks over 25 days, for over $100,000 in grants and awards.
Competitors in Toronto will be challenged to “get people interested enough to buy into their financial health” as part of the Finance Track in support of financial inclusion. According to 2016 data from the Association for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the challenge of financial inclusion, or appropriate access to banking and financial services, affects a significant number of the poorest adult Canadians despite nearly universal bank account ownership within the country.
Leading experts in financial inclusion will be on hand at Toronto’s Coopérathon launch event on September 12th to introduce participants to the problem and encourage them to devise innovative solutions for the Canadian landscape. Held at the startGBC Space at George Brown College’s Waterfront Campus, the free event will be facilitated by Komal Faiz of Zensurance and feature speakers Kate Grant of the Fintech Growth Syndicate, Adaora Ogbue of Venture Catalyst, LLC, and Elvis Wong of Innovate Financial Health. Their insights will help participants to gain better understanding of problems in finance as they begin to develop ideas through a design thinking workshop.
Registration for the Coopérathon launch in Toronto is open until Thursday, September 12th. For more information on Coopérathon and their upcoming events, visit their Eventbrite page and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.