BC Business
CEO
AGE: 29
COMPANY: Koho Financial Inc.
The story: Daniel Eberhard started his career going up against bigger companies. In 2010, the then-Mount Royal University student helped build Kineticor Renewables Inc., a Saskatchewan wind farm company he and partner Andrew Plaunt began as a class project; they sold in 2011 to renewable energy giant Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. After a celebratory backpacking trip to Asia, Eberhard decided to take on Canada’s bank giants by starting Koho Financial Inc. in 2014. Koho does away with the bank fees most users pay by providing them a free, prepaid Visa card and mobile software to do many of their transactions such as taking direct deposits, paying bills and making electronic transfers. Koho is not a bank but has partnered with Vancouver-based Peoples Trust Company to hold clients’ money while Koho handles the user interface; Koho earns money by taking a portion of the interchange fee that merchants pay to process credit card transactions.
Markers of success: Koho has raised $1 million from seed round investors. Last year, Eberhard received the NASDAQ FinTech Innovation Award for best financial technology company.
PHOTO: ADAM BLASBERG